Dante è Arrivato!

My retired show jumper Dante has moved to West Virginia today. My friend Laurie is boarding him with her gelding Shaheen on a nice paddock in Canaan Valley. It is close to FR80, which heads up into the north side of Dolly Sods Wilderness, and there are tons of places to ride. Laurie and her husband Chip own White Grass Ski. As they say over there: "they're good people."

Dante was shipped over on May 15, and is happy just doing horse stuff. He had been back at Liberty Farm for a couple of weeks before moving, so I had a chance to ride him on several occasions. He was pretty ramped up being back at the barn, and was happy trotting and cantering around the ring, going over poles, and walking around the farm. It will be a bit of a project getting him turned into a trail horse, but hopefully the more relaxed atmosphere in West Virginia will calm him down.

He was the first horse I owned, having purchased him in April 2008 when I first started riding. He is about 20 years old. He is a Dutch Warmblood, trained and shown in Europe as a show jumper. He is sweet, loving, and sociable, and also manipulative and stubborn, but lovable just the same. It will be nice to have him with me in West Virginia.