Man, Henry is really feeling himself lately. Presto leaving changed the herd dynamic for sure… he used to mostly just tolerate Presto’s antics and occasionally join in a little bit,but for the most part he was the buzzkill big brother that was much more serious. These days Henry is Captain Yeehaw out here doing laps around the field and airs above the ground.

It’s like taking away the big brother role also took away all of his (apparently fake) maturity. Which to be honest is okay with me. He’s 14 now, I won’t complain if he’s feeling good enough to act like he’s 4.

The weather has been good so I’ve been able to ride him 6 days a week. I can’t decide if he loves or hates having all the attention back on him. I’m not sure that he’s quite decided.

I have to admit that having extra time to spend with my OG Best Boy isn’t such a bad thing. I can’t complain. I don’t have to rush through “the easy one” in an effort to have time for the young one, and it’s kind of nice. We can take the time to go on longer hacks, or wander aimlessly around the property before or after a ride and enjoy the nice weather.

It helps too that the days are getting longer. God I hate winter with it’s short days. There is nothing cool about being dark at 5pm, it makes the day feel extra rushed. Now it’s light from about 6:40am to 6:40pm, which helps everything in general. I can get chores done earlier, and I’m not rushing to squeeze horse stuff in at the end of my work day. I can get up and do a spin class when it’s still dark (y’all, I might be addicted to the spin bike, I’ve had it for 14 days and I’ve ridden it 12 of those. At least I’m getting my money’s worth?) and be walking down to the barn right after dawn, clean stalls, and still be back in front of my computer before my 7:30 meeting.

I’ve been leaving the horses out a bit longer too, since they seem quite content out there on all the spring grass. Both of the chubbers have had no complaints. Henry also got a couple new hanging treat balls from Horse and Herd (a Montana-based business!) so he’s kind of just rotten 24/7. Technically one of these was supposed to be for Presto but I don’t think it’ll be much of a hardship if Henry ends up “having” to eat both of them himself. Luckily he’s slow about it (not a freakin shark like Presto who can demolish one of these in 2 days) so we’ll see how long this first one lasts. I let him pick which one he wanted first and he went for the Pink Salt one.

Otherwise we’re just kind of plugging along. I wanted to get Henry more fit before the hot weather hits, and he’s pretty on track for that. We’ve been doing conditioning rides a couple days a week, flatwork a couple days, a polework day, and a jump day. He’s… quite spunky and full of himself pretty much every single day despite the increased work load, so that’s a good sign. Maybe later on in the spring we can get out to a couple jumper shows and XC schooling, before it’s 100 degrees.

At some point I should set the Pivo back up and actually get some media from my Henry rides but I’ve admittedly been kind of lazy about it. We’re just kind of having fun enjoying ourselves with no pressure and without having to rush.

Hope everyone else’s weather is starting to take a turn for the better too so you can get more (pleasant) riding time in. Spring is my favorite!