Kentucky

I just returned from a great weekend in Kentucky. We went to the Rolex Kentucky 3-Day Event at the Kentucky Horse Park in Lexington. It was a bit rainy and on the cold side Friday and Saturday, but Sunday was sunny and the ground had dried considerably. It was a lot of fun this year. I spent my $500 budget on horse accessories and got things I needed. The horses were fantastic as well. There were quite a few eliminations by the end of the day Saturday, so the Sunday stadium jumping was shortened. It is still amazing that these horses are crazy enough to go over these huge jumps. I guess that's from the perspective of a dressage rider.

Sunday evening we went to stay with my friend who just moved to Kentucky about a month ago. She has a great house in a great town about an hour from Lexington. I was really impressed with the area. Her horse is boarded at an old saddlebred barn, which is interesting. The barn has an indoor riding track that goes around the stalls. One end is big enough for a 20 meter circle and the long sides are sufficient for doing shoulder-ins and leg yields. The wider long end can accomodate zigzag leg yields. It's a good situation for her. She moved from a barn that had no indoor riding facilities at all and she did trail riding exclusively. She's finding it a bit frustrating to be in a place where her horse has to be willing to bend. I think Ellie forgot she could bend. I gave my friend a dressage lesson and rode her horse a bit. Ellie is not used to having contact with the bit, so she will have to get used to accepting the bit and being soft in the mouth. MG certainly has her work cut out for her. Hopefully I will be able to come down once a month this summer to help her along. Plus, it is a great place to visit.

Last night I finally got to ride my main horse. He is so great. He came up to me in the pasture and looked happy to see me. It was a nice feeling. The baby, however, tried to stay just out of my reach the whole time. She was afraid I was going to put her away. I was only interested in riding Jimmy. We had a great ride, but he did seem a little stiff to the left. I am worried that he is developing arthritis in the left hock. Something to keep my eye on. If I can ride him every day or every other day, he stays flexible. It's these times when he is on rest for a week that he comes back stiff. Well, the weather is supposed to be gorgeous through the weekend, so we will get plenty of riding in!