Big Day

Barokko was lying down in his stall when I got to the barn this morning. Looked up at me when I opened the door, and decided not to get up ;) I shared my breakfast bun with him, and gave his forehead a good scratch, and then told him we had to get ready. He yawned, stood up, and streeeeeeetched, then stuck his head forward for the halter "OK mom, I'm up now!" ;)

I gave his legs a good wash last night, but of course they were stained by morning. M got to work on the socks while I braided. He hates having his forlock braided - well, not really hates it, but he suspects I must be up to something VERY interesting that requires his immediate attention... with his MOUTH :D which makes it a bit of a challenge for me ;)

Braided and groomed, I led him out to the trailer. He had a red mare for company - in heat :/ She had been loaded first. When I led Barokko up the ramp he sniffed toward her, which earned him a swift kick! He wisely got out of the way, but then was understandably hesitant to try again. But the unresistable temptation of a carrot lured him back up, and once she had let him know she was in charge and he rolled over and showed her his belly, there was peace and tranquility in the trailer ;)

After an uneventful trip, we arrived at SLR. After getting oriented we unloaded the horses. It was a windy day, and they were both a bit frisky - Barokko showed off his talent for airs in-hand :D

The warm-up was in a small arena, where another hidden talent surfaced: pigeon hunting!! There were 3 pigeons hanging out in the arena, each taking turns being chased by Barokko (I'm sure he was very annoyed that I wouldn't let him finish the chase). I wonder what he would have done if he had caught one :P

The show arena didn't have an entrance at A, so I was able to circle him around the arena a couple of times before starting the test. I'm used to riding in a small arena, so it was good to be able to take a moment to adjost to the geometry of the large arena before getting down to business.

We got through the test OK, some moments where he was very tense, and of course some unsteadiness on the bit, but I felt it was an acceptable effort for where we're at right now.

Came through with 58%, a bit lower than I had expected based on what I saw of the other rides and scores. But a good day none the less, we'll just keep working at it, and do better next time :)