My Little Ambassador

Okay, okay. I'm going to post another story about little Onyx here, but only because I'm in that annoying "I'm-proud-of-everything-my-baby-does" phase that Lacy claims will make me an incredibly annoying mother one day.

Last night was Ony's fourth ride ever. Lacy did a bit of groundwork and rode him around a bit before handing over the reins to me. During this time, there were two other riders in the arena and she had taught approximately 1/2 of her student's lesson FROM ONY'S BACK.

I mounted, and found that the solid little horse of his first ride still existed. Not only does he completely lack that drunken squishy feeling that greenies tend to have, he's moving off leg impressively. Like while I was riding last night I forgot repeatedly he is just a baby. I wasn't brave enough to canter this time, but spent about a half hour riding my little baby around at a walk and trot. This next time (likely Sunday), I'll probably canter. Last night just before I got on, Lacy had Ony doing side passes across the short side of the arena in both directions. I still can't get over how fast he's learning!

Every time I've been out for his sessions, there has been a small social gathering of other boarders that gather to chit-chat and watch his progress. Every single time someone comments on how young he looks (Yes, yes. He's going to be four in June. No, I'm not kidding. Yes, I realize he looks like a coming two-year-old. Would you like to see his papers? They're in my purse.). They also comment on how "good he is for an arab." This is where little Onyx becomes a brilliant little ambassador. I always jump on the opportunity to tell them that arabs are actually quite level-headed most of the time and that I've dealt with FAR scarier warmbloods walking them across a parking lot while they piaffe with necks arched and nostrils flared because they've never been out of an arena. I would argue those types of situations are much scarier than anything I've seen with an arab [so far]. At least arabs have brains to reason through situations (and choose to use or not use them as the situation merits, thankyouverymuch). Anyways, he's caught the attention of a number of people who have become regulars at his training sessions. I'll admit, I do enjoy that he's got the spotlight and is performing so well.

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Anesthesia's a Bear

Today, I was a part of a team that anesthetized a bear from Yellowstone who had been having some problems with his hind end. It was a pretty big deal, and we had news cameras and our public relations guy all over. There's nothing that says photo opportunity like an anesthetized grizzly bear. Enjoy.