Making hay while the sun shines

We are on the tail end of an early summer-in-spring cycle, and farmers have been dropping hay all over the area. I'm hoping this means hay will be in plentiful supply this year, making it more reasonable. If so, I'd love to stuff our barn as full as possible while we can. Unfortunately there is still some old hay in the way; we ran out of horse hay and had to buy some more in early spring, there's some certified weed-free hay from last year we've saved for horse-camping trips where it is required, and there is still some third-cutting orchard grass for the sheep.

I've been able to take full advantage of the good weather in schooling Larry, too. We've made notable progress in the last week, especially in counter canter and transitions within gaits, which indicates he's getting stronger. He's also not testing me like he was; I'm thinking he's figured out that I've got his number, and none of his spooking, bucking behaviors work with me.

Or maybe it's because with all this warm weather, the horses are finally getting out on pasture for a few hours every day! Photo taken from my bedroom window.

Our next show is this coming Sunday, at a new-to-me venue. Unless the weather is "very inclement," the show will be held in an outdoor arena. Hopefully this will be less scary to Larry than the covered arena at our first show. Speaking of our first show, my new laptop is able to communicate with my husband's memory card, so below are some photos he took there.

 Blurry, but I like Larry's outline.

 Cropped, but I like my shoulder-hip-heel alignment.

Candid conversation shot during warm-up.