I had a great time with all my horses last month, but we had our ups and downs. Annie has just recovered from a minor performance injury at the end of September—a sprained stifle. She stepped off the trailer at C Lazy U slightly off, and right away I knew what had happened.

The day before traveling, I was working her as normal and at the end of our workout, when my horses are trying really hard (because they know I will not put them away until they put maximum effort into something I ask them to do), I asked her to make a big stop. She did a beautiful sliding stop and I remember thinking, wow, that was really something! She put so much into it that she put a little strain on her stifle and had some fluid buildup there, which we could see on ultra-sound.

Dr. Potter, a performance horse vet that I thank my lucky stars to have treat my horses, suggested rest, confinement and an IRAP injection. I’m happy to report that she is now back to 100% and is out with the herd again and ready to get back to training.

Eddie, my ranch horse gelding, is my fallback horse now, so I pulled him into service. We had to do a Garrocha demonstration at the CHA conference, and since Annie is my Garrocha horse, we had to give Eddie a crash course in pole dancing. He rose to the occasion and the demo went great! I’ve enjoyed riding him more this month—he’s such a steady, reliable and willing horse.

I’m happy to report that my little Pepperoni is the highlight of my day and a blast to ride. We’re still working on the basics, like power steering, but his talent is coming through loud and clear. Without any effort whatsoever on my part, he is already stopping big and beginning to pivot on the hindquarters. He occasionally still crow hops like a porpoise when he is feeling froggy, but it is not hard to ride and it cracks me up. He certainly acts like a 2 year old most of the time, but he is brave and bold and loves to perform.

My old guy, Dually, is still the star around here (even though he is resting on his laurels now), and his main job is taking care of the colt. Pepper has big shoes to fill, and Dually is happy to keep a constant eye on him and tell him how to act.

I am so fortunate to have such amazing horses and I will never take them for granted. What are you thankful for when it comes to your horses? Share your pictures and stories with me on Facebook or @juliegoodnight on Instagram!