October 2nd - 8:45pm

Rained part of the night so it was a little wet right off this morning. At first it looked like the forcasted rain was going to hold off so longed Oregon for Rodrigo to ride. That ride ended in rain so after that almost everyone went on the walker. A couple went in the ring to hack a bit but for the most part, the walker got a lot of action. Since the young horses are still in the process of being broke, they all got tacked up to go walk on the walker. Helps keep the days off from being a total training bust. One of my favorite things about working at this barn is being able to see the whole process with the horses. Everything from the unhandled two year old colt to the experienced 1.30 horse walks through the barn doors. Ive been able to watch everything from halter breaking to first rides to first 1.20 classes. Definitely something I did not have the opportunity in the US to see. By the time we got them back home they generally had at least some background training. Here, we're doing that training.
After the early morning working with the young horses it was onto a classic rainy day job with one of the older horses: body clipping. If I had any thought of being finished with body clipping because it was spring then I was wrong. Im guess it will be a lot like home in that body clipping is a year round endeavor. This time for Benito was the victim. He's doing a young horse style class this weekend so making sure he's going and looking as good as possible. I think he turned out pretty decent looking. I do still miss my amazing Andis clippers at home though. One thing about Argentina that is tough to get use to is the lack of newer things available here. In the US the latest and greatest is always available. Here, the laws, regulations, taxes and whatnot mean a lot of things built outside Argentina are just not possible to obtain here. And if they are, the price is generally very prohibitive. Definitely something to appreciate at home more. At least I know Im pretty decent with Lister clippers if I ever have to use them again!
Once the clipping was finished it was on to the other classic rainy day project: painting. Second coats and finishing off a lot of what didnt get finished last week. Poles, planks, cavaletti, boxes and the like.We're hosting a schooling show Sunday so every spare minute will likely be devoted to painting and beautifying Rancho Pampa! Going to be a crazy week (and weekend!) but cant wait!