Mini Trail Ride

Since my lesson was moved to Monday, Tuesday I met Steph out at the barn and when she was done working with Kiko and Kalani we went for a little trail ride. I had tried to get more zinc oxide on Cody's nose but he just wouldn't have it. We saddled up Corey and Cody and decided to head out on the road for a change of pace. Other than some really slow moving on Cody's part (he's really unsure on the gravel) the ride went really well. Corey was pretty darn calm with it all including a few cars and a golf car driving by. He was a little wary of the trailer when we walked by that so we're wondering how he's going to load for the trail ride fundraiser. We'll have to work with him and see if he'll load. And Cody behaved a bit better than he normally behaves for me. Only one minor disagreement over direction but it was very minor.

If it's not one thing ... Dressage Lesson #13

We moved my dressage lesson from Tuesday this week to Monday instead. It rained all day and I was starting to get worried that I wouldn't be able to ride. But it finally let up before I left work and managed to hold off from starting again even though it looked pretty ominous. When I got to the barn the kids were all in the lower pasture. Beau was standing near the middle gate so I whistled (as best I can) to him and he started up toward me. I figured I'd get him in the barn before the others made it up and got in the way. Well they all heard me whistling (how I don't know) and came running like there was a fire. I did manage to get Beau in the barn without too much hassle. And then I noticed Cody's nose. It was covered in scabs and raw spots. Corey and Kiko had the beginnings of the same thing and Kalani had a couple small spots on his nose as well. It kind of looked like they all put their noses into something they shouldn't have. The more research I've done seems to point to sun burn or photosentivity. I attempted to wash off Cody's nose and put some zinc oxide on it but he wasn't overly fond of the zinc. I did my best and I'll probably try and get more on there tonight. No wonder Cody hates me!

Tricia arrived and helped me out with the noses and we tacked up Axel and went to the first pasture to work. She set up cones again and we worked on weaving. Axel seems to enjoy weaving, though I think he enjoys trying to step on the cones most of all. After we'd work on something for a while he'd start getting bored and stop listening so we'd make him trot around the whole pasture in more of an extended trot (as extended as Axel gets right now). I was instructed to alternate my legs when squeezing to keep him moving and for some reason Axel did not appreciate that. He'd throw out one of his half hearted bucks in protest. A few times around like that and we were back to weaving and he was happy about it. We then worked on walk trot transitions. Axel has a tendency to just come to a screeching halt and nearly fall over when you ask for a walk. So my task was to work on half-halts and get him to keep the momentum even on the down shift. Our up shifting wasn't much better either. We'd plan to trot at a certain cone but it'd take 3 more cones to get him going half the time. At this point the lesson had gone on for quite a while and Axel was trying his best to work further and further down the reins, which is fine, but when he's down that low, he wants to snatch the reins out of your hands every time he stops. Eventually we found a good point where he was listening and rounding up and we called it a day.

So we're standing there, I'm still sitting on Axel and we're discussing something. Axel starts shaking his head like he's shooing away a fly, and the bridle comes flying off. Now this is the second time this has happened. It's quite humorous to watch but I imagine it's going to get annoying if it keeps happening. I had taken the nose band off his bridle for the trail ride but I think we might have to put it back on now. That should atleast help keep the bridle on him. He must have double jointed ears or something ;)

Babies!

Saturday morning we were at the farm. I mentioned I wanted to go check out the baby horses and see how big they had gotten in only 3 months. So we drove out there to pay them a visit, bringing with us some apples from the apple tree. They had been moved out into a back pasture so we had to squeeze through the barbed wire fence and walk to the other end to see them. They weren't about to come running, giving up their grazing, just to see us. Molly and Dolly (the mothers) were grazing away and the babies were rolling in the grass and soaking up the sun.

Both babies are about 12hh now and they're legs are as big around as Axel's and they're only 3 months old! We played with them for a while. Watched them chase the dog around and try to climb up on their mothers and generally just run around silly. We tried to give them apples but they weren't quite sure what to do with them. Willie would just pick one up and toss his head around. He almost got a bite out of one but not quite. It's funny how alike they looked when they were tiny but now they've both gotten different color coats, and totally different personalities. Willie is playful and curious. Wilma is a bit more shy and cautious, but she didn't mind me scratching her hindquarters. Unfortunately we couldn't play all day and we had to finally leave. I'll definitely have to go back and visit them and see how big they get.

If it's not one thing, it's another - Dressage Lesson #12

So I went to fetch Axel from the pasture. It's been tough getting him to come in lately so I don't look forward to the fight. I walked up to him and he decided he was going to walk away. Unfortunately for him, he started walking in the direction of the barn. So I managed to more or less chase him up the hill to where I wanted him to go in the first place. Atleast there wasn't a fight this time! I groomed him up and tried to file his feet. It appears I am not quite strong enough to do anything worthwhile with a file. I might have to keep trying but it didn't go very well. It looks like Axel is starting to loose his summer coat now as well. There was a lot of hair flying around when I brushed him this time. Maybe he'll be a black horse again soon.

