Dressage at Devonwood and Gabriel Donatello

I went to Devonwood this past weekend to fund raise for the Region 6 Young Riders. I haven't counted yet but I believe I made about $150 over the weekend, plus or minus a few. Not bad considering I was the only one there. Catherine offered use of her Revere booth for me to fundraise out of, which made sitting in the 102 degree weather at least bearable, having her to talk to and keep me company. Overall I believe it was a pretty successful show for the Young Riders.

At the show you can see the Terrace Arena and half the Sand Arena from where we were in the Vendor area, so it was cool to be able to watch people we know without having to really go anywhere. On the downside, there was a pretty Dutch mare by Houston who looked almost exactly like Lipton and everytime I saw her she made me wish that he was there and that I was riding instead of fundraising. It's only been a month and I already miss showing so much. I would like to fastforward the next 5 months so that my horse is rideable again and we can train to PSG and get to Young Riders next year.

On the note of Gabriel Donatello, we've begun the hardcore process of backing him. A few weeks ago I layed over him while he was standing at the mounting block. Today, I stood full-weight into the left stirrup and he just stood there, perfectly fine. I also layed over him and Emma lead him around the arena a few times, gradually further and further from the block. Yet again, he was perfectly fine. After that, Emma long-lined him to work on steering. He was amazingly amazing. He seems to really want to do his job, and I never thought I'd be this proud of him.

Anyways, that's about it for what I've been up to. I'm headed off to work for Carolynn this weekend at the Donida Summer Show. The sign-ups thing has actually been going really well. There were tons of sign-ups at Champagne Classic which left us running around everywhere. I was supposed to fundraise all weekend and wound up taking pictures instead. Ah, well, money for Young Riders vs. Money for Me. I choose Money for me.

It Finally Happened...

The vet came out to see Lipton on Tuesday, and we discovered one of our worst fears. He hasn't torn anything, but his Deep Digital Flexor Tendon is so weak that we have to treat it like it's torn. It was confirmed that he is made of cotton candy and eggshells.

So he's on 6 months of rehab and he's walk only until about 3 and a half months into the whole thing. He can't be seriously worked again until freaking JANUARY. So I don't get to show until next year, at least not anything more than 4-H and In-Hand. This has sent me into a spin of not wanting to do anything anymore. The barn is the last place I want to be right now, but I know I don't have a choice, especially since I'm moving in there on Monday.

This is going to be a very long six months, and I'd rather it be over right now. =(