Getting ready for the New Year

We are 3 days away from starting 2026. 2025 brought about lots of changes that I have rambled on about in previous blog posts, if anyone actually reads them.. I feel like 2026 is going to be another year of big changes. We have about 8 months to come up with a plan of action on where the horses will be going once we have to move from our current Mudbrook residence. Whether it’s a boarding facility, renting pasture, or finding a small home with a couple acres and a garage we can put them in for the time being. We will just have to wait and see.

Now when it comes to things changing, this will be the year that sweet little Fern gets a job. I have most of the basic ground work out of the way and we are slightly starting on getting her broke out. This is going to be a very slow process, especially since she is still growing out of her “pony” size.. As of her last measurement she was 13 2 hands at the hip and 13 1 at the withers.

Some of the things I have done with her so far are things like lunging, trailer loading, flexing her, yielding forequarters and hind quarters, laying some body weight across her from the ground and from the mounting block. Most recently I have gotten her used to a small English saddle pad being on her back and have even had a surcingle on her and brought it snug. She has done well with accepting that pressure and being able to move around calmly with that pressure being on her.

My plan after this next cold snap moves on, is to get her working lunging her and getting some muscle built up that way she has more ability to carry a rider without being weak in her movement. I plan on also throwing my small kids saddle on her to start teaching her to ground drive before I get on her, that way she can follow cues I will give her on her back through the bridle or sidepull. This will all be done in small steps and one day at a time.