Just checking in to let you know that I’m not dead, I’m just really freaking busy right now. Between work (oh the fallout from the covid surge, it is getting FUN is it not?) and the horses, I’ve rarely had more than a few minutes to spare here and there.

Gemma, due to no fault of her own, is really high maintenance at the moment. She’s fresh off the track, young, full of energy, and on stall rest, all at a new place to boot. That’s a lot. Trying to keep her happy and quiet and her stall clean and get her handgrazing/walking a few times a day is consuming every spare moment right now. She’s been wound a bit tight for sure, as expected, but has yet to do anything truly naughty or bad. I think when she’s in regular circumstances she’s gonna be a pretty chill girl.

I’ve gotten to know her a bit this week though, spending all that time with her, and I can say that I like her temperament and personality a lot. She’s very smart and catches on to things quickly, and she definitely wants to please. She’s sensitive, for sure, which should be no surprise, but I like her. As she settles in she’s starting to show a little more quirkiness and weirdness, which of course makes me happy. We’re starting to settle into a bit of a routine now so hopefully my days will be a little less packed. I’m definitely in dire need of a weekend though, I’m pretty sure I slept so hard last night that I didn’t move an inch.

I also did put a stick on her the other day and she’s a bit over 16h… almost 16.1 but honestly a lot of that is withers, so we’ll just say 16h. I remain really impressed with how she moves (her walk is probably one of the best I’ve ever seen in a horse straight off the track, she’s got a good 6″ of overstep even as tight as she is right now) and how she’s put together. There are some little things to nitpick for sure, like any horse, but it’s hard to find a ton of fault with how she’s put together. It’s possible that I’ve spent time while handgrazing her to make a list of possible stallion candidates for the future. I think this is the rare TB mare that could be worth presenting to one of the stricter warmblood registries for breeding approval. I can’t wait to see how she looks once she’s rested and has some weight back on.

Hopefully next week things will have settled down a bit and I’ll have more time to get back to regular content, but thanks for the messages making sure we’re ok. All good – just busy!