Cob Jockey

 July

 I started to explore 'sitting heavy' with my home trainer with great results. Connor colicked for the first time ever, just a mild gas colic. And my PT friend helped me further explore and fix my asymmetries.

August

Mary moved 40 minutes away from me and started jumping Connor once a week. I found a way to make Pilates fit the budget long term after realizing how much it had helped my riding, and my home trainer announced she was closing her program September 1 to focus on her family and her crazy successful TruTex footing business.

Wouldn't be where I am today without her <3

September

Buckle up, this month was big! I announced my big plan to send Connor off to full training with my GP trainer and lease Castleberrys Aeres from their breeder while he was gone. I started doing stalls twice a month mostly for fun, sent Connor to Cincinnati, brought Aeres home, and Mary and I dyed her forelock. Aeres got treated for foregut ulcers with Esomaprazole, and Connor got treated for hindgut ulcers with Misoprostol. I put my heart dog down and showed Connor at both a WPCSA show and a Dressage schooling show.

October

I clicker trained Aeres to stand at the mounting block with huge success. Connor made flat out amazing improvements in his canter with CGP and got his first flying changes at the end of the month! Mary bought me my first glitter saddle pad as a birthday present (foreshadowing, lol) and we adopted the newest member of the family, Meatloaf. I took Aeres to Cincinnati for a lesson with CGP, and came to the tough realization that I had to do a lot better for my "new" pony after all he'd learned.

November

We made a sale video for Aeres even though she's not really for sale. Mary gave me a lunge lesson on Aeres, Aeres "jumped" for the first time under saddle, Connor started going in a nathe and loved it, and I started seeing results from buckling down hard on Pilates and my position over the last month.

December

I had to quarantine for two weeks in late November/early December after close contact with a COVID-positive person. I learned I have an incredibly weak right glute med and what that's been doing to my riding. Meatloaf solidified herself as my first good barn dog ever, I crashed a jump lesson for Dressage ladies at CGPs while wearing a sparkly teal saddle pad, we blew up my posting mechanic (again), I became a fancy stirrup iron convert, and I drove to Cincinnati every day for a week to take four lessons before I brought Connor home. And I brought Connor home on New Years' Eve <3