2016?

 The Odd Couple's 2015 year end awards.

 

We had a busy 2015, to include closing it out with another cross country move and an awesome horse property. 

 Prizes.

The Odd Couple did extremely well this year, and I am very proud of both of my mares.  Mochi started the year with me still unsure of exactly how she worked and ended the year with two Combined Training Championship division wins.  We also tried our hand at a 10 mile intro ride at a distance ride, schooled xc, went to the beach, and spent a lot of time in dressage lessons.  Unfortunately, her year isn't starting off great with this mystery lameness.  We will do whatever we have to do to get it figured out and get her feeling better. 

Klein started off great in 2015.  She was consistently scoring low on her USEA Training Level dressage tests and going double clear in her 3'3" stadium rounds at CT shows.  I took her to a Grand Prix Jumper Trainer's barn in Orlando for a weekend and we had a wake up call.  That weekend changed my mental game in the ring, and I will never forget it.  Thank you Carlo Graziani! 

Klein and I fell out of sync a little bit in the spring, thanks to me.  She was trying to tell me something and made sure I stopped to listen.  I spent time fixing my accuracy and we got our mojo back.  I gave her most of the summer as down time since the heat and bugs of the South Georgia summer were an absolutely miserable mix for her.  In August I started to bring her back into work with easy hacks and some dressage work when one day I noticed she wasn't sweating like normal.  The South Georgia summer finally got her after three years.  She had a mild case of anhidrosis and that made me instantly get over living in the heat.  Luckily, One AC had Klein back to normal in three and a half days.  We did the loading dose recommendations for three weeks and then got back to work and finished our season out on a high note with some of the best rides we have ever had together.

Wes had a great year too, doing whatever the hell he feels like.  23 years old looks amazing on him, and he feels great too.  He looks after the girls and enjoys things like regular chiro adjustment/massages.  The cross country move was stressful for him, but once he was reunited with the girls he was back to his normal routine and all was well.


For 2016, I have a lot of options...  My plans aren't concrete yet because we have only been here for 32 days, and I am still studying the show calendars for this year and mapping everything out.  My rough plan is to get Klein back to a couple recognized HT's this year at Novice.  Get to some Prelim CTs with her, and...I have always thought it would be fun to do a long format.  A friend mentioned long format the other day and it got me thinking again...there is one not far from us in the fall that has a Novice long format.  They are rare these days, and that is our only chance this year that is close, unless we want to do a road trip.  So, I think I want to go for it, it would be fun, Klein would love it!  I also already have a couple clinics planned that I'm going to take her to with 4* riders.

Moch...aside from obviously getting her lameness issue solved ASAP, once she is feeling better, get her back in shape, get to some Starter HTs and hopefully BN by the fall.

Wes, my sweet Wes.  Whatever makes Wes happy aka his mares to look after, plenty of room for his daily morning roll, a himalayan salt lick in his stall (courtesy of his Auntie), freely grazing in the front yard, and getting whatever extra snacks he can off The Other Half!

Love!