During Valentines weekend I wet home to see my bf Alex, and he took me to go see Yankee!!!! Well, I made some pretty hard decisions based on what I felt and saw that Sunday.
- He wouldnt come to me in the field. WTF. He never ever has done that! EVER!
- He was incredibly cranky. My boy never nips, and he tried quite a few times, even when I offered his favorite peppermint treats. I was sad.
- He was cranky in the barn too, again he loves being brushed ad loved and all he had to give me was nasty looks.
- His back was super sore. I know why too and the situation wont get better.
- His did not want to go in the arena, this tells me he was a) sore b) tired of the arena
- His gaits were crap. Plain and simple. Could have been that I was riding badly because of my injury, but I ighly doubt me not being able to use my left leg made him tranter.
- Almost the entire ride he had his ears back. AGAIN, very unlike him
I was concerned.
So I thought long and hard for two days including many things in the equation of my thinking. I wont go into details but mostly included my injury, our season this summer, money and his conditioning and current soreness.
This led me to Lauren Stewart, a VERY good friend and rider of mine. I asked her if she would be willing to take over from Grace’s duties of keeping Yankee sound and fit. Grace recently got a new job 
but with that less time to ride my boo, and I’m CERTAIN he is sick of an arena. Yankee is so used to running around outside conditioning and stuff and not doing dressage every time he is ridden. So its time for a change. A good change.
Sometime in the first few weeks of March we are moving him to Tiffin college so Lauren can take over preparing him for our upcoming season. I’m pretty happy with our arrangement. Mother has agreed to help me out and pay all his bills for me since I am unable to work, but as soon as I get back to work I am going to take over again.
Things are looking up and I hope they stay that way!!!
My boy and I
I thought this was a cool pic of our canter