And We're Back!

Oh my goodness, can you believe it's been almost 2 months since I've posted?

Well a lot has happened...all good. :)

At the end of October I moved from Wilmington, NC to Charleston, SC. Justin's parents and sister live nearby and I got an AWESOME job offer from a great marketing agency in town so we decided to move. It all happened really quick and the reason I couldn't talk about it, is because Justin wanted to work through the end of November. I didn't want to "give it away."

I also got engaged at the end of November!! woo hoo! We went on a cruise to the Bahamas and Justin proposed on the cruise. We have not officially set a date but we're thinking April of 2013.

Here's my ring.

I moved down Friday, October 28 and Grayson came down the following morning. I feel bad for the poor guy, he's been moved so much in the past year but handles it fairly well. I'm hoping we're at our new place for the long haul.

The barn is about 30 minutes away (the only bummer) but the care is the best he's ever had and the place is very well kept. 

Because of moving, the sun setting before I get off work and no indoor arena, I haven't been doing very much with my pal and I miss that. I definitely think writing on my blog and reading everyone else's blog gives me some accountability. Grayson and I are both happier when he's doing a little something.

The owner of the barn was determined to put some weight on Grayson before winter. I like my slim, trim boy but I LOVE my guy with some weight. He has very little muscle but he's developed a nice horse sized butt.

I need to get some good body shots for you guys but for now, you'll just have to look at him in his new rain sheet. I love the red and black!

Everything was going great until I got back from my cruise. Grayson is usually calm and ready for anything but something happened and he was explosive! Almost scary to me...he would buck at the walk...even bareback so it's not the saddle. And he would just blow up in hand. My first thoughts were he wanted more hay and he was just bored  (he was kept by himself) but the barn owner suggested the feed. He is getting more feed than he's ever gotten but she's decided to switch him to something else. In addition to switching feed, he's now in with two other horses and they have plenty of hay and some grass. Since the changes, he's been much better but he definitely needs to get back to his job (which is? ha ha! whatever fun thing I decide we're in to that week) Anyhow, I was getting panicked that my lovely horse was becoming high maintenance. :)

I'm glad to be back and I hope you haven't forgotten about me.

Win a De La Coeur Fly Bonnet

Okay so I may not have an English saddle right now but I'm dying for a new leather saddle...someday (hopefully soon) I'll be able to prep out Grayson...a new fly bonnet would definitely tie the look together.

Go try and win a De La Coeur fly bonnet for your pony!

Grayson said he wants a fancy fly bonnet...not a cheapo one. :)

Sometimes My Dreams Are Like This! :) Ha ha!

This was part of a Disney Sing-Along-Songs VHS I had as a kid. I stumbled upon it the other day and was so excited. Did any of you guys have those Disney song tapes? I loved 'em!

A Successful Trailer Loading Update

Hey guys...I know you're all probably sick of hearing about my trailer loading escapades, right? :)

Well I found a local professional on Facebook that said she worked on a flat fee and guaranteed her work...plus it's never taken her more than 2 hours.

I contacted her through Facebook to ask about her techniques, her schedule, etc...

Things sounded ideal so I scheduled her to come out today and here's what I got (I know the picture is dark but you can see his stockings)...

Woo hoo! She definitely had to work for it but she used the whole "the only place you can rest is the trailer" technique...which I believe is what Kate used with Lucy.

We loaded him (I even did it a few times) about a dozen times today. She said I might need to do a reminder lesson with him sometime in the future but it wont take anywhere near as long. And after watching her for two hours...I definitely have a good idea of what to do.

I think my pony is going to sleep well tonight. I know I will. :)

I'm going to load him again on Wednesday to make sure it's not a fluke! And if he does give me any sort of sass, it'll be the perfect time and location to fix it since we wont have any where to go.

Lesson learned: it's okay to ask a professional for help. I should've done this months ago.

Twitter?

Are any of you guys on Twitter? I've been on Twitter for years but I never use it.

If you are on Twitter...follow me @jkurpiew

Stick With What's Fun

I haven't been posting much but I've been spending plenty of time with G. The vet decided to extend his antibiotics out another week so I've been going out twice a day for three weeks. It's been bittersweet. I enjoy seeing the horses in the morning but I dislike going out in work clothes...plus my hair always got frizzy from the humidity! On a sidenote... his socket it doing well!

So I was lunging Grayson the other day and I realized that we were both miserable with it...we were both giving each other the stink eye. I've never liked lunging a horse...although I do like other kinds of groundwork. I think I get bored with it...

It dawned on me so quickly that I just stopped what we were doing, grabbed his bridle and my helmet and went for a bareback jaunt. Within a minute we were both back to ourselves. I've done this several times in the past 2.5 years we've been together...I try to force things that neither of us like doing.

So for the past week, I've been riding him bareback for 20 minutes or so. I love love love riding bareback in the fall with the sun setting. I also forgot how awesome Grayson's steering is...I'm continuously surprised by how soft he is...even in the bitless bridle. We do circles around trees, figure 8s, 5 loop serpentines and the old "turn right at that weed and then a left at the next one...halt...okay now back back back." ha ha!

I've also been absent from posting because we have a big life change going on...I can't reveal any details just yet but it's good! :)

Thoughts and Prayers for Andrea and Gogo

Like many other horse bloggers out there, my thoughts and prayers are with Andrea and Gogo today.

You two are both awesome ladies and a wonderful team.