Drifter turned 9

Drifter turned nine the day of her "field trip". I was excited to be allowed to bring her to my work for a group "mock lesson". It's a place that I feel confident and would be able to pass that along to her. She wore "big girl" shipping boots and a sheet for the 1hr drive. She was a little nervous in the trailer, evidenced by the runny poops when we got there. She loaded nicely and snacked on her breakfast before we took off. On arrival she waited for me to back her out of the trailer and was alert, but well behaved at the farm. I walked her into the barn and around the indoor before undressing her and putting her in an empty stall for a little while. She was happily eating hay and the rest of her breakfast within 20 minutes. After a few hours we tacked up for our "lesson". I walked her (on the ground) up to the outdoor ring because it was along a field and tree line following two new horses. She was really good on the way out and that helped my confidence before mounting. She didn't stand so well for mounting, but was calm once I was aboard. She was very distracted by the horses turned out in the field by the outdoor arena, but was able to be redirected to focus on leg yields and bending. It probably took her 20 minutes to begin to really focus on me. We even cantered!

She was great for untacking and then went back into the stall for the afternoon while I worked. She was less happy about that and managed to nick her fetlock and cause some minor bleeding. She whinnied each time she saw me, as if asking "can we go home now?" Finally, I put her on the cross ties, dressed her up again and cleaned out her stall. While cleaning her stall she managed to pull the velcro cross ties loose and started to walk away, but was brought back and made to stand while I finished cleaning the stall. She loaded nicely back into the trailer and rode quietly back to her farm. She was a very good girl for her birthday.

The trip must have tired her out because the barn staff said she has spent most of the day laying down and sleeping. She was still sleeping when I arrived at the barn this afternoon.