Time Flies

Three years ago yesterday, D picked up the little Stinker and brought him home.  Part of me doesn't want to believe that much time has gone by.  If you count halt as a gait we are averaging a gait per year as far as training goes.  But really it is just a weird mixture of "has that much time gone by?" and "OMG what was life like without him??"

Little baby Stinker

It has been a roller coaster with him.  Between the EPM causing physical issues and his sensitive nature sometimes it felt like I wasn't going to get anywhere with him.  The first year I had him, I started wondering about soundness issues maybe two months in.  Then it was another almost four months before I could really start working with him.  And holy crap were we a hot mess.  I mean we aren't fabulous now by any means, but damn it was bad.

Not even the worst of them

At the beginning of year two I finally gave up on used saddles and got my saddle.  Hands down the best decision I made.  He finally started walking, the bolting decreased, and a line of communication was also opened.  I spent months and months just walking and asking him to stretch.  It was boring, but slowly he was putting muscle back on and the vet visits got further apart.  At the very end we muddled our way through our first schooling show.  It was not impressive, but he gave me the best work he was capable of and I got all the feels.

Not ready for intro A horse doing intro A

Year three was basically a hot hot mess.  I knew I was moving, either with the bosses (what happened) or finding a new job (not near where I was).  I was so worried that he was going to have a relapse with the EPM when I moved him.  I ended up giving him the high roller treatment for the move (seriously cost as much to move him as it did to move myself), but I don't regret it in the least.  The peace of mind and his comfort was well worth the price.

The changes he has gone through since he got here has blown my mind.  I can't express how much I love having all the trails and hills.  Plus being able to have him on turnout full time has really helped his brain.  He has packed on weight and muscle and doesn't even look like the same horse.

Every year has been a steady improvement and hopefully our fourth year together will be the best one yet.  He wasn't what I was expecting and yet he has been just what I needed.