Dressage Lesson #5

Luckily it cooled down quite a bit from yesterday. We decided to work on the hills today. Still working on getting Axel to use his rear end properly and step under himself. Going down the hills it's almost as if he's so afraid of tripping that he takes the tiniest steps ever. He wasn't overly forward today. We worked some circles on the grass part of the hill and then moved to the sand. He really had to work in the sand. We'd walk down the hill and then canter back up. Boy that horse has a whopper of a canter, kabang kabang. I could feel when he'd round up on occasion but most of the time he just barreled up the hill. After the sandy part of the hill we went back to the grassy part of the hill and just did some more circles walking. At that point he was really working well, walking very forward up the hill and down the hill, and not worrying about where his feet were going. So that was the time to stop.

Tom roped off another little pasture area with some super tall grass and some trees. All the horses were running around acting like fools in the new pasture. Axel promptly ran into a tree after being turned out. Didn't do much damage, just a little scrape on his face. Tricia worked with Kiko a little bit on the long lines. One of these days we'll get someone to ride her.

We did it!

Cody and I went on our first ride alone since moving! I was hoping to maybe go for a ride with Tom on Corey since Axel had already gone out twice this weekend. But he was busy working on the cabin so I took the plunge. When I got there the horses looked pretty cranky, swatting flies non-stop. I saddled Cody up without tying him which required a little moving around but we managed. I figured since there were so many gates to open and close I'd just walk him down to the bridge and then get on. By the time we got there he was drenched in sweat. But he was fairly cooperative. Took a few tries to mount up and then a few tries to get him to start moving up the hill but we made it to the top. Unfortunately I had to dismount and put his saddle back on as it had slipped back from the sweat. I figured the last thing he needed was an excuse to act stupid so I eliminated that by fixing his saddle. Just a slight hiccup from dismounting, had to convince him we weren't done riding and he needed to walk into the woods. We trotted a bit in the woods and then calmed down and went forward willingly the rest of the way. Halfway through the woods he was behaving and listening to me so we turned around and went back home as a reward. We even made it back up to the barn without running. It was 97F out, so that might have had something to do with it. I untacked in the barn and gave Cody some treats and then brought him out and hosed him down. Hopefully the experience wasn't too traumatic for him ;)

It's Hot

It's disgusting out today. 95F with who knows how much humidity. But I went out to the barn anywayas. With this trail ride coming up I want to keep the horses working so it won't be too much of a shock to get ridden for 4 days in a row. Unfortunately I didn't have anyone to ride with today so it was just me and Axel. I stopped on the way and picked up some fly spray and a new bit for Cody. Of course it doesn't seem like the fly spray actually does much. I let all the horses in the barn to get away from the bugs a bit. In the process I had a little adventure with the electric fence. Yeowch! I managed to get everyone's fly masks on except for Corey, he just kept running away from me.

Saddled Axel up and convinced him we were going on a ride. It was a pretty slow ride, took lots of convincing to keep moving. He wasn't nearly as forward as yesterday. But we made it through the woods and around the clearing once before heading back. After the ride I hosed him off a bit, avoiding his back legs, and then I sprayed him with Betadine again. He's gonna be orange forever it seems ;) Hopefully it'll cool down a bit for tomorrow. I'd like to take Cody out and see if Tom will go with on Corey, so Cody gets some time under saddle as well. I'm just not ready for a fight to take him out alone.

Uneventful Ride

No photos today. Had an uneventful ride this afternoon. But that is welcome, of course. Tricia rode Axel bareback and I rode Cody in my english saddle. Just did the usual ride through the woods. Tom had just mowed the trails so they were all cleaned up. When we got back to the front pasture we trotted around a bit and Cody and I even had a little canter. He didn't appreciate it much, he was ready to go hang out with his girlfriend. Luckily he was much calmer this weekend than last weekend.

Axel's legs are still a bit messed up from the mud fever but they're getting better and we keep spraying betadine on them so hopefully he'll be good as new soon. Right now they horses are locked out of the bottom pasture to keep them out of the mud as much as possible. Which isn't too bad of an idea anyways, gives the bottom pasture time to grow some grass for grazing later in the summer. Tom and his son were fencing off some more of the yard today as well so there'll be some good grazing this summer.

Only a few more weeks until the big trail ride, now dubbed "Horse Camp." I am going to try and keep riding as much as possible until then so the boys are ready to go. I am going to try and ride tomorrow and/or Monday. Dressage on Tuesdays. I won't be around next weekend so they'll get a vacation. Then there's the Parelli thing the weekend after, so probably another vacation. Should be able to ride the weekend after then I'll probably give them the 24th off because I think we're leaving on the 25th or 26th.

