First year summary

How time flies when you're having fun! I can't belive it has been a whole year already since Crispin came into my life. Time for a quick review and summary of our first year together.

It was a great year. Crispin was the perfect little pony quite literally from the first second and has been ever since.We're a perfect match I think. He's curious, smart, people oriented and cuddlly. He's very food motivated (which, I think, is a good and very heplful thing) not very herdbound (another good thing). Easy to handle and eager to please. Just perfect!

The first year's training was basically basic stuff:

• Crispin now knows that haltering is a fun thing and is very easy to catch no matter if he's out on pasture or just in the paddock. (Something I couldn't dream of doing before he came to Münster.)
• He leads like a true gentleman (walk or trot, halt, over poles, little jumps, tarp, bridges, in the ring or on the trails). He stops and leg yields in hand too and will do a TOF and TOH.
• He loads (well, Christina achived that but I haven't undone the training ;-) )
• He lunges (walk and trot, canter on the lunge doesn't work as well yet).
• He knows bit and bridle, saddle pad and surcingle and blanketing.
• He ties well and stands very well when tied. 
• He stands for farrier and vet and for grooming (of course).

There are a million other little things he has learned this year and of course he has grown up a lot physically and mentally too. The next steps are more lunging and, finally, backing. And I'm sure the next year will be just as fun than the first! (Or even better!)

Action shots

Yesterday I made the effort to set up a paddock in the old outdoor ring behind the indoor to let Crispin play run out there and hopefully get some nice action shots of him.

Well, he did run and play but the sun wasn't on my side (quite literally) but against me. Unfortunately this resulted in some poor to mediocre pictures. But still, here they are:

Wheeeee:

 A couple of trot shots:

And the only shot that's a decent quality, tired and ready to call it a day:

Preliminary Decisions...

After two weeks of checking out barns, driving from one barn to the next, each one worse than the one before, I've made a decision for now. Until the Offenstall is finally gone, Crispin is going to stay where he is. I'm still hoping to find a decent Offenstall by then but chances are slim to none.

There were two barns that were sort of alright. At one of them the barn owner is going to build a second Offenstall till spring and another barn has some really big, BIG box stalls. Both barns aren't perfect but the only choices I have so far.

Of course all this too has consequences for Crispin's training. It means that I really need to start him under saddle until spring, before I might have to move him to another barn. I know, that was the plan anyways but now I feel a little pressured to stick with it too.

Like I said before: Damn! ;-)

Damn!

it's been a very depressing and frustrating week.

No, no, not Crispin. He is the same good little pony he always is. He's not so happy with himself right now because he's teething again but besides that he's alright.

No, it's the barn. Ina told me last week that they are closing the "Offenstall" down! *ugh* The "Offenstall" will be closed down after the winter (feb./mar.) and box stalls will be put up instead. Of course we are all welcome to stay and put our horses into one of the new stalls but right now I'm pretty sure that a box stall is no option for Crispin yet. The problem is, that this is pretty much leaving me with no option at all.

There are plenty of barns around who have decent box stalls but there are next to none that offer decent 24/7 turnout the way I need and want it.

The last week we spend looking up adresses and checking out barns and so far: NOTHING, one barn is worse than the next. Very frustrating!

Today we will be looking at some more barns but I do doubt that any of them will fit our needs even remotely.