An Amazing Day

As I was free lunging the horses in the big pasture this morning, I noticed Maark & Lady snorting & trotting. Luckily I had my camera in my pocket. It was so amazing to see them trotting free & easy after such a rough start in CA. Maark was so full of himself he even galloped, although I didn't get a picture of that. Poor Lady was having a hard time keeping up with the flying gelding. Maark has a big, powerful, ground covering stride. Lady has unbelievable hock action. Both are gorgeous to watch. I really can't describe the feeling as I watched them move. Just a week ago I was unsure they had a future. Today I saw that they do indeed have a long future ahead of them. To celebrate I cheated on their low starch, low sugar diet & gave them each an apple. Boy did they savor the taste, chewing with eyes closed.

Because I have a few of my homebred horses who are overweight, I've started almost all my horses on exercise programs. I've learned so much from Maark & Lady. I think the most important lesson though is that it's so hard not to "kill them with kindness" & I never want to do that. Hindsight indicates that I've been very lucky over the years because I've always been generous with feed. Of course I've also always kept most of my horses working, but there are a few who haven't been worked & on the scale they sure show it. No more! Now that I have new knowledge I'm going to use it to keep my horses safe & healthy.

As I reflect on the last 2 weeks it's amazing at how far Lady & Maark have come. While I attribute their success to 2 wonderful trimmers, I do feel some satisfaction in knowing that I had a hoof in getting them on the trail to good health.