Axel after his bath

Axel

Sponge bath

Axel had a sponge bath today, it was too hot to ride.

Saturday WCR was cancelled because of the potential heat. So when I got up at 9am and it was only 82F I ran out to the barn hoping to beat the high temps. Of course all the horses were down the back pasture grazing and trying to stay cool. My aim was to work more with Cody on the yo-yo game. Once again I failed. He just stares at me, doesn't even make an attempt to figure out what it is the crazy lady is trying to tell him. I moved on to try the thing where you wrap the horse up with the rope once and they're supposed to unwind themselves. This took us several tries, he'd just keep backing up instead of turning around. He finally figured it out though. But we're still a no-go on the yo-yo. I tried the yo-yo with Kalani, another no-go (he can unwrap himself though). Tried a third time with Axel, nothing. I'm starting to think I am just not doing this right. I mean how many times can you get wacked in the face with the clip on the rope before you decide to maybe move out of the way? I even wacked myself in the face with the popper on the opposite end of the lead rope. If I was a horse I woulda moved. I've been trying to do this stuff in the pasture. Taking Cody away from the herd up to the round pen will just get him worked up and really not paying attention. But I think I'll have to work on these things when everyone is up in the drylot and not preoccupied with grazing. Or something, I'm running out of excuses!

So I finally decided just to lead Axel up to the barn to give him a bath and put oil on his feet. Like the last time I tried to lead him, he was just not having any of it. Usually he leads without an issue. This time (like the last) we got to the middle of the woods and he wasn't budging. It took many circles and poking and proding to get him to finally move. We made it up to the barn eventually. He doesn't seem totally sore any more, still a bit stiff but doesn't seem too terrible. Hopefully by Wednesday he'll be good as new. And I'm hoping it's the heat that's making the horses all so ornery. Once we got up to the paddock he followed me around, knickered at me, and all the usual love. It was just a pain to get there. Instead of dragging out the hose I just got a bucket and sponge for the bath. But I think Axel likes the hose better. He was a bit disturbed by the sponge. But then again the water was probably ice cold. When we were done bathing and getting oil on his hooves he follwed me back down to the pasture. Stopping for a roll in the sand pit. I was going to give Beau or Cody a bath too but neither of them were overly interested in leaving their almost cool grazing spots. So that was that. Too hot to do anything else this weekend.

A Little Jumping

I tried to work with Cody a bit doing some of the Parelli stuff. He didn't quite understand what I was trying to do. Hopefully it'll go better on Saturday. I've got to keep trying something to get through to him so we can be BFF. :>

I lead Axel around a bit down in the pasture and he looked like he was moving fine but as soon as we got back up to the barn he was barely moving. I tacked him up to see if I could get him to atleast walk around a bit but when I got on he just stood there and did not want to move. So after a few steps I got off.

I carried the saddle back down to the pasture and tacked up Corey. We went for a little ride across the creek but he was kind of scared and didn't want to go up the hill on his own. So we rode around back on the pasture side and jumped over a fallen log a few times. I decided to try up in the front pasture with one of the poles. It must have been just low enough, he didn't really jump the pole, just trotted over it. We had some nice canters but he was getting quite peeved at me for keeping him away from his herd. So after he tried a few times to wiggle me off I called it quits. He didn't even wait for the apple I had, as soon as the tack was off he was out of there.

Hopefully Axel will be feeling better on Saturday so we can go for a ride after I work with Cody some more. Seems like Corey is into jumping a bit on a more cross country type trail so I'll have to see what we can do about getting some of the logs cleared off in the woods.

A Quick Sunday Evening Ride

Tricia's wedding was on Saturday so I didn't get a chance to go out and ride then. Tom had a couple friends over during the day on Saturday and they took Cody, Axel, and Corey out for a ride. Sounded like it went fairly well and it's good the horses got a chance to get out and work a little. So Jeff and I planned a ride for Sunday afternoon. When we arrived Axel seemed a little off. Nothing obvious but stiff in his rear end. After some tail swishing and short stepping we decided to let him take a break. Jeff got Cody ready and I was going to ride Corey. This would be the second time I've really ridden him, and I enjoy it more each time. He's a fun little horse. If we can keep up riding him he would make a good "guest horse."

