Day Two: Snow Can Be Scary. 

Snow fell off the roof of the indoor today and Belle was under the impression that the sky was falling. I forgot she hasn't been ridden in there in over three years!

No crow-hopping today. We had a nice free walk until the snow came off the roof... We worked on 20m circles and freeing up her shoulder for the rest of the ride.

Had a nice walk out on the hill.

And so it begins!


 Day One: The Fat Mare Went For A Walk 

And wasn't wicked impressed... But she was sound! After two laps of crow hopping, followed a couple of lame spooks she did have several nice moments. Bending through her neck and back, she was very supple for a horse that has had over three years off! We also had some nice collected and extended walks. She was happy to stretch out and go for a quiet walk up the hill to end. All and all I'd say day one was a successes!

Other Notables:

The dressage saddle I bought fit her nicely. The leather is phenomenal, and it is wicked comfortable! It is a lovely dark brown, despite how red it looks in the photo.

Belle's mane was pulled, much to her distaste.

I managed to patch her mangled blanket! Whoza!

She ate her supplements and bute like a pro. She's on MSM, BL solution (Which is a wonder worker I swear!), ShoGlo, Quiescence, Tract Guard and 1/2 cup of sunflower seeds. Along with a handful of E-tec to make her think she's actually getting something nice...

Selfies where taken... And I realized that Miss Belle looks like she's pregnant with twins.

Still on the lookout for a brown flash bridle and 28" brown dressage girth!

Let's backtrack... Ok, so more about me. My name's Brooke and I am the barn manager at Lucky Clover Stables in Sanford, ME. My parents own the facility... It's a pretty cool gig, I wont lie. We're mainly a hunter/jumper farm, we compete locally and on the A circuit. I've had loads of experience in the hunter, jumper and equitation rings. I did the Junior eqs on my Hanoverian gelding, Pal. The hunters on our welsh/arab mare Breezy and other horses at our farm. Lastly, I did the childrens jumpers on Belle, the inspiration for this blog. 

Well... My little sister took over Pal when I went to college, Breezy still competes on the circuit with her leaser, and Belle was retired four years ago... Until today, of course. 

I currently have a six year old ottb gelding by the name of Felix who is my next up and coming, and a crotch rocket of a arab that wants to do the jumpers... We'll just have to see where those two lead. 

So heres the scoop on Belle. I bought her as a jumper  prospect. She was hot, opinionated, hard mouthed and too smart for her own good. She had been pushed over fences too young, and bitted up too quickly. Despite her attitude and her shoddy training she was a trier, and while she was one of the toughest horse I'd ever sat on, I was quite taken by her.

Three years of blood, swat and tears later I had a kick ass jumper. Belle schooled in a snaffle and showed in a hackamore. She was point n' shoot to 4' fences and had an auto swap. Finally, I had the horse of my dreams underneath me. 

Two days before we planned to leave for Vermont Summer Festival, Belle came in hopping lame from her paddock. A thousand dollars worth of x-rays later, it had been revealed that my mare had fractured her coffin bone. She would never jump again.

A year of stall rest, corrective shoeing and various therapies later, Belle was deemed 'pasture sound.' A year after that and fresh x-rays Belle was considered sound for 'light riding.' Just last week Belle's evaluation showed no more degeneration of the coffin bone and we got the go ahead to do moderate flat work.

So guess what? Belle and I are learning dressage! A hunter/jumper kid by trade on a rehabbed ex-jumper? They say anyone can learn dressage, and it is the basis of all riding... All I can say is I'm ready for the adventure!

 

Welcome! This is the first post! So exciting! This blog is about the rehab and return of my retired jumper mare, Belle, to the show ring... We're heading into new and uncharted territories... Dressage! I will give you a bit of our back story later, but for now enjoy some pics of my girl.