A Much Belated Post

I wrote comments in response to your last post that vanished into the internet-sphere. Apparently, I have to be more careful in making sure they publish! Sorry about that. You must think we've fallen off the side of the earth.
Darr is doing well. We haven't been riding him, but we do check in on him when we are at the barn and I understand that he has been getting exercised by a few different people under Erin's guidance.

Quick news:
* Erin reports that she's had a few different riders try him out to see who might be a good fit, possibly for a lease. She has one girl in mind, who is college age, I believe. She said that she would try to get a hold of you to discuss a possible lease (that was on the weekend, actually).
* He's had his feet done again.
* He tore one of his blankets and we're going to have a seamstress friend look at it for repair. Sebastian used to tear his, too, so we're used to this! .
* His leather halter was temporarily lost in the paddock. The piece on the underside (analagous to the throat latch) has gone MIA. We'll take a look at Greenhawk to see if we can find a replacement piece.

That's it for now. We'll aim to report here more regularly.

Any Updates?

How are things going at Top of the Hill?  I hope Sarah has recovered from her flu, its causing some havoc this year I hear.

Catching Up... a few posts behind

We are behind in our Darr posts! It’s been a busy time with work, school , Christmas parties, shopping and traveling to the States.  Sarah rode Darr on Monday, December 17th – walk, trot and canter. We were working around a lesson, so there was a lot of stop-and-go, but she got a couple solid canters in, consisting of a few laps each.  On Wednesday, December 19^th, we had an excellent lesson with Erin.  We worked on trotting, including small circles at 3, 6, 9 and 12 on the clock, and a few laps of controlled canter (as opposed to more “open canter” that Sarah tends toward in our training rides. We had a good chat with Erin at the end of the lesson about bits, and controlling Darr since he is so strong and wanting to go fast (and if he were jumping, to probably go BIG).  Jenny, this is a great time for you to jump into the conversation with Erin.

We also handed over the reins to Erin, in terms of Darr’s exercise while we are in Florida. We figured that she is the best judge of who in the barn is a suitable rider for Darr, so she will look after arranging that in our absence. She knows that Jenny is coming on the 24^th and that Victoria may visit, too.

We will be missing riding while we are away! Happy holidays to everyone. Pleased keep us posted J 

Boots!

So good news, I have located my Boogaloo boots for Darr which are great boots and easy to use, so I will leave them at the barn when I go on the 24th!

Any recent news?

It is a winter wonderland here so we will make our way carefully home after work today.  Yay for Christmas holidays!

Christmas Eve Day Ride?

I am wondering if Darr might be available to be ridden on the 24th, maybe midmorning - midafternoon? 

We are heading straight to Parry Sound for next weekend, and then will be en route to Hawkestone Monday morning.  We drive quite close to the barn so I was thinking I could come to the barn and ride on my way.

Do you know if Erin is around at all over Christmas? 

A quick Training Note

In today's news, just a short update:

* Sarah rode Darr on Monday evening - the usual walk, trot, canter. Still light on the canter - a few individual laps in each direction - and he is still raring to go :)

* Sarah had a light ride tonight and we chatted with Erin about bits, lunging, draw reins and the like, as well as plans over Christmas. We'll keep you posted on those fronts.

* We are looking forward to building up his cantering time gradually (despite his protests otherwise; he's apparently building up his fitness by getting some galloping exercise in the paddock :) ).

* Darr's fitness appears to be excellent, judging by his respiratory health and lack of sweating (I re-read the article you sent about Reconditionging Your Horse After Lay-Up, to see what we should be looking for).

* Erin's description of Darr is "that's a lot of horse". She is referring, of course, to his obvious athletecism.  Me, I just think he is extremely cute and worthy of many treats.

A Visit from Victoria

Today we were delighted to welcome Victoria and Richard to Top of the Hill for a visit with Darrington. Victoria had a walk-trot-canter session with Darr, with many pats, many carrots and a few ginger snap cookies. No wonder he is such a happy guy. 

It was interesting for us to hear first-hand about Victoria's experiences with Darr over the last three years, what life is like at her home stable and Darr's hunter and jumper career. It was a treat for Sarah to see how Darr looks from the ground, too, with a rider who is so familiar with him.  Certainly there is an obvious bond between Darr and Victoria; he was even perkier than usual (granted, there were lots of carrots involved, and we certainly support carrots). Victoria shared several great pix of Darr that she had on her phone and we especially loved a picture of Darr rolling on his back, all four legs in the air.

We're using the same French-link bit that Victoria does. We asked how she managed his "restless" moments, when he really wants to go, go, go. Victoria noted that a little lunging and lots of cantering time worked well for her with Darr. So, we've decided that perhaps the solution to his excitement lately his isn't a different bit, but simply more time cantering as soon as he is he's ready. Certainly Sarah's had good luck "riding the sillies" out of horses in the past in order to find a calmer place, and  accordingly, that's the philosophy we're going to work with for the time being.

Darr's grain was Purina Elite while he was with Victoria. I see from the Purina site that Elite is the feed line intended for equine athletes (horses, not people), so we'll discuss that with Erin, particularly as Darr begins doing more work in the new year and months ahead. We learned that he is quite fond of Tim's apple cider, as well as slightly overcooked ginger snaps. Also, we need to keep an eye on Darr during especially hot weather in the summer in order to minimize the effects of heat stress. There were many other little notes, too many to mention here, but it was certainly was both a helpful and pleasant visit.

We certainly hope that Victoria will be able to make return visits over the Christmas Break, despite the rather long drive.