Odds and Ends March ’09
March 17, 2009
by Lauri Kiger
wow, it’s been awhile since anyone has blogged for Legacy. actually there’s like three drafts saved that no one ever finished… apparently we’re all easily distracted around here?
anyway, 2009 is FLYING for us. we took some time off at the beginning of the year, since frozen ground made schooling difficult and we all run into each other if we all try to ride in the indoor. but it’s warming up here in PA (a high of 63 tomorrow!) so we’re getting back into shape and preparing for the spring and summer show seasons.
pretty much the biggest news around here revolves around our babies. first off, congrats to Katie Sheppard on her purchase of one of our youngstock, König L. we hope to see them in the Grand Prix arena one day! our youngstock have been keeping us on our feet. the two-year-old colts seem to have, er, “woken up” this spring. they all think they’re stallions and have become more of a handful than ever before. to my shock, Zee has undergone the most drastic change, and his was downward: he QUIETED DOWN. he’s still a dork and will yank an arm out of its socket if a mare gets too close while he’s being led without a shank, but he’s actually quite the personable young thing, and has decent manners. I confess that one of my biggest worries for the past two years has been breaking Zee to saddle, and I decided to be ahead of the game. he’s growing like a weed and I don’t want to deal with trying to saddle a jumpy 17-hand three-year-old, so I’ve been saddling him up this year and leading him around in full tack. he looks hysterical, since he’s so slender that he has to wear a pony saddle, and he’s nearly 16 hands and it looks ridiculous on him, but he wears tack like a pro. I still think he’ll be an adventure to ride, but hopefully now it will be a side effect of his personality rather than his dorky spooking habit.
is it obvious that I have a favourite baby horse?
our other youngstock deserve a mention, too. Alleria L (Excalibur x Altara [Zee's momma]) has lived up to her family name: she was visited by the farrier for the first time this week, and he issued a desperate plea that she develop manners before he visits again. I wasn’t present for her trimming but apparently she pulled a total Zee, spooked at every tool he approached her with, flat out refused to lift her feet for anyone other than Derian (he was not thrilled), and got so upset that she spooked forward at one point and pulled free of the cross-ties. frankly, though, I was surprised by this news. Alleria is very well-mannered usually, and not at all spooky like her big brother… usually.
what else to report? we have a new horse in our hunter string, a gorgeous (I guess the hunter world would say “fancy?”) Holsteiner mare called Vienna. Macy (O’Shale) is utterly thrilled with her; they’re debuting the RWH division at the WEF Tournament of Champions in April. we actually have a decent string of hunters now: Haylie and Paradigm are moving up to the Small Juniors this year (though Haylie says it’s just an experiment; she’s considering quitting the hunters altogether to focus on her jumping and eventing careers, much to Macy’s dismay), Macy is taking Paradigm to SYG, and Silver is continuing in the RWH. oh, and Haylie is competing in the Large Pony division with Sir Robin again. (I suggested that if she wants to get out of hunters we should consider either leasing him out or trying him as a jumper, but she refused. sometimes I wonder about that girl.)
but I digress. if you’re still reading this by now, you deserve a cookie (out of Zee’s nipping range), because I’ve rambled.
happy almost-spring! (Derian says “false.”)
Lauri
