Found a trainer for Keane

Keane is going to be sent off for backing in May; he's going to be 3 1/2 and it's high time. My instructor suggested Kelli Kinney from Jest-A-Bit Farm in Pepperell, MA--not far from my old stomping grounds. I called her yesterday and she called back within a few hours--always a good sign. She sounded flexible, but reassuring and professional. Her background is dressage, but lately she's taken up reining as well. I asked her what kind of ground work he should have prior to me sending him to her and she said that she'd take care of everything from free longing to backing. Keane's fairly well ground broke in terms of basic handling: leading, cross-tying, standing for vet & farrier, bitting, etc., but I haven't done much longing or any ground driving with him. I'm happy to leave it up to a pro and have it done right.

It's exciting to think that I'll be riding Keane in a few months--my plan after having Kelli back him is to turn him out for the summer, and put him into light work in the fall, when he's closer to 4, and start taking little half hour lessons on him with Michele. Until then, I'll be resuming my own lessons with Michele tomorrow, just to keep me going until Keane's ready to go. I haven't done any riding since I brought Clover over to MRF to be a lesson horse (word is they love her there!)