Keeping Up With The Joneses

Yesterday was a wonderful day to be out with the horses and I took full advantage of it. My friends, Mark and Debbie Jones have a beautiful 26 acre farm that is only four miles from where the boys are boarded. The Joneses are involved with competitive trail riding and a few years ago, Debbie began studying Parelli. I had visited their farm previously, however since then they have developed an extensive playground. I knew it would be fun to ride over there so I took Eclipse and my friend rode her horse Cody. Although it was a little hot along the road, both horses behaved wonderfully and it was a nice ride.

Several months ago I saw an ad for Khanukatchmi, a beautiful young Arabian gelding. Unfortunately, I couldn't afford another horse but I told Debbie about him and it just so happened that she was looking for a new horse to start. She loved the pictures of him and as it turned out, both her existing gelding and Khanukatchmi were grandsons of Khemosabi. She wasn't sure her husband would go for it but luckily she persevered and is now the proud owner of "Khan". When we arrived, Debbie introduced me to Khan and he was even cuter in person. I played with him for a little while and he is quite a handful! Khan is definitely left brain but he has qualities of both an introvert and an extrovert. This guy has a lot of spunk and I am looking forward to seeing him progress.

After playing with Khan, I took Eclipse over to the playground. He really has come such a long way and is so much more confident now. It took a little time but I was so proud of him for going through a scary tarp tunnel and a car wash. He was more skeptical of the teeter totter (especially after it moved) but we ended on a good note. The last obstacle that we worked on was a tire pedestal and the end result was that he was able to put both front feet on and stand calmly. All in all it was a wonderful experience and I am looking forward to visiting the Joneses more often.