Day 108

Ever had a day that's completely unbelievable?
That happened to me today.

It was the strangest thing. I was thinking about Andre more than usual today, and as we were reminiscing about him on the way home, my mom got a call from an unknown number. Jokingly, I said "Hey, it's Andre, call him back!" So she did.

It was Andre.

I couldn't believe it! I screamed when I heard it was him! I've missed him so much, despite the tiny falling out he had with my family. He's essentially taught me all that I know and I definitely couldn't have gotten as far as I have with Harry, or even Brie for that matter, if it were not for him. I can't even conceptualize how lucky I am to have had him as a mentor from such a young age, pretty much turning me into a horse trainer at age 12, giving my brother and me his secrets, jokingly telling us that we would be his legacy.

He has a couple of clients and has built an indoor on his property, and his Querida has turned all white and birthed a foal a couple months ago! His own baby is getting big, now at 13 months. It's hard to imagine that we've been on our own for over a year now and are doing so well, also owning a third horse!

Away from the shock of the day, onto training. I started and worked Brie first. Her legs are looking kind of stocky. Is it possible that's from cantering? Do horses' legs do that when they're being trained to canter? Am I doing something wrong and over-stressing her muscles? I'll have to do some research. We mostly walked and corto'd today, and she picked up her own canter while she was on a loose rein. It was a fantastic speed too! But I had her stop after a couple of strides, not wanting to agitate her legs any further.

No Nina. Again.

Harry was significantly better today. They are all definitely happier once they've had their playtime outside first. He was not as collected, but at least he wasn't goofing around with his back legs today. We have a good three, maybe four more months to figure him out for show season, so I plan on taking things slowly.