It's been over a year since my last journal post!

Well, last year I got a horse that was mine mine mine. Ha. Not my family's. Mine.

I also went to college in Kentucky and took Kahlua (my mare) with me.
Learned a lot of things both in and out of class.
About people. And horse people.
And about how you HAVE to do you homework regarding your boarding options, training options, HAY options and everything else related to your horse.

I moved home to take this semester off due to tuition costs but start up again in the springtime.
My mare is staying on my family's acreage, pasture boarded.
This winter I will pick out my hay supplier. I will pick out EACH roundbale I provide. I will hand select EACH orchard grass/timothy square bale I purchase (just for treats and particularly cold days).

I'm doing my homework this time around because I got screwed over with my boarding barn (even though I've seen my fair share of them and worked at two). I got screwed over on my winter hay supply, but I worked it out.

Also, due to moving my mare several times, and having next to no consistency, AND a riding accident in the spring that shook my nerves, I'm starting to do my homework on who I want to send her to to have her broken in. Ideally, I want to send her off for 60 days to a local trainer. I'd like to do this for December and January, or January and February, so I have her inside and being worked in the winter and being stuffed full of top quality hay. Most place I've looked at have EXCELLENT hay, free choice in the stall and in the field, and a very nice light graining schedule. I'd like my mare to be able to eat all the good hay she wants while she's in training, and especially in the winter. At the end of 60 days, if the price is right and she's doing well, I'd also like to tack on another 30 days before I bring her home. I'm interested in winter training so I have the spring and summer to work with her at home.

So, that's it right now. Getting ready to put her through consistent training very soon. Other than that, it's just life at the barn. Feeding, lungeing, trimming, grooming, cleaning and riding.