The Post I Never Published

Merry Christmas from Avalon! Every year I have ideas for Christmas shoots and fun training days, but college finals and holiday buzz foil my plans. This year was no different. But graduation is coming! I only have a semester or two left. 

I've been catching up in school, catching up with neglected friendships, catching up in my personal development journey. Finally, I am here to catch up my readers. 

This is from mid-November.

I shouldn't have to worry about putting more weight on her this spring.

We spent a lot of time hanging out. 

Isn't she lovely?

Here is the post from Nov 18th that I completed . . . only to abandon to the draft folder.

I love the way Avalon's coat complements any weather or background. She looks good no matter what season it is. 

After the last session, I came to two conclusions. 

First, my current saddle situation just isn't working. If it is tight enough, it pinches her withers. If it isn't, it slips sideways/under her belly. I'm thankful that she is such a smart, trusting mare. Many green horses are scarred when the saddle slips under their bellies or onto their sides. But Avalon always stops and waits for me to fix the problem. I have a temporary solution, but I'll post about that later. 

Second, it's time to pause all serious training until spring. Avalon's coat is long enough that I'm not comfortable with her getting sweaty. The last thing I want to deal with is another colicky horse. If I had a warm stall or I was planning on clipping her, I'd continue with training. But the best part of owning and training my horse is that I work on my own time table. I have all the time in the world. 

Avalon has had some rain rot over the last month or so. I treated it for about a week and most of it healed, but I noticed that some patches had started up again. I'm considering buying a light sheet for next fall. She tends to get rain rot during the rainy seasons of spring and fall. For some reason she can't be bothered to seek shelter. 

I'm hoping to have these patches treated and growing back before the real cold sets in. Bannix is my go-to. This isn't sponsored or anything, I just love the stuff. It kills rain rot so fast.

Since she is retired fro the winter, we spent some time just hanging out on the barn lawn. The pasture is empty of grass, they've been feeding hay all year, so Ava appreciates every second she gets to graze. 

Her mane is a wild, snared disaster.

**Back to the present**

Avalon's rain rot is gone and she has a thick, warm winter coat. She is a little on the chubby side, so I cut her grain intake in half. I visited her on Christmas day, but before that school and car difficulties kept me from the barn for weeks at a time. She doesn't mind, of course. She is more than happy to eat hay and run around being a horse. 

Always sniffing the camera. Sigh.