Axel and I go it alone

Inspired by the riding that Linda did at the Parelli demo on Sunday and the fact that the gloomy weekend weather turned into a really sunny nice cool day, I went out the barn Sunday evening. No one was around so I was on my own. The horses were back out in the bottom pasture so I had to take the long walk down there to fetch a horse and then the long walk back up the hill to the barn. I decided I didn't feel like a fight today so I brought Axel in and groomed him up.

He's still got some pretty evil scabs on his one foot. They just don't seem to want to go away. If we go swimming at this camping trip I'm going to have to scrub him clean with betadine afterwards or something. As I was grooming all the other horses came barreling up the hill to the barn thinking it was dinner time or something. After some clever maneuvering we managed to push the gate open (we've gotta work on the side pass soon). Surprisingly no one followed us down the hill. I opted for a long rein and tried out some of the tips that I picked up at the demo. No kicking, just squeezing and using my whole body for forward movement and turning from my hips and belly button to get the horse to turn. Seemed to work pretty well.

Had to dismount to open the gate to the bridge (again, need to learn sidepass), but I found a log to use to re-mount. It was a little slow going up the hill, Axel was doing a bit of huffing and puffing by the time we got to the top. But we still had a nice trot through the clearing. Couldn't quite pick up the canter, just ended up getting a super fast trot. On the way back through the clearing we stopped for a snack on some grass so we could watch the three hawks soaring around and screeching.

Headed off in to the woods and went down the big hill on the far side. Had no issues today keeping collected and on the actual trail. Our trip up the other side was a little clumbsy. It's a dead end so we went back down the little part of the hill. Usually we turn in the valley there but last time there was some really low branches so I opted to go back up the steep hill. Axel went for it but couldn't keep up the pace the whole way. One of these times he's going to figure out that it's easier to push himself up the hill with his hindquarters than to pull himself up with his forequarters. The rest of the ride back to the bridge was calm and uneventful. My darn saddle pad had slipped once again so when I dismounted to open the gate I just stayed off and we both just walked back to the barn. After the ride I grabbed my camera to take a few shots, forgetting I had it sent on some crazy setting for the colesium. So I missed some good shots. But I followed Axel down the hill and watched him pick a nice sandy spot to roll.

Dressage lesson on Tuesday which I might consider asking if we can work on side passing or something like that. Then Anne is coming out on Wednesday for a ride to practice for "Horse Camp." Hehe. Hopefully some time this coming weekend Jeff and his sister and niece and nephew will be out to ride as well.