We had minor issues getting Cody and Corey out of the paddock and down the hill but once we got across the bridge it was smooth sailing. Went through the woods, trotted across the clearing (super fast Arab trot, yikes), and even did the short loop at the top of the hill (the loop that leads away from the way home, which is usually a big fight). Cody was an angel for Jeff. And Corey was well behaved but constantly shaking his head to rid himself of flies. I shoulda had a flynet on him. Oh well. Tony had done some extra mowing when he was out horse/house sitting so at the bottom of the hill when you first cross the bridge there's a new path. The branches are a bit low (but not a problem on Corey) but they were small branches so we made it through just fine. It's nice having a little change of scenery even if it's just a quick little loop.

And wouldn't you know it, I pointed Corey at that same branch we jumped over last time. This time he was walking up the hill in control, he picked it up to a very calm trot and jumped over the branch again! I think Corey and I might be having a few more rides in our future, I want to put a pole out on some flat ground and see if he'll jump when he's not barrelling towards home. And I think this fall I'll have to get Tom to start mowing a path over some of the fallen logs and help clear some of the branches myself. I guess I really do miss jumping!

The farrier suggested hoof oil once a week for Axel last time he was out. So I put some on his feet then while we were there. I figured I'd try it out for a few weeks and see if there are any positive or negative changes. I had originally thought the farrier was against hoof oil. But I guess not!

Pretend Dressage Lesson

Tricia is off camping in preparation for her wedding this weekend ;) so Axel and I were on our own for our Dressage lesson today. After shooing all the other horses out of the paddock, I groomed Cody and Axel. The bugs are still pretty bad so I wiped them down with fly spray as well. For some reason Cody was the only one still wearing his flymask. I guess today everyone got their West Nile booster shots.

So Axel and I just made a few rounds in the pasture going in both directions. Got a few almost decent trots but I wasn't pushing him too hard. I wanted to try and ride around and only use the reins if I absolutely had to, but Axel wasn't playing my game. He was playing the "go back to the paddock" game.

I chatted with Tom a bit. He's got plans to have Steph out to work with Kiko and Kalani. He just got back from a trip to Alaska so he was telling me about that. I hung out for a bit and took a few photos and let Beau out of the barn. Hopefully I can get Jeff out to ride on Sunday or something.

Dressage Lesson #9

When I got to the barn Beau was the only one in the paddock, standing in the sun, swatting flies. He's moving slower and slower every time I see him, and I'm sure the sweltering heat isn't helping any. I might have to go out this weekend if just to hose him down, it's supposed to be 100F on Saturday. It wasn't much cooler in the barn but the bugs weren't as bad so I let him in so he could graze on the hay a bit and get some relief from swatting.

Luckily the rest of the horses hadn't gone too far, they were just standing in the trees trying to stay cool and away from the bugs. Of course when I brought Axel up to the paddock everyone else had to follow, or rather, run past me getting Axel all excited. I managed to shoo everyone out of the paddock except for Cody and Axel. I was kind of early so I groomed and applied fly spray, then I started working on shovelling manure. Luckily Tricia arrived before I finished ;)

We could hardly get Axel out of the paddock so we decided to go work on the hills to try and wake him up a bit. Our plan didn't quite go as planned. We worked on the hill in the trees on a circle of sorts. Axel was moving, barely. When we got a couple good rounds of him bending in both directions we went down to the sandy part of the hill. Atleast there I was able to get a trot out of him at the bottom of the hill in a circle and then some cantering up the hill. It wasn't a great lesson but neccessary. We'll have a couple weeks off now again so Tricia can get married. I'll probably still go out on Tuesdays and ride and try and school him a bit myself until she's back.

The Herd Bosses Learn Some Lessons

It was actually relatively cool on Sunday so I decided to not let the day go to waste and went out to the barn. My plan was to ride Cody. I saddled him up and was going to lead him out past the first gate. And he wouldn't budge. The other horses were hanging out in the paddock and he wasn't going to leave them no matter what. I changed my plan and thought maybe I'd try ponying Kiko in the pasture. Once I got Kiko's halter on and started leading her it was evident her feet were pretty sore. The farrier hasn't been out yet and her feet are looking pretty chewed up. So that plan got thrown out the window. Back to just me and Cody. I mounted up in the paddock and waited. I sat there probably 20 minutes or more, asking Cody to move on out of the paddock. He'd turn around a bit but he wouldn't move forward much. I worked on some escalating degrees of asking him to move on, and he'd move but never very far. I rewarded him for every move he did make by a scratch and then just standing there for a few minutes. Corey actually ended up getting Cody to move a bit, but he'd still never move towards the gate. Finally one of my attempts of escalating my request and escalating my energy, he started trotting and went right through the gate. I jumped off, and pulled his tack as quickly as I could. I'm not sure if the lesson worked or not. I guess we'll see the next time he and I try and go for a ride.

