[Phase 3] Into The Future

22nd June - 1 year later

I might have forgotten about my little journal, but a lot has happened in the last year. I got the incredible opportunity to purchase some land all the way up in Scotland, and I decided to take it. It was little run down, and definitely needed some work when we first got here, but now we’ve got our own little stableyard.

The boys and Ginger managed the move so well, even with it being several hours of driving, and they’ve settled in perfectly to their new home. I did have to shell out for a bigger horse box to fit all three of them in though.

Pirate was honestly the best behaved out of the three of them for the drive. I’ve had him for a year now and he’s come on in leaps and bounds. I’ll never ride him with a bitted bridle to avoid irritating his scar tissue, but I’ve managed to completely retrain him in riding aids. The work I was doing with him and Pan in my last entry was the true breakthrough, it really helped him to stay focused.

The one area I haven’t managed to fix his issues however, is with schooling work. He still gets bored quickly and tries to do his own thing, but I’m working hard to develop some school training with him that he’ll actually enjoy, and I’m looking into a new technique I discovered, which would allow Pirate to communicate to me when he’s bored or wants to change activity, rather than immediately doing whatever he likes.

I’m competing in an endurance course with Pirate next week. We’ve been practicing and training for the last couple of months, and we’re ready to give it a go. I don’t think we’ll be placing well compared to some of the more seasoned competitors, but Pirate’s been loving running around the highlands so I think he’ll enjoy it.

I’m so glad I managed to get him of all horses from the rescue, and I can’t wait to see what we’re able to achieve going forward.