Jan 1, 2019

The last practice of the year was attended by a nice group of Val, Jon, Tommy, Linda, Carly, Jenny and myself and Matt standing in the coach.

Possum was awesome. He is catching on quickly. Linda and I were the first two in the ring and I got him through three solid races pretty quickly. He had a nice solid woe and his turns were pretty spot on.

Possum took most of the handoffs pretty well, especially towards the beginning of the session. He got a little less patient as he grew tired. And the bigger horses seem to intimidate him a bit more. This is certainly something we can work with. He also did balloon race like a champ. Last week he was not so sure of those colorful wobbly balls. Although Matt seemed to make him a bit nervous. I’ll put that on Matt since he always seemed to be flapping or clicking or making some sort of odd noise and motion when we were near him. Matt is going to make sure he is desensitized.

He is still horribly out of shape, and the weather sure is not helping. And we spent the last 30 min working on just standing quietly and watching.

Jenny brought her new ride. She was a very chill and laid back pony during the session and Jenny made a point of riding her all over and standing at different points in the ring. She trucked on through balloon like a champ too. The pony was not phased. She is also horribly out of shape but Jenny has already gotten some weight off her. I think this pair have some excellent potential.

This week we were joined by the infamous teammate Jon. This dude just picks up and goes. No big deal. Like he hasn’t been out of the saddle or missed a single practice. His encouraging words were also very welcome.

Since both Hoke parents were in attendance we also had Dex and Pax building some castles while we practiced. Paxton so politely pointed at Possum and told me “pretty”. As Jon said, kids don’t lie about things like that. What a sweetie pie.

Carly and Remi look good every week and I am thrilled with her dedication. Not only does she ride well but she is a pleasant smile and warm laugh. I love having her and Remi a part of our team already.

Part time Rogue, Tommy made an appearance with his trusty pony Charlie. Always a pleasure but I don’t think I got to say more than two words to him through all of practice. We were always on opposite races.

Linda and the amazing DJ joined us and it was good to play with them again. Linda got me and Possum started on handoffs at the beginning of practice. I did not realize that DJ is old enough to drink these days. He’s a super star.

And Matt. I can’t wait till he is back on his pony, and I am sure he feels that way more than I do. But it’s great to have him along and giving pointers. He’s an excellent teammate.

Our little video

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xB4mcAmCw80&feature=share

Until next Sunday.