Just for fun I counted and Cody's been ridden 24 times and Axel 40 times since I bought them (Cody not as much because he doesn't want to leave the herd to go riding alone but Axel will).

Dressage Lesson #4

Today's lesson was more work than last weeks, but less work than the week before. And I think we got more success this week than last week. I haven't watched the video yet as I don't seem to have a way to display it on my television, guess I'll have to watch on the camera.

Got to the barn and of course had to walk down the hill to fetch Axel. One of these days I am just going to find a log and get on him at the bottom of the hill and ride him up. But not today :) Led him up the hill with all the other horses following and running past us. Usually Axel could care less but he was a little worked up about it, even tried a few mini rears. We did a few circles while the other horses ran past. Gave me a chance to catch my breath.

Brought Axel in the barn and unwrapped his legs. They aren't perfect yet but we think they look better than on Sunday. No heat on them this time. Tricia picked some scabs off and rubbed some hair and dirt off and cleaned him up. So she's picking on his feet which apparently itched because his lip was a'going. He started grooming my leg which was unfortunately followed by a bite, so now I have a big lump on my leg. We decided since the wraps just ended up having dirt get under them we'd just leave it open this time. Fully doused in betadine of course. His white socks are now orange.

So we saddled up and went out to the pasture to work. Axel finally taught me that he does not like the reins too tight and that he prefers to work off of leg pressure. By the end of the lesson he was bending around corners with loops in my reins. Still have to put my outside leg nearly in front of the girth but I think he's starting to get it. Or atleast I'm starting to get it.

After the ride we went and hung the extra tire up in a tree down in the pasture. We left the horses up in the middle pasture for now to try and keep them out of the mud as much as possible so they won't get to play with it until they are let back down in the bottom pasture. But it's all ready for them.

Not Your Usual Sunday Drive

The plan was for some of the gals from my old riding lesson to come out and go for a ride. Lisa ended up being the only one that was available on Sunday. I had to walk down the hill to get the boys since they finally found the grass in the back pasture. I thought to avoid extra trips I'd get both Cody and Axel at the same time. It was a little confusing trying to lead them both but we made it. Cody prefers to walk up the hill a lot faster than me, though, and by the time we got to the top I was out of breath. Guess I better walk up the hill a few more times. Axel was walking a little funny but it didn't seem too bad and I thought it was just from climing the hill. I groomed both the horses in the paddock while Kiko and family hung out watching. Everything was great. There wasn't even wind for once. It was going to be a good ride.

Lisa hadn't arrived yet and I didn't want to tack up until I knew what kind of saddle she wanted to ride in, or what horse she wanted to ride so I shut the paddock gate and untied the boys so they could wander. Kiko and the rest got bored so they left back down the hill. Cody proceeded to throw a fit, and Axel limped around even more. Just to happens that Cody has positioned himself in a way that he can hang out with Kiko and not get beat up by Corey for doing it. And to make matters worse, Kiko is in season. Cody was quite pissed that I wouldn't let him go play with his girlfriend. When Lisa arrived I decided not to risk it and turn Axel back out and go get Corey. So back down the hill I went. Atleast this time they weren't at the bottom. So now both Corey and Cody were having a fit in the paddock because we took them away from their woman. Corey was a lot calmer than Cody. I had to saddle Cody while he paced. He was already drenched in sweat at this point.

We finally managed to get them tacked and mounted up and headed for the hills. Of course we had to pass through the herd on the way which resulted in some fighting and kicking. Corey was an angel and walked on ahead while I fought it out with Cody. After much longer than usual we made it to the bridge. And we weren't alone. Everyone else had followed and wanted to cross the bridge with us. So the good news is, I don't think they are scared of the bridge, or atleast the thought of going to the other side. The bad news is that Kiko was leaning on the stretchy gate, so now she knows it's not electrified. But even with the temptation of Cody and Corey being on the other side, the other horses did stay on the side they belonged. So after a lot more fighting we remounted and headed up the hill. Both horses were doing better at this point. We trotted a bit and went around the edge of the cliff and then headed into the woods. That whole portion of the ride was nice. Both horses were listening pretty well. Cody slid down the steep hill on the far side of the woods little faster than I would have liked. I think he figured the faster he went the sooner he'd get back to his woman. Back out of the woods I had another fight with Cody. He wanted to head back to the barn, I wanted to go back through the clearing. I won. We had a little canter in the clearing before heading back down the hill.

