Monday August 31, 2026

After an eventful lesson on Friday that went well with our trainer at QR, Saturday and Sunday were filled with lots of grooming and hand grazing. I’m always trying to ride every day that I can, but I know that horses need their rest days and relaxation as well. As I got to the barn on Monday, I rushed to make sure that I arrived on time to meet up with Hanz’s farrier. I got there extra early to ensure that Hanz was groomed and ready, but I also wanted to give him treats and just hang out at the barn. I honestly never really know when the farrier will show up. Sometimes that’s how the horse world goes. I feel like I’m flying by the seat of my pants almost all the time! Something, as you know, almost always comes up. As I was waiting in the tack room scrolling on my phone, thinking about how dismal my dating and social life is, one of the barn staff let me know that the farrier was not showing up today. “He is coming tomorrow instead,” she let me know as she ran off to do another chore. “Oh, that’s great…” I thought sarcastically as I got up off the couch to figure out what to do with myself now. There is only one thing to do. I slowly turned my head over and looked at my bridle. The clean bit glistened in the dim tack room light. I wasn’t prepared to ride that day and was wearing my cowboy boots and ripped jeans from 6th grade (yes, they still fit, haha). I thought I would let Hanz take another rest day. As I walked towards the door to leave, I looked back at the bridle again, but this time slowly. I wanted to ride. I felt like the Green Goblin from Spider-Man (if you know, you know; you are OG). It called to me, a single thought piercing my mind: “You coward, you know you want to ride! Get it in.” I got all of my tack out, tacked Hanz up in a quick minute, and walked him out to the mounting block. He was spooking at a sprinkler nearby, and we did some groundwork near the sprinkler to keep him calm about it. He handled as best as he could, and then we were off! I decided to work on some dressage for our upcoming showdown at Southern Pines down at War Horse this weekend. I am very excited to take Hanz to our first show! He was good in our slight dressage ride, and I kept it simple and easy. We did our test that Hanz seemed to be already familiar with, and he was working off the seat pleasantly. I could feel him lifting in his back and taking the contact forward. I was super happy about that, as he was working into the contact well, and I decided to call it and let him enjoy the good release! I could really feel a better connection over his back, and the contact had good weight that I didn’t have to force him into. It was really quite pleasant, and I enjoyed it. “Oh, is that closer to a better connection?” Hanz was working well tracking both left and right, although to the left we had to work much more on keeping him more even into the circle. We walked back to the barn and called it another great day after about a solid 20-minute ride. Hopefully, tomorrow’s farrier appointment goes just fine!