(Alternate title: Things have been quiet and every time I thought about the blog it felt like I’d posted in the last few days rather than almost a month ago – yikes!)

When I last left off, Pierce was on his way up to Michigan – I’ll start off saying he arrived safely in a huge Ecclestone Horse Transport semi and I’m glad I booked him a box stall for the journey.

The first few hours were understandably fractious. Poor man went from 80°F and sunny in Ocala to 35°F and very windy in SE Michigan, not to mention the 22 hours spent on a moving trailer with unfamiliar horses. There was a lot of screaming for friends (everyone else was turned out for the day) and pacing, but he ate and drank and pooped and eventually took a breath.

I left for a few hours to go do some work, and came back in the evening to hand-walk – he probably should have been aced, considering how he essentially levitated when he saw the group lesson going on in the indoor and he couldn’t keep still for grooming.

There was one week left of small paddock rest and hand-walking only – that was a boring, somewhat frustrating time – and I managed to reserve judgment the whole time. It wouldn’t be fair to Pierce, after all, to base my assessment of him on his behavior after being completely uprooted and with nothing to do.

The second week we were able to start introducing work on the lunge line, and it was a night and day difference. The gerbils ruling his brain were no longer (for the most part) cracked out on Mountain Dew – even just 20 minutes of walk-trot transitions and listening to voice cues did so much to hit the reset button.

On the ground, he quickly went from a mouthy, restless Baby Monster to a much quieter, respectful gentleman. Of course, he still wants to put the crossties in his mouth, or chew on the leadrope while being led, etc. etc. – but I chalk a lot of that up to him still having baby caps that he needs to pop out. Hopefully that happens soon, he looks pretty goofy with his big almost-four face and body and these itty-bitty little deciduous teeth poking out of his gums.

I reintroduced tack earlier this past week in anticipation of him being able to go back under saddle. The first lunge with a saddle on was Very Inspirational™ – lots of humped up back and hopping, snorting, and general tomfoolery. The bridle was far less exciting, though having some nice, soft, chewable reins in reach was an impossible temptation to ignore.

(Note to self- buy some of that chewing deterrent and figure out how to apply it to the reins so my bridle isn’t mangled.)

And now to the fun part – we’re less than 24 hours out from his first ride back under saddle. I’m excited, my trainer is excited, and if he’s half as good as he was today for his lunge session in full tack with side reins, then things will be great.

For now, he’s booked in on full training with our barn’s head trainer and assistant – four days of pro rides a week, and I’ll continue on with the lunge line work (possibly in a Pessoa-type rig once he’s worked up to it) and his groundwork.

The adventure marches on!