Here's where the real hilarity ensued. We dismounted, I was going to go open the gate but I was waiting for Lisa first. Corey decided to cross the bridge by himself and was stopped abruptly when he got to the stretchy gate. With no where to go at this point he decided to get off the bridge. So now Corey's between the fence and the creek. Luckily he only went a few steps before stopping. I brought Cody across the bridge and opened the gate and tried to coax Corey out. He made a run for it, passed me and Cody, and took off for the rest of the herd, stepping on his reins in the process. Thank goodness for clip on reins. He stopped 10 feet or so behind me where Kiko was grazing. So I went to grab for his reins and Cody took off. I handed Corey off to Lisa and grabbed Cody. Once again we remounted and rode on. Since the herd was hanging out with us Cody was calm as can be. I guess next time maybe we try and pony Kiko along and see what happens. :>

We made it back up to the barn with only one more fight from Cody and untacked and turned both the horses out. They ran back down the hill without so much as looking for any after ride treats from us. After Lisa left I went back and grabbed Axel so I could take a look at his leg closer. I soaked it in some cold water for a while but he doesn't like standing in a bucket very much. I turned him back out thinking he'd be fine. Then I second guessed myself and gave Tricia a call to see what she thought. She ended up coming out and helping me out. She tried to shave his ankles but her clippers didn't have a blade and the little hand shaver only worked for a few strokes before it was too dull. She doused him in Betadine and wrapped both his back legs up. We came to the conclusion that his mud fever is still not gone and it's probably infected now. So hopefully we can kill the infection before it spreads to his legs or gives him a fever. He wasn't quite sure what to think of the leg wraps when we let him go. He wasn't completely lame when we started but since he's never been wrapped before he thought he was lame after that, and hopped along holding his one foot up really high. Goofy horse. Tom said at supper last night his wraps were still on but he was still limping a little on that left rear. Hopefully he'll keep them wrapped until we get out for our lesson tomorrow. I think we'll still be able to ride since it's not an injury type lameless, but just sore from infection. We'll have to see how he is.

Fast Saturday Ride

Despite this cold I've managed to obtain, and despite all my potential riding partners having other things to do today, I went for a ride this afternoon anyway. I groomed Cody first and turned him out when I was done. Then I groomed and tacked up Axel and headed out on the trail. At the top of the first hill we met up with Tom's daughter and her two kids. We stopped and chatted for a bit and the kids had to pet the horse. The little girl, the oldest, was telling her little brother to watch out for the feet because her grandma was killed by a horse stepping on her head (sad and sweet at the same time) :( The little boy proceeded to pet Axel's leg and then hug his neck and tell him he was a good horsie. After we passed them we had a little trot in the clearing and then headed into the woods. The lighting was kind of spooky today. Light but cloudy out and then really dark in the woods. Partway into the woods we ran into Tom's son. I guess everyone was out for a walk today. Axel is really an excellent horse. He was a little startled by Tony in the woods but his reaction was to stop dead and look to see what was coming. On the opposite side of the woods we worked on the hills a few times. He did pretty well going down the hills, but the large hills he would only hop and buck on the way up, couldn't quite get him into a canter. After the hills we made our way back through the woods and got one good canter up a smaller hill before we got back to the clearing.

We had another little trot that turned into a canter circle, a really nice canter circle even. I tried for another nice canter in a straight line but all I got was a gallop. Fun for me but Axel's not much for steering when he's going so fast, so the turn at the end of the clearing was a little goofy. Made our way back down the hill to the bridge and ran into Tom and his sons checking out the cabin. Axel decided he wanted to run up the last hill back to the barn so we had to walk back down and try again at a walk. We can't be running back to the barn whenever we feel like it.

After the ride Axel had a little walk through the bushes to get rid of the bugs. Guess that's their best fly repellant. Cody was hanging out so he got his photo taken so I could try out the soft focus filter I borrowed from Jeff. And Cody's found himself quite the girlfriend. I was quite surprised to see Kiko in season and Corey actually letting Cody hang out with her. He was knickering away at her and Corey was off grazing not paying attention at all.

So I ended up with the cutest photo ever. Cody and Kiko's engagement photo ;) Too bad Cody's a gelding, eh? Wonder if I'll have a hard time with Cody tomorrow. One of the gals from my old riding lessons is going to come out for a ride with me. Hopefully he'll cooperate so we can have a fun ride.

