Charlie and Me: So much to tell!

I have written probably 3 posts in my head since my last one...too bad they don't automatically transfer from my brain to the computer. Maybe Apple can make that their next big project.

I'm pretty sure I mentioned that Sara, the BO's daughter, is home from college for a few weeks and she brought her horse, Maggie with her. It's nice to have a riding buddy even if Charlie and Maggie are now convinced that they are in love.

So I guess I have to start at the beginning - a week ago, we (Sara and I) went XC schooling at Long Shadow Farm which is on the SC/NC border. It wasn't awful but it certainly wasn't great. I decided to try the 3-ring bit hoping it would help with picking his head up when he gets a little low. To say he hated it is putting it mildly. I started out with the reins on the second ring, quickly moved them up and even that was waaaaaaay too much for him. I couldn't take a hold of his mouth at all - as soon as I touched the reins, he felt like he was hollowing out through his back and running. I felt like his balance was all off and as a result, my eye flat out sucked. I couldn't see a distance to save my life. Not a good feeling. I had to take the cheek pieces and attach them to the bit ring (should have taken a picture because I'm pretty sure I'm explaining this poorly). Once we got the bit situation figured out, things went a bit better. While Long Shadow is nice, the fences are sort of a mishmash. It's tough to put a course together because they don't really have a course. There are approx 3-4 BN jumps, maybe 3 N, a few T, 1-2 P, etc. The farm was originally built for Michael Pollard so there are A level jumps as well. Needless to say, it didn't give me a ton of confidence for our show that happened yesterday but I'm getting ahead of myself.

Barn aisle of the most beautiful barn ever (Long Shadow Farm)

Stalls in the barn

Sara giving Maggie a bath in the wash stall - the stalls are on the outside walls and down the center is where the tack room, wash stall, office and bathroom, are located with an aisle connecting the 2 sides of the barn.

So after we were done schooling XC, I noticed Charlie's hind shoes were really, really loose. As in so loose, I needed to pull them. This is the 3rd shoeing cycle in a row that his shoes have literally fallen off (well, they were so loose that I felt it necessary to pull them because the first time this happened I didn't and they fell off and I ended up with a lame horse for a week and a half). Only this time it happened just shy of the 3 week mark instead of the 4 week mark when it happened the last 2 times. To say I was a bit annoyed is an understatement. Charlie doesn't have bad feet, he actually has pretty decent feet. Basically, the farrier isn't putting the nails in high enough. Let's just say I'm getting a new farrier. I can't keep playing this game. I tried to tell him the last time that the nails weren't high enough and he basically told me Charlie "had bad feet, didn't grow enough hoof and there was nothing that could be done." Now, all last summer when he was with Cherie (who has a very competent farrier) he had no problem going 6 weeks. So new farrier it is. I had to wait until Wed (I pulled his hind shoes on Sun) for the new farrier to come shape his hind feet (I'm leaving him bare behind for now) and tighten up the fronts because yes, the fronts were loose as well. :(

I flatted him on Wed (he was quite good considering), flatted and jumped on Thurs (again he was very good) and jumped on Fri (a bit of a disaster due to the gymnastic I set up).

Charlie being cute and curious after eating dinner. His nose is grubby - I think it might be getting a bit sunburnt. Maybe it's time to start slathering him up with sunscreen.