Rocket at Three Days

Before we get to Rocket, three important things:

1. LEX IS SO AWESOME, Y'ALL. I could not love her more. I say that every day and then the next day, I totally love her more. We never got the right lead today, but we were riding in the rain (eventer background over here!) AND the barn owner drove by us on the tractor with a round bale and all the other horses went running off after her and away from us. Lex did not care at all about the rain, the tractor, or the horses galloping away. SAINT.

2. Lauren from She Moved to Texas has been kind enough to read and comment on some posts here, and you should definitely check out her fantastic blog. I started reading it and now I'm hooked. I want her and Sprinkler Bandit to put together my horsey wardrobe. I can't believe I haven't written any tack reviews yet.

3. I got an awesome job today! I'll be teaching lessons at a local riding school. I am beside myself with excitement. I had such fun teaching the trial lessons today. I am hoping to take some jumping lessons myself since it's been so long since I jumped a horse who knew her job! Lex should be happy because this is going to go toward supporting her in style (see: point 2).

Okay, on with the star of today's show!

My mom was kind enough to take a bunch of videos of Rocket earlier this week and send them to me, which is no small feat considering she and my dad basically still have dial-up and it took her FOREVER to upload them. She had to spend some of the time she had in NYC with my brother and his family to work on it because my brother has real internet. So, three cheers for my mom for that.

Is anyone out there good at evaluating foal movement? I have a decent eye for evaluating a mature horse, but I can't reliably tell if a baby is likely to grow up to be a good mover.

I love this one:

They lead the foals ahead of the mares. I've definitely had adult horses who would have done well with a butt rope.

On Day Three, Rocket Girl learned how to lead. As I said before, I am really impressed with Lydia and how patient she is. Mom said she commented that Rocket is learning slower than the quarter horse foals, not because she's stupid - she isn't - but because she's very stubborn and independent. Sounds like someone else I know whose name may or may not be Jess. The following video is the beginning of her leading training. According to Lydia, she's leading very well now, but I don't have videos of subsequent sessions. Sorry that the first minute is oriented the wrong way - I rotated the video Mom sent me so that most of it would be right way up, but I haven't had time to play with video editing. Just bear with us through the first 54 seconds and then it should all be fine.

And here is the end of the lesson. Lydia knows when she's reached her training goal for the day and stops when she's gotten there. I like that she doesn't let Rocket just blow her off - she has to stand nicely to be released. Good baby.

And finally, some photos!

This is probably my favorite picture. Somara LOVES her baby.

Basking baby.

It kind of amazes me that foals know where to look for sustenance right away.

Chillaxin.

I don't have much of a relationship with Somara. My mom bought her last August and she's several states away. I've groomed her and lunged her a couple of times, but I haven't spent tons of time with her or ridden her. But I do know that she's been a bit of a difficult horse to handle and has often been cranky. So it is wonderful to see how happy she is with this baby. Being a mama is her favorite thing so far. This will probably be the only foal she has, but I'm glad she got this experience. She just looks so pleased.