Jena at Barnbee

After Ben's death on Sunday we decided to bring our little pony Jena over to live at Barnabee farm for the week so she could be around other horsey friends and not be so lonely. She's had a great time all week and has proven to be the favorite mare among all the other horses there. The minute she walked off the trailer she had all the other horses in a frenzy. Even the older retired horses were kicking up their heels, arching their necks and prancing around their paddocks to show off to the new lady in town. She's been staying in the main barn next two geldings Pete and Dominic. Right when she saw Pete, she immediately went into heat and fell head over heels in love with him.

After our camping trip on Tuesday we stopped by to visit Jena and took her for a little ride in the covered arena. She was pretty nervous at first since the walls are too tall for her to see over and she didn't want to be separated from the other horses. Plus there were some silly crows tap dancing on the metal roof, which caused her to be extra sensitive. But after walking her around a few times she seemed to settle down a bit and then I let the boys take a little ride on her. She did pretty well for her first time in the big dressage arena given all the new sights, sounds and smells.

This afternoon we went over to ride her again and she did much better. She was really calm in the arena and both Jonah and Hyrum had a great time riding her around. I even lounged Hyrum and he did really well with posting at the trot and sitting up straight in the saddle. Jonah is also much more steady in the saddle than he used to be and has even started wanting to hold onto the reins while riding. They are both getting to be quite the little cowboys and the whole time they kept saying, "Faster Mommy! Faster! Ride 'em Cowboy!" It was fun!

After riding in the arena we took Jena out back around the 1/4 mile track and on the trails through the woods. She's such a little trooper! Ben was always too afraid to go on the trails and would require a ton of coaxing. The only time I think I even got him to go on the trails there was the few months right after I bought him (when he seemed to do everything perfectly for me) or if I dismounted and walked along side him. But not little Jena! She's such a little trailblazer and just went head on to the trail like she'd been there 1,000 times. She's such a perfect pony for the kids and I love her so much!

Tomorrow we will be bringing her back to my parent's house after her new pony friend Cisco arrives. I'm sure she'll miss all of her boyfriends she's made at Barnabee but I hope she adapts well with Cisco so we can all feel good about this new transition in our lives.