It's a big world

Now we are so happy, we do the dance of joy!

(Did anyone else love that show?)

Rick checked out Lance today, ultrasounding the area of the suspensory tear in his right front and performing flexion tests on his right front and both hind legs. Everything checked out fine, and we are cleared for regular work – commensurate with Lance's level of fitness, of course. I confess to some excited hopping around, and I might have hugged and kissed my vet. ;-)

Tomorrow I will mail in our show entry, and we will continue to work on the basics of walk-trot, trot-walk, and walk-halt transitions, as well as going truly forward. Since Lance is greener than Horton was and less fit than Larry started out, this show will be a lot more about giving Lance some exposure to a show environment and very little of seeing how well we can do. There will also be the fun of having people try to figure out what breed he is. ;-)

And Lance is all about having fun; I've fished his Jolly Ball out of the stock tank and from the other side of his paddock fence numerous times.

Official stall plate notwithstanding, he really is just a great big red lovable goober!

MY KIND OF MUSIC VIDEO!

As I've mentioned before, I'm still on the Swedish Warmblood Yahoo list. I'm SO glad, because otherwise I may not have seen THIS.

LOVE the music, too; reminds me somewhat of Mannheim Steamroller.

A post of a more personal and mundane nature later. ;-)

Magic trick pony

It must be the pixie dust!

Okay, so Lance just can't stand still. :-)

The temps have warmed and the footing has thawed so we're once again able to do more than just walk. I even turned Lance loose for a little frolic yesterday when a friend came by to meet him. That was probably not the smartest choice, but he didn't rip-snort too much . . . I hope. Rick has mentioned wanting to do a follow-up ultrasound; I'm hoping he'll do it Sunday. If everything still looks good, I'm going to enter our dressage GMO's League show in February. I have a free class entry for winning a high-point award on Horton; I figure Lance and I can handle a walk-trot class without too much embarrassment. :-)

Entertainment, warmth and pride

This is what greeted me at the barn this morning – and it's not the first time. My mouthy mustang apparently wants to play "pick up sticks." We are going to have to keep the broom and manure forks somewhere else. But never fear; besides the milk jug hanging from the rafter in his stall, I bought Lance a Jolly Ball!

It was on sale, so I added it to the cart when I ordered Lance's stall plate from Dover Saddlery. Those SSG winter gloves and Kerrits Powerstretch full-seat breeches were on sale and might have found their way into my cart, too. The stall plate is still en route, but the rest arrived today. And you know what? My hands stayed warm for the first time during this cold snap! And while I'm not usually a fan of full-seat breeches, these are very comfortable, warm, and even have a cell-phone pocket on the thigh. Score!

Lance didn't get out yesterday and was self-combusting in his stall this frosty morning, so I was expecting airs above the ground this afternoon when I finally got a chance to exercise him. But other than the usual difficulty of keeping the rein out of his mouth while leading him around, he was a gentleman on the ground and under saddle. This in spite of the scary rams being out in their lot and my son "prowling" around in the foggy woods wielding a hatchet (what can I say; he's 11)! I praised Lance to high heaven for being so brave and steady, and have been smiling ever since. :-)