We worked on some patterns to get him bending around my leg as much as possible. He can't walk a straight line to save his life so we made him weave cones at the walk, half walk/half trot, and trot. I think he enjoyed weaving. We moved onto a circle pattern and we lost him. He just gets stupid when you put him in a circle. We fought through it for a while, weaving the cones around in a circle, and then just doing the circle but it wasn't nearly as successful as the plain line weaving. He's starting to get the picture that if he bends and frames up, even for just a few seconds, that's the end of the lesson. Of course now we make he do it at the trot, he's pretty good at the walk.

I had noticed something on his back legs before the lesson and I remembered to check it out when we untacked him. He's got huge sores/blisters between his back legs where his "thighs" rub together. The assumption is that it's from heat and friction but I called the vet today to make sure. The vet figured they weren't actually blisters but just irritation from a bug bite or something. He suggested cortizone and just keep an eye on it. Though I won't be out there until next Monday and I'm not making Tom put coritzone on my horse's butt all week. Heh. The vet did say he had seen it one other time but in that case it was lymphoma. He didn't think that was this case though. I guess we'll see. They don't seem to bother him too much so hopefully they'll just go away. I have a photo of it but I think I'll spare the public and not link it ;)

Quick Update on a Long Night - Dressage Lesson #11

The boys had their blood drawn for Coggins tests today. I groomed and fly sprayed everyone while I was waiting for Steph or Tricia to arrive. Steph worked with Kiko and Kalani and I warmed up Axel. Tricia arrived and we worked in the pasture on our usual tasks, bending and turning corners and keeping up the trot. Axel did pretty well. We pushed him past his cranky point again this evening. So far it works out ok to push him. Hope it only gets better. He really picks up on the patterns we ride, after a couple times through I don't have to direct him so much and I can concentrate on keeping him going and getting him using his butt. And even when he does get annoyed, he seems to just give us a warning like "oh common are we done yet or what" but he keeps going. Which is good since it takes quite a bit of energy to get him out of the paddock in the first place!

Afterwards Steph and I took Corey and Cody out for a trail ride. We're on bit #3 for Cody. This time a Polo Mouth Loose Jaw bit. He seemed to like it quite a bit. And it allows me to let him have a long rein. I do have to add a curb chain though, our brakes weren't too great. I'll try the bit a couple more times and see how he does. He usually does pretty well the first few times I try a new bit (first a loose ring snaffle, then a D Ring snaffle, now the curb bit). We shall see. He certainly wasn't perfect, neither was Corey. But we made it through in one piece. This trail ride fundraiser in September might be interesting :>

Oh geez, I almost forgot. On our way back to the barn from our trail ride we took the horses down to the swampy area where the log is that I like to make Corey jump. I was on Cody so I took him over the jump expecting just a trot over it or even a walk. Started at a walk, trotted maybe 2 steps in front of the jump, and he jumped the log! An actual jump. Of course he ran out of it, but hey! Cody jumped! Hehe.

Yay for Cody!

Today was not perfect, by far. But after a very slow walk from the pasture to the round pen, Cody actually paid me some attention. I groomed him first while he looked longingly at his girl friend on the other side of the round pen fence. I set up a couple ground poles to play with for a change of pace. I started by just moving him around a bit. He actually did pretty good with me driving his hind quarters away from me. He did really well stepping over the poles and even tried the circle game a bit. We couldn't manage the yo-yo game yet but after some leading around the pen and driving his hindquarters, he started following me around licking his lips. He did great when I asked him to come towards me (half of the yo-yo game). None of these was flawless of course, but I think it was a good step. Even after I took his halter off he kept following me. Yay for Cody!

At this point everyone had come up and was hanging around swatting flies so I haltered Axel and brought him into the paddock to groom and get tacked up. He was slightly less than willing at this point and wouldn't let me lead him out of the paddock so I got on and tried to ride him out of the area. It was still like pulling teeth but we did make it down to the next gate. Things picked up a bit and we once again got the gate open to cross the bridge without dismounting. We cruised around the new little trail that Tony had cut and got spooked by a couple deer jumping out of the creek. How I managed to stay on is beyond me. He jumped about 3 steps to the side and I didn't move quite as quickly as he did. But I saved myself and stayed on. Luckily he only took three steps and then stopped to see what he was spooking at.

We made it out alive and went up the hill and through the woods as usual. In the clearing we had a couple good trots with no bucking this time ;) and even had a little canter that started with Axel's tiny buck but settled out nicely. The nice trotting just made it more evident that Axel was being naughty on Tuesday. We headed back to the barn where Axel had a couple cookies and a nice roll in the dirt. I shot some photos since I haven't taken too many lately. Nothing spectacular though.

