Drifter Appreciation Post

Well, we all knew this day would come. Drift is officially off to his new home with some amazingly kind people and his new human that is already head over heels with him. 

Naturally he had to be a pain one last time before he left. It took a few hours to catch him and then he was a dipstick about loading into a 2 horse like he's done a million times. I think it's his way of saying goodbye. The little butt head. 

Now here's the appreciation post part. Enjoy pony spam. I'll try to keep it to just pictures y'all haven't seen before but he's just so cheeky I can't help it with a few of these. I also want to point out that AM Seagfreed (siggy/sig/sigster) makes an appearance in here somewhere so RIP sigman. Still recovering from losing him. (For extra effect, read this with classical music in the background or a really sad country song or 'say something' or something like that.) BTW this is probably not the last you'll see of the butt munch. I'm hoping they'll make an appearance at wranglers or something in the future. 

Drift has been with me through SO much it isn't even funny. I got him on May 6, 2011, and we started from scratch. I unloaded him, pulled the bag of twizzlers away, and partially ignored the guys telling me how crazy he is and how he can't be ridden. Not even 2 months later, I'm basically handicapped after a bad ATV accident. (Still have a bummed ankle. It's cool to pop until it hurts) his riding training was postponed until I could actually get boots on over the swelling, so he got a rock solid foundation before me ever getting on. Flash forward to June 30, 2014. I'm cantering him bareback with no bit and have total control, we're trail riding with every type of horse imaginable, we're swimming... We're doing what we were told could never be done. We succeeded. We proved them all wrong. I hope his last owners find this blog, and I hope they kick themselves over letting this absolutely amazing horse go. I may complain about the little things, but he truely was an amazing partner to have and although I'm looking forward to the next step in my life, I'm going to miss this roley-poley, cheeky, pokey little dunce. Good luck, boy, I hope you enjoy your new life. 

Crazy Ride

We have had nonstop rain for about 2 weeks now. It's filled a 5 gallon bucket and is supposed to keep on coming, but today was pretty clear. So after luging myself out of bed, I went to the barn. Even though my stomach felt like it was going to explode.

Drift started out badly. He was freaking out and spooky and just insane until we got going down the road. I dropped my stirrups and reins and just texted the whole time. We had a few interesting run-ins, but he didn't bat an eye. A boxer and lab tried to chase us, the crazy mares tried to kill us, a gardening crew was working on a yard, and I made him stop so I could pet a new dog in the neighborhood. 

I went to Callie's house and we clipped Drift for the first time. He did fine until the flies got bad and he got bored.

Then we rode! The road was washed out and the sinkholes were getting worse. A new one popped up. So we checked them out! He was fine around it all.

We went to the hay field to gallop a bit, and stopped when the horses started getting crazy. Then trekked to the fields by Callie's house!! We lapped the flooded pond and wandered back to my barn. 

Trails with the newbie!

So my friend Bobbi hasn't ridden in years, and agreed to go on a trail ride with me! We tacked up around 9AM and got back around 3:30PM so it was an all day thing.

Drift was acting like a fool so she took Ray. We went down the road to the turf farm and let her get used to trotting and cantering and really controlling the horse.

Then we went through the fields and logging roads behind my house and let her see how they handle different terrain and hardcore trail situations. 

And we ended by riding at the ranch! Ray launched himself over a creek bed and the saddle slipped so Bobbi ended up falling at the end, but Ray stopped and she got right back on and kept going!

I'll just post some random pictures. Enjoy!