Back to work!

Boomer's shoulder is looking great! It has started to scab up and is looking really good. I put Corona ointment on it yesterday and today it looked as if it had softened the scab, so today I only applied Corona to the sutured areas and will let the wound scab over again. I am very happy with the process and there is very minimal swelling.

Boomer has been back to work for three days and his attitude is completely back to normal! The first day I let him back out of stall rest he started free longing at a trot around me. He walked and reversed on cue. It was really incredible to see him so eager to work! The following day I longed him at a walk and trot and he was great! Today I longed him again while there was some construction work going on the new hay barn. He was totally fine with the distractions and was very calm. I took him into an extra paddock and asked him to canter. I like to canter him with at least three solid sides to our longe area. This gives him a freebie when it comes to balancing. He responded almost immediatly without any fuss in both directions. I decided to keep his canter session very short as I don't want to sour him to it. I thinkbefore he was giving me trouble because he was bored and getting sour. I want to ride him as soon as possible to keep him from getting sour on the longe. I am very satisfied with how he has been working thus far and am excited to keep up with his training!

John and I spent all day Saturday at US Nationals. AWESOME!!! I got a new girth since my 48" was too big for Boomer. It is a really great girth, exactly what I wanted! I also got a full cheek copper mouth snaffle in the hopes that it will help Boomer when it comes to turning and steering. As it is, he doesn't fully react to direct rein control, so I wonder if having the full cheek giving opposition will help him understand. We saw a bunch of classes and I was really happy that John got to experience the Arab world! He was exposed to Hunter pleasure as well as Saddle Seat English pleasure and Country pleasure. My favorite part of the shows has always been watching people schooling their horses on arena breaks. I really enjoy watching the trainers ride because that is when you really get to see the horse at it's best. John and I also enjoyed the traveling beer golf cart which brought us an ice cold beer when we were sitting outside watching the goings on of the longing arena. I was happy John got to see that Boomer is not a nutty horse specifically, but that generally- Arabs can be a little nutty. At one point we saw a lady leading a nice grey gelding down the road. He reared up, his back right slipped a bit and he sat down on his rump. Once he scrambled up, they kept walking like nothing happened. He was still a bit jumpy, but no other ordeals as far as we saw. John said it gave him confidence to know that something like that is so normal around Arabs that you just move on and deal with it, no biggie. I was glad to see that John was beginning to understand the Arabian horse. It is a horse with much fire and action. Arabians are lively and expressive. They love to get excited. They are also athletic as all get out and can and will go to the ends of the earth for their riders. They are tireless and their spirits are unbreakable. This is the breed I love.

We are headed back to the show tonight, get ready for videos of the Native Costume class and Park class, two of the most exciting Arab classes ever!