Get December well and get her sold. - The trainer who is leasing her called me two weeks ago to tell me she was draining foul smelling mucous from one nostril so our first thought was bad tooth. Took her up to the vet and after two different vets examined her teeth there was nothing conclusive. No obvious decay or holes. The was one small defect in her second to last top left molar. We're praying it's not that tooth because it's pretty healthy and getting it out could prove to be a small feat. Fortunately our vets work with a great dental guy and she's 14 so they think they can extract it if needed. I'm thinking this will be expensive and a pain in the hiney since it would have to be packed with gauze until healed. The other possibility was a primary sinus infection. I decided to try a round of antibotics first to see if it would clear up. Then even if it starts to come back her sinus cavity will have less mucous to interfer with radiographs and maybe we can see what's going on. So far so good. The antibotics have done the trick and it hasn't come back yet but it's only been a few days since they finished up with the meds. In the meantime she's not in any pain, she's gaining weight quickly (she'd lost some over the winter and we were having trouble getting it back on probably due to infection) and she is going to take the kids to her first horse show with them this weekend. I can't even believe it's the same BGM. I'm hoping this trainer or one of her kids will buy December. They all seem to love her and at this point I'm willing to basically give her away if its a good fit.
Focus on doing well in the open shows with Grace - We may go to a schooling show on the 18th. I just need a hat. Once I have my show clothes together I'll start doing some bigger open shows locally. If we can get to the point where we're winning consistently there then I think we'll know when it's time to consider moving up to a more competitive horse and the APHA shows. I'm riding her much better than before. I've finally got the spur stop down without falling onto her neck. I'm remember to sit back better overall and I got some great loping out of her last time. Now I'm just trying to figure out how to check her more subtly and use my spurs to slow down. I don't want to be pulling on her in front of a judge but I still have to get after her a little bit before she slows down for me. Beth, the trainer, is getting married this weekend so no lesson but I'll take the niece out to ride. Got to get her going one handed in the outdoor arena if she wants to try the show. She's been riding with two hands (with a drape) for better control because Grace gets lazy and takes advantage by trotting to fast if she thinks she can.
Custom chaps - Have an appointment to get fitted by a local guy next Monday. Can't wait to get them done!! I think I've got everything else I need but a hat. The trainer says she thinks she has the one I was going to order anyway and if so she's going to sell it to me for a steal. Otherwise I'll need to go pick one up before this show. Ordered a shirt and I'm waiting for it. I think it's pretty awesome although my non-horsey friends on Facebook got a hoot.
Showing Tax - I have my first lessons on him with the new trainer on Saturday. I was watching another client of hers yesterday take a lesson. When I first got to this barn he had just started with the trainer. The improvement from last fall is remarkable, and he'd been with another trainer before that I know and don't care for. Now he and his horse look together. You can see something has clicked and his seat is so much more balanced and his hands are much quieter so his horse is moving more consistently down the lines. They're still working on a few little things like staying straight down a line and exactly when to make their turns but they're ready for show season already. I hope I can get caught up. I'm planning to go with them when they show. Tax and the trainer look awesome. He feels like a different horse. He's got muscles everywhere that he didn't have before. She's got him rating his trot extremely well. When she asks him to extend it's beautiful. His canter is much more consistent but goodness he covers some ground. They'll start on some ground poles probably next week then on to crossrails and grids. Yay!
Buy a trailer - I need a bigger slant load trailer. I've also got a plan to help pay for it. We have a gal locally who rents horse trailers. I've rented from her many times and kinda kept an eye on it to see how her equipment held up. It's been looking pretty good so I've talked to her about a partnership. She owns the company and does the advertising and arranges the rentals. She would rent my trailer and I would make 75% of the rental fee for each booking. My only additional expense is insurance which I'd need to have anyway. Pretty good deal...and the best part is the tax deductions for owning my own business. I'll make more there because of being able to write of some of the costs than I probably will for the rentals themselves.
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