I'd Take A Carrot Like This Back To The Store

I promised myself I wouldn't do it. I already had a perfectly good carrot stick and not everything has to match. So no, I wouldn't do it. Nope. Not happening. No.

But I couldn't help myself.

A BLUE carrot stick? My word! But I just had to have it. I think it's part of the fun of horse-ownership, matching everything you can. Most of my brushes aren't royal blue, but everything else can be. Why not? I had a coupon and I can use my blue string to make everything really coordinated.

They really put a lot of work into it. Even the divots in the handle (for grip) are Parelli horse heads. And of course "Parelli" is emblazoned all over the thing.

I still think it looks cool.

I haven't had too many chances to play with it. I've been feeling sick for most of this week. On Monday we did some jumping and went for a walk on the road. The deer carcass was gone, but Royal still gave that area the stick eye. Tuesday was really warm (50!) and the horses were sweaty just from standing around. Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday were freezing cold and I couldn't stand being outside for more than a few minutes. Where did winter come from? Saturday was better. My Game of Contact DVD set come earlier in the week, so I'd been watching that and get lots of ideas for things to try. But Royal made me eat some humble pie.

Often, the things I think are going to take us a long time to figure out often only take a few minutes and the thing I think will only take a few minutes take a few hours. Such is life, and I still have not learned my lessons well. I started off doing some bit isolation with Royal (teaching him to stretch down into the bit) on the ground, and about thirty seconds in, we both hear a crack. Oh no, not Needle-Dick! Yes, and he was just getting started. For the next two hour, echoing cracks sounded throughout the arena as I tried (and mostly failed) to convince Royal that the world was not ending. It took about an hour and a half before he calmed down and realized that bit = stretch. No riding, as I wanted to quit on a halfway sane note.

Today my friend came out to the farm to meet Royal and do some riding. Royal was very well behaved and even my dad's horse BJ got in on the action. Much fun was had by all (except for a bit of unpleasantness at the end) and I think I can make my last day of vacation count. And then, back to school. Sigh. :(