After 3 years of prep I am proud to announce that my girls have finally come home. Cupid and Foxy officially moved to my parents private farm early last week!

This process has been a long one, from getting the barn built, to arranging the trailer. But I’m happy to report that the move day when extremely smoothly and the girls settled into their new home quickly!

The morning started by going out to the barn to make sure that my locker was completely cleared out, their supplements were packed, and the girls were fed and ready to go. Cupid quickly caught on that something was going on when I tried to remove her jolly balls (yes, she has two). When I grabbed the first one she was fine. But when I went to put the second one in my car she panicked. So that had to wait until we were officially ready to go.

The trailer showed up on time and was the perfect size and set up for my girls. Much to my surprise Cupid loaded like a champ. But once she realized that we were actually going somewhere and not practicing, she did start having one of her temper tantrums. The girl who was hauling them for me handled keeping an eye on her, while I grabbed Foxy, like a true professional.

Foxy on the other hand needed a bit of encouragement. She has always been a bit uneasy about ramps but with some clucking from the group she agreed that loading would be the right answer. I honestly feared how the girls would load and i couldn’t be any prouder with how they handled themselves. I was able to identify some items that need work but the girls far exceeded my expectations.

The drive was the longest 15 minutes of my life. I followed the trailer and was pleased to see that they behaved and acted like they did this everyday.

We arrived at my place and got ready to unload the girls. Cupid, naturally, had to remind everyone she’s the baby and acted like she had never backed off a trailer before. Foxy, on the other hand, unloaded like a champ and listened to my directions about backing up and then the step off.

As soon as they were released they both took off. Watching them run like that was heartwarming. They did not appear spooked or upset, just excited to check out their surroundings. Cupid let Foxy lead during their initial exploration but once she grew in confidence she took the lead and began exploring her new home.

By that evening both girls were acting like they had been at their new home their whole lives. They were calmly enjoying their hay, making a mess of the water, and determining the best napping spots. Watching them that first night was like a peaceful sunset breeze blowing across the yard, it felt like home.

So far it has been a bit over a week and I am already pleased with how the girls have settled in. They have both stopped cribbing, which is impressive since I never imagined that it would stop. Cupid has begun laying down, stretched out like a cat in from of a fireplace, for her afternoon nap. Foxy has become far bolder than I ever imagined possible, when the fence boards were in the yard waiting to be installed she would trot over them, jumping just for the fun of jumping.

I can’t wait to see how much further they’ll progress now that they’re at their new home. It warms my heart knowing that I made the right choice for them, they’re officially part of the family now.

If there's one thing I've learned from owning a grey horse it's that no horse is ever 100% clean. Every brush stroke adds dirt and removes it at the same time. Because of this I try to clean my brushes regularly. This not only allows my horse to stay cleaner but also gives me the chance to organize my grooming tools, or which I have far too many. While cleaning my brushes I decided it might be fun to share with you what's in my grooming box!

The following are some of my favorite grooming products that I keep in my everyday grooming box.

To start with, my grooming tote is a pink Little Giant Duratote I bought from Jeffers Equine. The plastic makes it easy to clean and it has held up very well through several drops and kicks. Both sides of the tote are the same size which allows me to stuff all my various grooming products in without having anything fall out.

The next critical products in my grooming box are my everyday sprays. The first is Endure Sweat Resistant Fly Spray. Because Florida is extremely hot and buggy I need something that will not sweat off my horses and will not wash off in the rain. So far I have been very impressed with Endure. The roller ball contains fly spray for face applications and around the occasional cut. The pink bottle contains Healthy HairCare Hair Moisturizer. This product has been a life saver for Cupid's mane and tail, and I can't wait to see how it helps Foxy's skimpy tail and thin mane.

The next image is some of my everyday hoof products. Because Cupid has a bit of a reoccurring thrush problem I always have a bottle or two of Thrush Buster handy. While most people might use Hooflex for hooves I find it works amazing to keep chestnuts moisturized and clean looking. It does cause a bit of a greasy look to the hair around the chestnuts but my mares look less feral since I started applying this every few days.

The next product pictured is Life Data Farrier's Finish. I love using this as a disinfectant and conditioner on hooves. It helps keep thrush at bay and makes hooves look amazing. While this is expensive the bottle seems to last a long time. The final product is Iodine. I keep this on hand at all times for cuts, scrapes, or other funny ailments that might pop up from time to time on legs.

The first curry, and a personal favorite of my horses, is the Oster Fine Curry Comb. Both mares love this curry on their faces and it is amazing at pulling up dandruff on thick winter coats. The second curry is also by Oster, their Coarse Curry Comb, which is great for breaking up dirt and on winter coats. I also enjoy using this curry during baths around shedding season. The third curry is by far my favorite, the Epona Shed Flower. Shedding season with Cupid never seemed to end. She was a furry, shedding beast for far too long and the shed flower was greatly appreciated. The teeth pulled all the loose hair out gently, and the flower shape is comfortable to hold. The fourth and final curry comb is a standard rubber curry comb. I do have a smaller size to fit my smaller hands.

My hoof pick collection might seem small but don't worry, I have plenty of backups in my tack trunk at home. With how often I lose these things I make sure to buy them in bulk. My favorite hoof pick is the SmartPak Hoof Pick Brush with Grip. This hoof pick feels right in my hand and sturdy enough to pick out packed dirt with ease. The brush has held up through several years of use and cleans up nicely. The second hoof pick that I always keep in my box is the Tail Tamer's Coated Steel Hoof Pick, this is a smaller hoof pick that I use when it has been dry out and there is not a lot of debris packed in the hoof. Another item that I keep with my hoof pick collection is a hoof cleaning brush, when applying thrush products I always make sure to brush out the hoof with this brush to ensure all the sand and dirt is removed. This also works great as a water brush to truly clean the hoof.

The next two items are pretty self explanatory, a pair of hair cutting scissors and a wide tooth comb from the dollar store. The scissors work well when I need to cut length off a mane or bang tails, and because they were cheap I don't need to worry about them getting wet.

As every horseman knows, good brushes are worth their weight in gold. I keep four brushes in my grooming box. The first is the Wahl Stiff Body Brush, this is a nice hard brush with medium bristles that I use for everyday grooming. The next is the Wahl Soft Body Brush, which is a soft brush that brings out a nice shine. The third brush is Foxy's favorite, the Wahl Face Brush. Fox will stand completely still and drop her head to her knees so I can brush her blaze with this brush. The fourth brush is my favorite during extremely dirty days or for a dusty winter coat, it's the Epona Fancy Dandy Flower Flick Brush. This is very comfortable in my hand and has longer bristles than the stiff body brush above.

The final items I keep in my grooming box are the Wahl Sweat Scraper, the Epona Tiger Tongue, and pet grooming gloves that I bought off Amazon for shedding season. The horses love the gloves and the tiger tongue and will lean into both of them for a deeper scratching.

So there you have it! My grooming items in my long running fight to keep that grey mare clean! What's in your grooming box?

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.