Taters' Vacation Home

Ok, Ok, I haven't updated in forever. There are many reasons for this. Mainly because I am a teacher and the end of the school year was CRAZY! Then it was the first week of summer and I was driving up and down the west coast (of NY haha) daily and have been BUSY!!!

Also, I fell off Taters pretty bad at the end of May and could not ride for a little bit, then her LH was swollen again, then school ended....so she hasn't been asked to do very much lately.

Which is all about to change BECAUSEEEEEEE.....

Taters is in her vacation home! Now, most people live in Buffalo and have a vacation home in Chautauqua. Taters and I live in Chautauqua, so we have a vacation home in Buffalo. Specifically, Taters' vacation home is in Orchard Park at Skibbereen Farm.

Now, most of you would say, "Kim, what the hell? Since when does Taters need a vacation home...you have only been riding her a few days a week and you are barely even cantering and jumping. The last thing your horse needs is a vaycay!"

Well most of you, the location is not the only thing that is the opposite of normal.

Taters vacation = BOOT CAMP!!!!!!!!

Skib is my "home farm." Before I moved to Chautauqua I worked and rode there for quite a few years. I am one of those people who has ridden EVERYWHERE and worked almost everywhere. As soon as I came to Skib I knew it was "my barn."

Anyway, here I am my 4th year doing their summer camp program with Taters by my side. This barn has it all: tons of great boarders, a fairly large lesson program, summer camp kids running around and about 35 horses.

Taters year round home consists of a quiet boarder barn of 8 (and 2 miniature donkeys that confuse her).

VERY DIFFERENT! haha. Anyway, Taters has not decided how she feels about this yet. She went from virtually no stimulation and riding by ourselves most of the time to complete overload. She doesn't know what to look at first!

Today was her first full day and she got turned out with Grace and Hailey. She started trotting around with her tail up in the air like I have never seen before! I thought she transformed into an arab! Hailey and Grace were looking at her like she was an idiot and just kept eating. Stoney in the pasture next to her had a different idea though. The two of them must have had racetrack flashbacks because suddenly they were racing each other up and down the fence so they came in.

After about half an hour she went back out again, trotted back and forth a few times, then settled down and ate some grass until the boys started running a few hours later. The bugs are so bad right now, so I can only assume that is why the boys started running.

So then when I finished camp I gave Taters a full tour of the farm. We walked around the indoor (she was just as confused about the ponies as she is about the donkeys...She acts like she has never seen a pony before!), then we walked around the outdoor. The sprinkler was on and she could not have cared less! The good thing about Taters is that when she is surrounded by other horses doing their job, she follows suit and does her job. The downfall is that when other horses find something to spook at, you better believe she is freaking out too.

She stood in the middle of the ring with me for awhile as a few other horses worked around her. She was a bit impatient (she wanted to see more, she is very curious about things), but overall good.  We walked over some colorful poles and hung out by some jump standards for a bit. Assuming that she reacts the same way during her outdoor walk tomorrow I will definitely at the very least w/t her around the ring.

This was long because it was 2 months overdue! I promise there won't be that much time between posts again! (I say that like anyone actually reads this thing! HA!)