After the first days of settling in it seems that both Happy and Blade have figured out their new home.  The weather has been fair.  The horses are figuring out the corral shelter.

Blade has been upset with me for several days.  When I approached him he ran away.  To combat this I’ve been visiting him a few times throughout the day (including feedings) with or without the halter.  Once I get to him I touch him and rub his neck.  If he doesn’t turn to run I give him a good scratch and walk away.  Sunday morning he came to me on his own.

Working the horses has been a 2-for-1.  Despite Happy’s mare stares deep down she loves her new man.  When I work him she gets upset; even though she can see him while he works.  Likewise, if I’m working Happy, Blade is running around the paddock like an idiot.

Happy and I discovered a beautiful cove on my property.  I found it once before during the winter and thought of it as my peaceful place but when Happy and I walked up there the other day I was thrilled to see it.  The trees around the entrance almost form an archway.  Through it you arrive to a beautiful tree in full blossom…all the buds must have popped overnight because it was the first time I’ve seen it like this.  This is definitely my place of serenity.

Thursday: Happy and I had a lovely ride around my backyard.  She was as calm as usual and very content.  I love how adaptable and even-keel she is.  It was a warm day so I gave her a full bath afterward, which was promptly destroyed by a few very rewarding rolls in the mud.  She’s definitely teaching Blade how to get dirty (he’s always been a neat little Nancy).

Friday: I got on Blade bareback and he was calm as well.  I hand walked him past tarps and any scary object that I thought he’d spook at… He never batted an eyelash.  Blade’s been pretty jealous of all the attention I’ve given Happy so he was happy to get time with mom.

Saturday: I began the day feeding the horses and taking a trip to the first horse show of our team’s season.  Unfortunately I missed our girls jumping but managed to stick around for most of the day.  There were some “exciting” moments, bucking horses, horses spooking to applause and flipping over, horses running loose.  All of our horses did extremely well and the girls all showed very well.  They certainly made me wish I could show myself but I really enjoyed giving the support.  I’m proud to be riding with these girls and riding with my trainer.

When I got home Zac and I worked on placing two fence posts for the second paddock.  We have one but in order to rotate pastures and build our barn we’re going to need that second option.  The two thickest gate posts have now been set so all that’s left should be the easier to manage corner posts, line posts, and stringing.

I hopped on Happy bareback for a few minutes before the sun set; instead of running around the whole time Blade began to settle down and graze, keeping an eye on the situation.  If we walked anywhere out of sight, however, he was off to the races again. I’m super excited to see him already calming down in only a few days.  Happy is so good for his psyche.

The grass in our pasture is not nearly as scary looking as it was before.  The horses have mowed and trampled it down to the point where I’m not nearly as worried about their tummies.  I love that I have gone through only 2 bales of hay in 4 days.

They are definitely settling in and enjoying this new life.