I had nothing but time so I saddled up Corey this time. He wasn't overly eager to leave the herd but I was able to lead him to the gate without a fight. He acted a bit differently than Cody, didn't want to go but was moving all the time. We did a lot of spinning and circling by the gate before we made it down to the second gate. Boy that little Arab has quite a trot. Very tough to sit, luckily he's close to the ground! We somehow made it down to the creek. I decided to stay on the pasture side of the creek and just do a short ride since it was evident Corey didn't really enjoy our ride either. He was wound tight and breathing pretty heavy. We started up the hill back to the barn and he really wanted to go. I aimed him over a branch I usually use as a slow down tactic for my boys, but instead of walking over it like Cody and Axel usually do, he actually jumped it. A full fledged jump! Weee! Of course then he had momentum and was headed up hill so he cantered the rest of the way. Normally I try to not let them run home, but I had lost a stirrup and Corey's trot is so bumpy I didn't want to get bounced off so I just kept the canter. So up the hill we went.

I turned him out and Tom's other son arrived to feed. A little late in the day due to an engagement party the night before. While he fed, I put Beau in the barn to eat and groomed him for a while. Poor guy seems to be moving even slower these days. I actually went out to get him in the pasture because he didn't come up to get hay when the rest of the herd did. On our way back up to the barn he rushed over to the sand and layed down and rolled. It was kind of bizarre, atleast the timing of it. I suppose he felt he was safe from being chased since he was on the lead line and all the other horses were eating.

While Beau was inside eating I brought out the blue tarp one more time. This time Kalani remembered what it was immediately and let me put it all over his back. Kiko wore it on her head for a while but she wasn't overly impressed by that. She stood quietly but had a look on her face that said, "please take this off now."

Axel gets a gold star!

Tricia is busy getting ready for her wedding and other odds and ends so it was just me this weekend for riding. Everyone's feet are looking pretty ragged so we just took it easy. Axel didn't seem particularly happy about going for a ride but he didn't put up a fight. We wandered down to the creek and to the bridge as usual. I want to teach Axel to side pass so we can open gates and things without dismounting. I had previously tried to get Axel to walk up next to the fence so I could reach it but he'd never get close enough. Today I gave it another try and we were successful. I got him to walk up next to the fence and was able to open it without a problem. Tom's son had done some mowing so we wandered down next to the creek a bit to see how much he cut. Up in the woods the bugs were horrible so we ended up turning around half way in instead of doing the complete loop, it was pretty hot out anyway, a short ride was in order. Before heading back down I asked for a canter in the meadow to see what I could get. And what I got was a beautiful light canter from big ole Axel. I asked another time just to make sure it wasn't a fluke, and I got another nice canter. Yay for Axel! After that we headed back home. Just to press my luck when we crossed the bridge I attempted to get Axel to walk up next to the fence so I could grab the stretchy gate and hopefully close it. He walked right up where I needed him to grab the open gate but then he started wandering off. I was able to hang onto the gate and get him back in position to close it. At this point he was even taking one step at a time as I asked so we could get close enough for me to reach. Axel gets the gold star for the day!

I mucked out the trailer from our trip last week and ended up cleaning out the round pen. It had been open for a while and looked like the designated restroom. Stephanie is going to start working with Kiko and Kalani so I thought i'd be nice if the round pen was usable. Plus one of these days I might actually start working on the Parelli stuff with the boys.

After my little cleaning stint I decided to play a little bit with the blue tarp. I have only played with it once so it was interesting to see if the horses remembered. Kalani was still a bit afraid but got over that quite a bit faster than the last time (which was several months ago). He'd stand on it, bite it, walk around it, nose it. I think he played with the tarp for 15 minutes or more. Kiko played a little but wandered out to graze. I rubbed the tarp on Kalani folded up and then unfolded and eventually he was wearing it. Then I worked on Kiko a bit, she really didn't want it touching her when it wasn't her idea but after biting it a few times she let me put it on her back completely unfolded. Cody didn't care if I put it on him but it was taking away from his grazing time so he didn't stick around very long.