My 2019 riding goals are fairly basic and not very detailed. As always, I just want to focus on where life takes us and what the mares tell me they want to do.

1) Get them successfully settled into their new home!
The mares will be moving out to my parents place after the shed is extended to accommodate them. I hope to help them through this transition so they can settle down comfortably and enjoy their new home. I expect there will be large learning curve going from boarding to self care so I look forward to conquering this with them!

2) Take both mares out on the trails.
The new home will have trails and a shared riding arena. I can't wait to take the girls out on the trails and go exploring with them! We already have a few friends to go riding with so I anticipate this being fairly easy to achieve once they settle in.

3) Work on the Intro and Training Dressage movements
I would love to continue my dressage education, but because of the pending move I am not sure if  we will have the resources available to work with a trainer but I do plan on working on bending and transitions with my girls.

Overall, these are not overly ambitious goals but I wanted to set the bar low since I will be asking the girls to completely adjust to their new home and living schedule.

I apologize for the lack of posts this year, but I have a fun announcement for my readers!

In early November, Cupid and I have welcomed a new horse to our little herd! Welcome to the family Foxy, or For Fox Sake!

Foxy is a 2004 American Saddlebred mare, who I adopted from Grune Heidi Farm Rescue in Lakeland, FL. I had initially gone to the rescue to look at a different horse, but when I looked at Foxy for my trainer I was impressed with what I saw.

Foxy has been found in New Holland back in 2003 and was rescued by another kind hearted horse lover. She spent several years with her savior, but unfortunately, her savior needed to downsize so she enlisted the assistance of Grune Heidi to find Foxy a forever home.

Foxy is a total love bug of a mare, who loves to work on groundwork and has a strong drive to please. She is a bit more sensitive than Cupid but has the same "in your pocket" personality that I'm attracted to. Under saddle she is an extremely fun ride and seems to have a nice movement for lower level dressage.

I'm still working on getting to know Foxy and earn her trust but it has been such a rewarding process so far. She has been getting along great with Cupid and has quickly learned that she is expected to dress up for the holidays.

One big project that we've been working on is desensitizing her to various "scary" things. When she first arrived at the barn, Fox would spook at me touching her on the center of her face. With time and lots of treats, she has come to learn that face scratches are amazing.

I can't wait to see how our partnership develops. The only goal I have for us at the moment is to have her trust me and to get her back under saddle with a solid foundation.

Welcome to the family Foxy!