Hello horse world!

It has been a hot minute since I have given you an update from my world, and there have been some big changes since I last seized the blog.

In the summer of 2022 as I was getting back into work after my winter off, Mom came up lame. She must not have a very good vet since it took a long time for the doctors to decide what was wrong with her. She tried medicine (I often wonder if dad mixes it with applesauce and squirts it in her mouth), but it didn’t help. I heard her mention injections and a fancy word “ablation,” but in the end, I had to put her out to pasture.

Thought I was going to enjoy early retirement…I was wrong. Mom decided that I should help someone else learn dressage. She screened a bunch of candidates and I got to interview six. Interviews are hard. I liked most everyone, but not everyone liked me. Maybe it was the fact that I threw some challenges at their skills. I am clever like that.

In any case, last November, I met Hanna and her trainer Nicki. I tried to do a sneaky spook, but Nicki caught me. Darn. She is a clever one. They were both really nice and I liked how they asked me to do things. It was the hardest I had worked in a long time and I was very tired. Everyone agreed with me that Hanna was the best candidate.

I moved to their farm in December. Mom packed like I was headed to summer camp. She cried a lot but I promised to do my best and make her proud.

Hanna is a great Auntie. She clipped my long winter coat rather than keeping me feral like mom did; it tickled but I was a good boy and think I look pretty good. She even got me a spiffy new sheet with seahorses on it. Her mom and dad got me a cool halter for Christmas so they must like me too. Mom sent yummy snacks.

Hanna calls me a unicorn which I think is a good thing. Since moving, I have new friends and have tried things called ice boots. Now they aren’t like mom’s boots at all. Mom would look pretty funny in these boots.

They have an indoor so Hanna and I will practice all winter. Here are a couple of videos of Hanna and me.

I hear I might get to go to some new shows next year. I hope they have the stalls I like that let me look around. Maybe I will get to one of those victory laps when everybody cheers for you and you get a fancy ribbon.

Well, I guess that is all for now. Stop by and say hi to me if you are in the area!

Ike