Snow day!

What a weekend!  Yesterday was fairly warm (in the 40s) and beautiful, and today we are buried under a foot of snow, with more to come this evening.  We knew it was coming, so yesterday afternoon I washed and made some more repairs to Panama's blanket, making darn sure it was ready for this storm -- I even patched in some fill from one of his old blankets, one that was totally wrecked (a huge hole torn all the way through it) at the beginning of the winter.
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Panama's back troubles and Rondo's rides

The last few times Panama has been ridden, he has had a hard knot on his spine when I take the saddle off.  The first time was when V. rode him for his lesson last Saturday, but since she had groomed and saddled him, I hadn't seen if it was there before her ride.  But it happened again on Monday when she rode, and this time I had checked before she saddled him and it wasn't there.  I'd also checked to make sure the pad wasn't bunched under the saddle.
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Washing horse blankets

I've always taken my horse blankets in to be washed and repaired, but in the last couple of winters I've started doing increasingly more of my blanket care myself.  I did recently have to take Rondo's blanket it to have the front of it virtually reconstructed, since the damage he'd done to it -- playing tug-of-war with his own blanket while it was on him, from what I've seen -- was beyond my meager hand-sewing skills.  Panama's blanket, however, has been getting so many rips in it, what with his buddies biting it all the time, that I've been patching it myself -- otherwise, I'd be taking it in for repair every other time he wore it (and I'd probably have to have three blankets, to cycle out as others were being repaired).
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A successful lesson

Last week I blogged about V.'s difficult lesson on Panama, and our efforts the next day to get her to ride confidently and control her anxiety.  I am happy to say that it worked beautifully, and her lesson (which was yesterday instead of Thursday, since she was sick mid-week) went off without a hitch -- even despite them riding outside in really windy weather (which sometimes gets Panama riled up).
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Jumping pictures

A couple weeks ago, I got dressed up and another boarder's husband, who is an amaazing photographer, took some pictures of me.  I was really excited but also really worried, because I was afraid I wasn't good enough to be photographed yet!  And sure enough, the ride was a mixed bag -- some really good jumps, and some that weren't so good.  But luckily the camera was there to capture the great moments as well as the not-so-great.
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Shenanigans

A few nights ago after I finished riding Panama, I decided to pull out the ball and play a little, since we were all alone.  I had just pulled off his saddle and bridle to let him roll, so I left him at liberty and brought out the horse ball.
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Controlling anxiety for a better ride

V., the girl I nanny for, is starting to lease Panama with the intention of riding him twice a week: once in a lesson, and one other day of practice each week.  She had her first official "lease" lesson yesterday afternoon -- she's had a couple of lessons on him before, and has ridden him before too, but now it's more serious because if this works out, she'll be riding him from here on out, and doing a couple of shows on him too.
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A field trip and a fall

Yesterday my trainer and I trailered both horses to her barn -- I am wanting to start showing Panama, and actually want the little girl I nanny for to be able to show on him too, so we decided to start taking him places to test how he'll do and to give him more exposure.  Rondo we brought along for the same reason, although if I do any showing with him this year, the most it'll probably be is showing him in halter at the little schooling show I took Panama to last year.
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Smoother jumps

A snowstorm rolled in over the weekend, and a cold snap kept the snow around longer than usual, so my trainer and I didn't trailer my horses over to her barn for a jumping lesson on Panama (and exposure for Rondo) after all -- not because the roads were bad, but because the footing in her barn's outdoor arena was too frozen in the morning to ride and jump on safely.  Instead, we had another jumping lesson on Panama in the indoor arena at my own barn (I've been trying to ride outside more often, but it was really cold and windy Thursday!) and worked more on the figure 8 jump course.
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