Paradise

Walker and I are both loving the new barn.  It is doing everything for him that I thought it would.  He is more comfortable on the soft grass, and his feet - those feet that the vet said would never be anything but dry and chipping from inflammation - are now suddenly smooth.

Most importantly of all, Walker's happiness has shot through the roof.  He is back to the happy-go-lucky horse who loves life.  Towards the end at my last barn, he would stand still in his stall with his head in a corner and he would stand still in the pasture without moving.

Here, he is back to bouncing around, causing mayhem and mischief, and loving life.  My barn owner - the saint - has left his window knocked out until winter because it gives him such great joy to poke his head out.

Supermodel pose

I also don't worry about him running around on the grass because it is literally that soft.  I mean, it is the softest ground I've ever seen.  I can now understand why my barn owner won't put them in some of the fields if it is raining because even when it's dry, it's still super moist.

As for me, I feel almost zero need to go to the barn, which in its own way is a good thing.  Of course I still go out to check on him, but for the first time since I've had him, I don't feel like I need to.  

He is getting excellent care by someone who is as observant as a hawk, and with the pads on his feet, I don't even really need to pick them out.  Because he's 100% off work for a few months, there's absolutely nothing I can do, and there's nothing I feel like I need to do other than chill out in the sunshine in a beautiful field with my horse.

And of course start taking lessons on another horse, which is in the works.  I actually am starting to have some faith that if I stayed here long term, I would be able to start working Walker too.  But one step at a time.