1.) I arrived at the barn at 7:45 am and there is Blu in his stall finishing his morning hay. As I approach he greets me with his friendly little nicker. As I get closer I get to gaze upon all the lovely brown spots he grew over night. What a happy little mess! As I groom him he leans into every brush stroke and curls his lip in the air as I hit all the right spots. Treats and a rub down... what could be better if you are Blu?
2.) I start to put his tack on and he is fascinated by the sheepskin bell boots I have replaced his standard rubber issue with and as he leans down to check them out, he runs his nose over the soft mound of genuine sheepskin and let's out a snort like he has met a new best friend. He likes his new slippers and I like them too because we will no longer clack along as we do our work.
3.) Once saddled we proceed down to the freshly groomed indoor ring. He understands the hill is steep coming from the barn and he needs to go slow instead of plunging headlong, slipping and waiting for me to catch up. You can tell he has more back end strength in the way he walks straight and slow down to the bottom.
4.) Under saddle Blu knows it is time to march on and his job is to use himself without me begging. It took only one session to school this back into him. He is brilliant and he loves doing his job. His walk is perfection now where there was a time I would have been lucky to score a "5". Off we go to trot and canter and his willingness and joy are palpable. My friend Sandra came into the barn and wanted to know who the beautiful horse and rider were... Ha Ha. (seriously, she did not recognize us because we have come so far.)
5.) We conquered the counter canter on the broken line. This was tough for him going to the right last week. He executed beautifully. I could feel how excited he was after he did it correctly. What a ham bone! He got all sorts of praise as we completed it and he just puffed himself up and gave me the most beautiful canter. All I can say is "WOW".
6.) We did some trot work -- down the center line shoulder-in to the right change to the left at X and then turn left at the end. He was perfectly straight and a real demonstration of how I was able to capture his shoulder and keep him on the line I so desired. You can feel the work getting a bit easier for him.
7.) After work there was a sudsy bath filled with So No More... He loves getting scrubbed down. I think he just loves to be touched. I brought a face cloth and he put his face down so I could give it a good scrub too.
8.) I brought him back to the barn so he could have a little snack while he dried off and I went about cleaning his tack. He watched me as I polished his bit and rubbed down the leather with conditioner. He seemed very interested in what I had to do and never left the front of the stall while I was standing there. It was nice to have his help!
9.) I noticed when I turned him out that his water needed to be changed in his paddock so I hauled the hose down, emptied and scrubbed out the tub then refilled with cool well water. He thanked me by coming over, taking a drink and then letting it dribble down the front of my shirt and into my riding pants... That has to be love!
10.) My eyes welled up with tears as I said "auf wiedersehn" (he is German after all)... he is such a giving spirit. How did I get so lucky?
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