Dressage Lesson #3

All this rain is not helping the bug issue one bit. Got out to the barn a bit early after work today. The horses were all hanging out in the paddock. Tom was unloading bags of feed so I guess they thought it was dinner time, atleast they hoped it was. Groomed Axel for a while. He's full of bug bites so every stroke of the brush must really feel good, he was making all sorts of faces (the good faces of course). He's still got some brown winter hairs that haven't shed out yet. I was done early so we worked on some "carrot streches" to the right and left. Got a couple good cracks even.

Saddled him up while I was waiting for Tricia to arrive. Axel was being annoyed by bugs right and left so I went to get the fly mask. I've been working on crocheting a fly net for him but I haven't finished yet. I ended up trying out one of the store bought fly nets that Tom had instead of the big mesh fly mask. Axel didn't seem to mind it at all. Tricia pulled up so we went right to work.

Since the round pen went so horribly last time we decided to just work in the pasture and see if that went any better. And it was much better, he actually was moving. Our theory is that the round pen is just too much bending for him at this point. In the pasture we did kind of an arena shaped pattern instead. So he only had to bend on the corners. Did some work at the walk, mostly just concentrated on keeping him from popping his outside shoulder. Walked in both directions and then worked on the trot just a bit. It's difficult for me to keep him supported while we're trotting, and keep him trotting on top of that. But there was no need for all the kicking this week so that was a win in itself. To keep him from popping out that shoulder I have to ride with my outside leg nearly in front of the girth and pick him up with the outside rein. As odd as that is it does the job. I just hope he gets the point soon so I can start riding normally!

We got a couple good passes where he'd stay bent and collected without me begging for it. Every time he did something right and I'd reach to praise and pat him, he'd stop. Heh, I guess he wants his reward to be standing still. Tricia could tell when he was just about to tune out so we made a couple more passes successfully and then dismounted right then and there.

So overall he is improving, he just needs more practice. And I am starting to be able to feel what he is doing so that'll be a big help when I want to work with him alone.

Between Storms

It rained all morning but I managed to get a ride in between bouts. We had quite a time on Tuesday trying to get and keep Axel moving in the round pen. My original plan was to do some hill work. Something I know we'd be successful at but something Axel really needs to work on. Unfortunately since it was raining all morning I figured the hills would be too slippery. Instead I went out on the road. We worked on some trotting and a working walk. Both of which Axel was very willing to do on the road. I didn't have to kick one bit, just a squeeze and he'd go. We couldn't quite get a canter going, just some bucks when I asked. So we stuck to just trotting and walking. We did a tiny bit of hill work in a large part of the ditch on the other side of one of the fields.

Not sure why he's so unwilling in the round pen. Maybe it's just the bending or something. I guess we'll see on Tuesday. The plan is to try a dressage whip to tickle his hind quarters into moving a bit. I don't think my legs can handle kicking him any more. And we will definitely need to do a lot more hill work. You can see in that photo of him that his forehand is all muscled up but his hindquarters are not.

Maybe by the end of the summer both of the boys will be all in shape and looking good.

Dressage Lesson #2

It was sunny all day yesterday, as far as I could tell from my desk. After leaving work a little later than normal, getting on the wrong freeway entrance, turning around, and sitting in some traffic, I drove right into the rain they kept talking about. Luckily as I kept driving the rain let up. By the time I pulled into the driveway at the barn the rain had stopped and it was nice and sunny out again. The horses were busy mowing the lawn. Tom had part of the lawn roped off so they could graze. If only they would graze in some sort of organized pattern so we could be sure to get all the lawn the same length. Tricia was on her way out from a trip to St. Paul so I chatted with Tom for a bit before getting Axel ready for the lesson.

I think I spend enough time out there not riding that he shouldn't be running away from me when I try to retrieve him with a halter in my hand. But he saw me coming and scooted to the other side of the yard. It wasn't blatant running away, just trying to sneak away in case I didn't notice. He did let me catch him and followed me back to the barn without protest. Groomed him up, he's still a bit fuzzy from winter yet. Gave him a good scratch in his favorite itchy spot, his inner thighs - if you can believe that - I suppose it's not an easy spot to itch yourself if you're a horse. Just as I was done tacking up Tricia drove up. Perfect timing.