The vet is coming out on Tuesday to do their Coggins tests so we can go on this trail ride in September. Which reminds me to get some pledges going. Then I have my usual dressage lesson. I think I'll ask Steph if she wants to go for a ride with Cody and Corey after my lesson. Gotta get those two boys working a bit before the trail ride. I've also gotta wash those polo wraps from the last trail ride, Axel keeps kicking himself in the leg and the polo wraps should help especially on narrow trails.

Axel's back! Dressage Lesson #10

Axel might decide he's lame again just so I don't ride him. I think he liked his 3 weeks of vacation. When I got to the barn Stephanie was just arriving so we went down and grabbed a couple horses. Of course getting all of them in the process but that was fine. Axel was walking well and was willing so there was hope. We poked on his back and didn't get any reaction, nor did I get a reaction to the curry. So I groomed him up and put a saddle on him. When Tricia arrived she poked a bit and did get a small reaction (I guess we didn't poke hard enough) but it was minor compared to how it was before, and it could have just been a reflex even.

We decided to go for it. He was back to his usual self, almost willing but not quite. Which is a nice change from completely motionless. We worked at a walk in a serpentine of sorts to get him moving around a little less like a plow horse. Then just for kicks (and I mean lots of kicks) we worked the same pattern at the trot. A lot less tripping now that he's had his feet done. For 3 weeks off he did pretty well. He really picks up on the pattern and doesn't require a lot of steering. Though he requires a lot of leg to keep moving and I have to keep picking him up so he doesn't fall on his outside shoulder around the bends. But hey, one less job, I'll take it.

We actually worked for quite a while and then moved into the other pasture and tried to work on some extended trotting just to get him using his back end. Went around a few times alright but he kept trying to head back to the barn. We pushed him on and he pushed back, right into a buck. Luckily Axel has very wimpy bucks, they feel more like an unbalanced canter. Tricia just stood there laughing her head off. But we picked up on his cues for when he wants to buck so we were able to distract him the next few times he threatened. A couple more times around until he behaved and then we ended the lesson. Our thought is that he was partially just being ornery and partially the extention might be a bit of a stretch on his back and he might be a bit sore still.

I haven't decided if I'm sticking around this weekend or not. I'd like to go out and ride some more since it's been so long but we'll see. Plus I need to do more ground work with Cody.

Poor Axel

Wouldn't you know it. I get Jeff to come out to the barn, con him into carrying my camera to photograph my lesson, and Axel is hurt. I tell ya, that horse hurts himself more than anyone I know.

We were running a little late so Tricia had already gotten to the barn. Tom and Stephanie were out working with Kiko and Kalani and Tricia was grooming Axel. She had the curry out and was currying his back and he apparently almost dropped to his knees from pain. So when we got there she was poking around trying to figure out where the exact spot was. She hopped up bareback and rode him around as well and determined it was on his left side, right near his spine, somewhere in the vicinity of the last few Thoratic or first few Lumbar vertebrae. She could poke him with just her finger and he'd curl up in a ball and almost fall over. He was in good spirits though, his ears never once twitched when she poked him. And just sitting on him didn't bother him, just when she'd get back on that sore spot.

So there was no riding for me. We half considered maybe having a lesson on Cody but he's just not to the point where he'll work with us willingly when his herd isn't out there. I just didn't feel like that kind of fight. I told Tricia about my troubles getting Cody to even acknowledge me while trying to do some Parelli stuff so she showed me a few things. Mostly she got him moving around a bit, didn't concentrate on the particular game I had been trying to play. It's interesting to watch because you can see he just doesn't want to give his full attention to the handler. After maybe 10 minutes, of her asking him to move and really meaning it, he started to follow her around licking his lips. Finally letting down that guard. My problem seems to be a lack of gumption. With Cody you really have to mean it, and wake him up. Guess I'll have to work on that. I'm just too much of a pushover.

Steph was evaluating Kiko and Kalani and I would have liked to stay longer to see how that went but we were meeting Tricia's husband to look at the wedding photos Jeff had taken. So we had to head out. I'll be gone this weekend anyways, so Axel gets another week off until Tuesday to see how he mends. I've gotta get the vet out for a Coggins before the trail ride so I'll see how he's feeling Tuesday and then call the vet. Steph's got a chiropractor I could call if the vet thinks it'd help. Poor Axel, he's been trying to tell me he hurt by being stubborn when I try to lead him up the hill, but I just wasn't getting it. It's hard for me to tell if he's walking funny since he kind of walks funny all the time. And I haven't been using the curry, I usually just use the regular brush when I groom unless there's tons of mud. Guess I have to pay more attention.