Emerging from Chaos

To say things have been crazy lately would be a gross understatement.  Kind of like saying the surface of the sun is a little warm.

I'm not sure how or when things fell apart.  Nothing catastrophic, mind you.  But when disorder creeps into my existence, it creates a perfect storm of introversion, procrastination and OCD.  The result - I become an ostrich with her head buried in the sand.

But it's getting better.

I've done little with Cricket.  I've done less with Bleu.  Most of my energy has been devoted to LillyToo.  LillyWho?  No, not horse #3.  Good Lord, I'm not that crazy.

Lilly is a coming 4yr old QH mare belonging to a good friend of mine.  We've worked out a deal for Lilly to stay at my barn and get a bit of a groundwork foundation and get her ready to be properly started under saddle.  I know my limitations so I have no intention of putting a leg over this mare's back.  I'll take responsibility for screwing up Cricket but I won't add another to the list of casualties.

I have to say I'm totally in love with Lilly.  It's a good thing she's short or I'd be tempted to steal her.  She's a lovely balance of all the horsenalities.  She's forward but not a run away.  She's playful but not a total pest.  She lacks enough confidence so as to look for leadership but she's not worried and fretful.  She pauses to think but her introversion is shallow and she digests thoughts very quickly.

We have two main issues:  maintaining connection between her brain and her feet in motion and looking to the human for guidance/leadership.  Both are coming along so nicely.

I'm glad the days are getting longer and warmer.  I cannot neglect Cricket and Bleu just because a new project has come along.  I can only avoid "middles" for so long!

With Cricket my current plan is to abandon all formal groundwork.  It's not getting better, in fact it's getting worse.  So we're taking long trail walks with a savvy string fashioned into a collar and a feather line for a leash.  We're playing at liberty with the clicker.  I want to ride but I just don't want the pressure of my freestyle audition right now.

I want to start riding Bleu.  I've not really taken her out of the arena since last fall.  I need to see if she helps my confidence for trail riding.  If not, I'm not sure what I'll do . . .