We decided to work in the round pen to help him bend more. At first I want to say he's just being stubborn but I think it really boils down to he just doesn't know what I am asking him to do. It was like pulling teeth to get him to go around in a circle in the round pen. He'd take one step at a time and I'd kick and kick and kick until my legs felt like they were going to fall off. There was no momentum at all. We put out a few poles for him to step over to help make him use his rear. After we had switched directions a few times he started to move a little more forward. We managed a few trots over the poles and around the circle. Never more than one circle trotting though and Tricia was jumping around and waving her arms behind us to keep us going. By the end of the lesson, probably 40 minutes or more, he was finally moving a little better. He still will only bend for a few steps at a time and it took so long to get him moving that it's pretty frustrating and feels like we didn't make any progress. But I did get to stop kicking as much by the end so that was progress. We had a few moments when he did something well so we're trying our best to praise him for those moments, hopefully he'll catch on.

He's a lot more forward on the trail so I'm going to make sure when we ride out there he gets praised for doing things he's supposed to be doing. Maybe it'll transfer. Hopefully I can find someone to ride with on Saturday since Tricia won't be able to. I'd like to do some more hill work. It's good for the horses, and fun for the rider ;)

When we finished our lesson we ended up helping Tom deworm all the horses. Definitely not the horses' favorite thing to do. Actually most of the horses were really good about it with the exception of Cody. He just doesn't like having people grab onto his head and mess around with his mouth very much. Luckily Tricia is quick on the draw, and she has a lot more practice of course.

After riding Axel I ran up to one of the WCR barns to help train the new horses. My old riding instructor ended up donating two of her school horses when she closed down her barn. So there were some people out there getting them ready to start working. Looks like they will work out pretty well.

Saturday Trail Ride

Right as I drive up the road to the barn I see all the horses heading through the gate down to the back pasture. Really great timing. Luckily they had stopped right after the gate so they weren't too difficult to catch. I was planning on bringing my camera on the ride but Cody was acting pretty pissed that I took him away from his herd, I figured I better not risk it in case he did something stupid. He did calm down once we started riding. I just can't get him to cross the bridge on his own. He'll back away from it until Axel crosses first.

We rode around the top of the hill and then went into the woods. We rode to the opposite side of the property where the other hill is. We walked up and down the hills and then cantered up a few times. It's a good workout, they were getting sweaty at that point.

After the hill work we went back to the open area at the top of the hill and worked on some trotting in circles. Axel apparently needs quite a bit of help right now. He pops his outside shoulder out so Tricia had her outside leg in front of the girth to hold him in the circle, and her inside leg behind the girth to keep his hindquarters out. Basically riding backwards from how most dressage horses ride. He'll get it eventually. I guess he wasn't bending quite as easily as he had in the past so we're gonna work in the round pen on Tuesday for our lesson. So around and around and around we went. Cody doesn't quite understand the whole circle thing but he's getting it. He doesn't bend the right direction but I think that's in protest. By the end I think I had him pretty tired out, he was trotting slower and slower, which is a nice change from his usual frantic trot.

We had one small wrestling match when Cody wanted to go back down the hill and I wanted to take a small loop back through part of the woods. We fought it out a few times and I finally won, we walked back up the hill and made the loop twice before going back towards the barn. He fights with me less and less each ride but when we do fight over something it takes a while to win the battle. Eventually I want to start working with him alone, but that might be a while before we do that. He's pretty attached to his herd. But even after taking him away from his buddies and making him trot in circles and go up and down hills til he was drenched in sweat, he still doesn't hate me, comes to see what I am doing when I am still hanging around the paddock.

After our ride we hung out for a bit while the horses all took a bit of a nap under the overhang. Tricia had to head home and I took Beau for a little walk down the road and then he helped mow the lawn a bit. The rest of the horses had went back down the hill so I walked down there and took a few photos before I headed for home.

No Dressage Tonight

We cancelled our dressage lesson tonight but I decided to go for a visit anyways. I went straight from work and didn't have an barn clothes so I ended up just putting my coveralls and muck boots on. Muck boots are not good when its warm out. I groomed both of the boys. They're both still shedding. Axel is all splotchy and Cody still has long hairs on his belly and chin. It seems like they'll never be sleak again. Since it rained all weekend the paddock is once again a mud pit. And to make matters worse, the bugs are out already. I rode Axel around the pasture bareback for a while and then I groomed Beau for a bit. We let the horses out in the font pasture for a while before dinner. They were pretty happy to be eating some grass. I think in the next few days they'll be turned out in the back pasture. Hopefully we waited long enough this year.