Ryker has started the first leg of his trip home to VT!  He is spending a couple days at Lancaster Stabled in Hornell, NY, before he hops back on the trailer headed home. 

Ryker was wonderful getting on and off the trailer from AU.  He was calm and quiet getting off the trailer, calm enough to get his feet done immediately!  He now has shiny new kicks (thank you Patrick Fargnoli!), and has done some intensive exploring!  We went up with his "big brother" (my personally owned, certified OTTB babysitter, training level eventer, old man, Gus).  Ryker was better than I could have ever imagined.  He was calm, forward, and responsive; willing to lead, follow, bushwhack, leave Gus, and be left behind.  We also did our first mini cross country course, composed of small logs!  He was excellent, took one bobble to figure out what I wanted, and he was game!  Jumping the first and moving forward after looking for the next log.  What a good race horse!! Can't wait to get him home and take him to a real course! 

In other news, I'm trying to think of a new show name for Ryker!  Anyone out there have any fun ideas?

Today, I have nothing BUT good news for you!
 Ryker has been wonderful, as always.  We've been doing tons of dressage work (he really is getting it!), lots of hacking and a little jumping.  I wont bore you with the nitty gritty details, but for a horse who I questioned his drive to jump, he sure has proven me wrong! (see photo below!) Now that he understands what I'm asking for, he just wants more! I don't want to push him farther than he is ready for, but he keeps eating up everything I throw at him! We've been doing quite a bit of road hacking, and finding makeshift XC jumps to play over.  He's jumped a couple ditches and walked and trotted through some big puddles.  Not to mention trotted and cantered out of the ring with other horses without getting strong, and always coming back nicely.  I can't wait to get him to VT and really get to work!

And with that, I leave you with some even more good news.  Ryker has been sold!
  I finally bit the bullet and went for it.  He is exactly the horse I've been looking for (what are the odds!), and the lack of interest in him has certainly given me the thought that maybe he is the one I should be keeping. My other OTTB project will be for sale in June.  (She is a 6 y.o., 16.1h, bay OTTB mare, see her here)

I will keep blogging over the summer, so keep your eyes open for our exciting updates to come! 

Proof that Ryker is just awesome! I can't wait to get home and really get to work!