The Big Move

As I'm sure you can imagine. Owning a horse while trying to build a barn and house (especially when said horse lives 40 miles away) isn't easy. Steven and I were really busy trying to get the property horse-ready. I was horse shopping. Work got a little (more) stressful. Basically, I'm giving you all of the excuses for not blogging but more importantly not really doing a whole lot on the horse front at all. Mort was only being ridden 3 times a week. We were purposely not working on anything hard or complicated. I knew that I wasn't in the right head space to train, nor would it be fair to him to ride that frequently and ask for serious work. We mostly worked on fun basics and occasionally would play with something from second level. But I never set goals as those would have come with expectations and stress. I definitely had more than one ride of bareback wandering (once or twice with a beer in my hand). But we finally got the property horse-safe! The fence is up and operational (tested by Steven and the poor pups). The barn is cozy and safe. The feed was purchased and stored. The million other things were accomplished. I had picked out a horse and a date to pick him up. So, Steven and I trekked out after work on the 18th to Indiana. We picked up Blue the morning of the 19th and headed back to Missouri. I had arranged the barn owner to haul Mort to our property as we got close so that the new guy wouldn't have to stay there by himself for a few hours (she's the best and I'm going to really miss riding with her!). Both boys got out individually for an hour or so that evening and there was very little excitement. They spent the night in their stalls and I put them out together in the lot the next morning. Zero drama and much grazing. They did run several happy laps when I let them into the big field but settled quickly. After spending two nights inside, I have transitioned them to being in the pasture during the day and the lot at night. They both seem perfectly content being out 24/7. Eventually I'll let them have free roam at night, but I want them to learn the routine first so I'm not hiking out to bring them in for breakfast in the dark at 5:45am. So far they come to the run-in part of the barn when they hear me prepping their food. I did start off with some buddy-sour issues the first couple days. They wanted to cling to each other and would get pretty stressed for even a minute inside alone. While they still don't want to separate, I am able to ride them now with only minor stress from the other horse. I think they longer we're there, the better they will continue to become. Thankfully, it's just the one that is "left behind" that is stressed and if either of them is the one that is being worked with--they're totally fine. Basically, we're all getting into a routine and figuring out our new lives together. I am so happy. Before I even picked Mort out the summer after college, it was 100% my goal to get back to keeping my horse at home. Now I've got them on my property and hopefully by next spring I'll be living out there too. Mort doesn't have to move again and I love that. Stay tuned for the next blog post about the new guy!