summer updates

by Lauri.

wow, it’s been ages since anyone’s posted to Legacy’s blog. I guess we’ve all been busy with sumertime–extra chores since the stalls must be cleaned the instant manure hits the ground or else flies come and I go insane, showing, and, biggest of all, baby training!

yes, it’s true. my little babies are all grown up! well, almost. Azereos, Iliachenva’ar, Kirsdarke, and Lorelia have all been started under saddle within the past few months. as usual, the job of training was divided up amongst several of us, to keep the work load manageable–and hopefully keep us all in one piece. Macy (O’Shale) took on the job of riding her darling Iliavchenva’ar, who’s been an angel as expected. Karai (Marcani) has handled Kirsdarke since birth, and was beyond thrilled that she was able to start him–he’s the first baby she ever trained from the ground up. Lorelia doesn’t quite have the substance necessary to carry her usual handler, Derian, so he’s been handling her groundwork while Haylie has served as her first rider.

naturally, it’s fallen to me to ride my dearest Zee (Azereos L). in all seriousness, he’s been a surprisingly uncomplicated guy to start–all four of them have, actually. the first day I climbed into the saddle (and by that I mean for real, feet in stirrups, butt in saddle, hoping he wouldn’t throw me sky-high), he was too busy chewing the bit to care that I was up there. (ever since the first time I bridled him–that was over a year ago–he’s convinced that all bits should taste like molasses, even though he hasn’t had molasses on his bit since that first time.) he never even needed to be led: he had enough experience ground-driving that it took very little encouragement at all to get him to walk out, and he found his balance quickly, with no spooking or bucking. he’s already well on his way to being a fantastic riding horse: we have our first under-saddle show, at which we’re doing an intro level walk-trot dressage test, less than a week from now, and less than 90 days since Zee first carried a rider.

hmm, what else is new here? well, Katie (Had Me At Hello) has finally made the big switch: she was our one and only western horse, but she was sorely neglected and getting a bit fat, so she joined the ranks of the English mounts. to nobody’s surprise, she didn’t even blink an eye at the discipline change. one day she was chasing down cattle (or whatever it is that Jared used to do with her), and the next, Macy had her hopping cross-rails like any old schoolmaster. she’s been for sale for some months now, but that may change now. it turns out our newest event rider, Lindzey Bryant, has a younger sister who adores horses. when Lindzey asked if she would like to join our show team, it was an enthusiastic yes! Katie and her new friend Mikayla will be making their grand debut in the Short Stirrup Hunter division at Riverwalk’s Hunter Schooling Show on August 6th. I think Lindzey is more nervous than Mikayla, and Katie’s just in it for the pats and carrots.

HOW COULD I FORGET? we also have NEW BABIES at Legacy! Ramadi (Silverdown x Kalaja) arrived at the end of July, and Zayna (Silverdown x Zytka) followed this morning (August 2nd). we had planned all along to keep Ramadi, but Zayna was for sale in-utero… unfortunately no one bought her. and now she’s here and she’s WAY TOO CUTE TO SELL.

okay, that’s enough updates for now. I need to go make sure no flies have arrived while I’ve been typing.