I've got some major work to do on two papers due Monday, so I'll make this quick.

Nikki came into town this weekend Another friend offered to drive her down from school for a bachelorette party that was going on here, so she decided to come down for the weekend! She lives about 8 hours north during the school year.

We rode today. I love watching that girl ride-- her dad is the one I school horses for. She totally inherited his seemingly telepathic connection with horses, it's awesome!

Anyway, Michelle brought a friend from Elventstar (where her gelding is leased out) whose Hano mare just fractured her coffin bone landing funny after a fence There were a lot of people out there, so I let her friend, Melissa, ride the Appendix mare I was "scheduled" to ride. LOL, so I got on one of the older schoolies. Annamaria hasn't been getting out very much, and she's really lost muscle tone. She's out with the other three older horses in a small pasture, and she, a 20 something TB mare, has been realy getting picked on.

I rode her around the dressage ring for a bit, and while she knows A LOT, you can tell she hasn't been seriously worked very often. She wants to wander around and wants to follow all the other horses, because she's used to being allowed to I didn't work her hard because she had a bit of a cough and just seemed weak.

Afterwards I absolutely had at her with the curry comb. I think I got maybe 20lbs off of her in hair alone!! Jorge was really thankful that I just decided to do this (we JUST ride the horses for him; normally the grooms already have the horses tacked up for us when we get there!) and he asked me if I could take her under my wing because she hasn't been getting any attention. Well, DUH I'm going to lightly work her, give her some serious grooming, and just lots of attention. Since she's in a pasture she's not really supplemented, though she needs it, so I am going to feed her senior feed, etc while I'm working with her.

I think I'm going to start her on the lunge though (something I REALLY like about this barn is that Jorge expects all the horses to be able to go to work and warm up UNDER SADDLE without being lunged first) because she just has NO topline whatsoever. I really doubt they have any saddles with a narrow enough channel LOL. Lots of trotting, that's for sure!

I went to lunch with Nikki after we rode and I offered to bring back one of her mares, too. Her first real show horse was her current jumper mare's dam, Eclipse, who is an 18ish year old Holsteiner. She's been just hanging out in the pasture for a few years (had a foal, then had trouble staying sound) but is fine now, though no one really has had the time to work with her and bring her back. Well that's exactly what I LIKE to do I like projects, not riding finished horses.

So she's going to ask her dad what he thinks about Eclipse, and hopefully I'll have two projects for the summer, even if they're old mares!

Oh kind of funny. Michelle and I randomly decided to clean and rearrange my room last night. I still hadn't fully unpacked everything since I'd moved home mid-December! We cleared off all the junk that was on top of my bay window. I just happened to check the cabinet under the seat...I think there were about TWENTY sets of polo wraps in there! LOL. Also a halter, a breastplate, and a pretty nice English bridle. I wonder how long those were in there!!!

Now off to work on my history and chem papers. UGH!