Nothing like a horse show to help a horse grow up.  The first ride at home after the show was so matter of fact for Damon, he was so relaxed and fluid, one of our best overall rides to date. After his training session, he spent a lazy afternoon in the pasture. He was so relaxed after 4 hours of grass that we practically had to drag him back to the barn.
We are off to Grass Lake Michigan on Thursday for our next show. Damon will have Thursday and Friday to settle in and then he will compete in the USEF Four year old test on Saturday for practice and Sunday will be his first attempt to qualify for the Young Horse Finals. It will be interesting to see his reaction to the whole process the second time.  At least this time he will get the chance to practice in the arena that he has to compete in, which should be really helpful to take care of his show nerves. It is a nice feeling to know that he loads and ships well, stands well for braiding and enjoys doing new things. We have started building our trust and relationship and can't wait for our second try!