Back to Work We Go

I hauled Abby out last night and let her lope (and even gallop) a few circles in the deep loose ground of a big ol' arena (which was blessedly empty). She really had to dig deep in that ground and was sweated up pretty good. I kept it short because obviously she isn't fit enough to really handle the work but she was really jazzed and seemed to want to open up so I let her go. I always worry about doing too much and so I take it slow but in reality, if I had turned her loose, she would have worked twice as hard and twice as long all on her own just having fun and ripping around. I walked her out in hand on the firmer ground for a good 15 minutes and rubbed her down until she gleamed. This evening she didnt seem at all sore. I wanted to work her again tonight but I couldnt get my truck to haul out and there was no ground available so I stuck to the little gravel arena/paddock at my barn and just asked her to do a lot of bending/counter bending and then loped a few very small circles (which is hard work and gets those ab muscles engaged!) I am starting to think maybe, just maybe I might enter that show in July just for the experience. She needs to get out and I need the experience every bit (actually a lot more) than she does... it would be a good thing for us... I just don't want to make an ass of myself and this show is the biggest of the year. Go big or go home? I just about pee my pants even thinking about it!

Oh and I needed a new saddle pad for months now and was looking to see if maybe one with very little use would come up used locally. Last week a barely used (but very dirty) "tough enough to wear pink" ProChoice pad came up so I bought it for $40. Then this afternoon a damn near brand spankin' new ESP wool pad came up that still had a new looking price tag from a local tack store ($179.99) which I got for $82. Both pads are not even broken in and between them both I paid less than I would have paid for one alone. The Scott in me is smiling:)