I am sooo not ready for it to be winter. It’s dark when I leave the house, dark when I get out of work, bitter cold, and tacking up and mucking out at the stable are not fun.
Kip is going really well, however, and I love my boy more than ever. A friend at the stable rode him this morning, as I was curious to see how she thought he was going; I stayed close for a bit, as a security blanket until he got used to someone else on him, then she worked him in the indoor arena. She thought he was going very well, considering his greenness and obvious physical immaturity, and I was glad to hear it. As he becomes more mature and balanced, and starts to build a bit of muscle, he’ll be quite nice – although he’ll always be just a really nice all-rounder and never a top competitive horse in any area. That’s pretty much what I was looking for when I bought him, actually – a nice, sensible horse that I could compete at lower-level in different disciplines, novice horse trials, hunter shows, etc., without any mental problems or fizziness. He’s a good boy, and he has the temperament common to native breeds here – they were bred to do a good days work, and still have the talent to go out hunting, gallop and jump fences as well.
Phil is building a churble playground right now, different levels so that the giant rats can have something to do during the night. I’m hoping it will make a difference in the noise level in the early morning hours.
Work tomorrow. Erk.