Rocket the wonder pony!

Jeff and I swung by the barn to do a few minutes of ground work with Cody on our way to Tricia's. She got a harness, cart, and sleigh for Rocket and we wanted to check it out. We hooked him up to the cart and went out on the road. The sleigh runners are too narrow and dig into the snow too much and make it hard for Rocket to pull so they've been using the cart instead.

Rocket took the cart like a champ. A one point he got a little confused, reared up (in slow motion) and came back down with one of the shafts under his front leg. He just stood there waiting for someone to fix his predicament. When we got him all situated we were on our way. He pulled Tricia and I around and did some trotting. We even had him do some one wheel turns. He's a real trooper that's for sure.

We did hook him up to the sleigh to see if we could figure out what was wrong with it. He pulled it alright when it was empty but with people in it really scraped the gravel. Back to the drawing board on that one. Our next plan is to hook Axel up and have Tricia skijor behind him since she always has her skis with her. We just have to wait for some more snow on the road or a nice freezing rain.

Work in the barn

I haven't been in the mood to get the horses all tacked up and work in the snow so I've been using Cody as my excuse to not ride. It's a good excuse though, he needs the ground work. I actually got to the barn really early for once so I groomed Axel for while before bringing in Cody. My first step from now on is going to be driving him into the barn. Going in the first time isn't usually a big deal, he walks right in when I put the rope over his back and send him on his way. After that, I figured I'd start with seeing how his attitude about being in the barn without his herd. He was surprisingly calm. Still a bit anxious but manageable. We did a little basic lunging and some grooming as a reward. If we only trot once or twice around in a row it doesn't get too dusty in there but I think I'll shovel some snow in there next time it's not so crunchy. We spent a little time working on standing still which is another one of our issues. Tricia and Steph had arrived by that point. Tricia ended up jumping on Cody bareback and I lunged him. He was a little concerned with the change at first but figured it out pretty quick. So we set up a board on the ground to practice backing over. And I set up some chairs in the corner of the barn to practice lunging (and eventually driving) into small spaces. He got the lunging into the corner pretty well after a while. The backing up still needs a lot of work. He will back out of the trailer but it's usually pretty fast and frantic. He'll back on the ground but it's pretty hard to keep him in a straight line. But we'll keep working on that. I think the more confident he gets with backing on command the easier it will be to keep him straight. At the end of the lesson we backed him out of the barn door. There's a pretty decent step down so I thought it'd be a good practice spot for trailering. He was much more concerned with what was behind him while I was aiming him towards the door than he was just in the barn. He finally made it out of the barn but Tricia insisted he go back in and do it again. This time driving him into the door was much more difficult. It required some more circles so he would remember we weren't done work yet. Finally he did go in. Backing out the second time wasn't quite as difficult but still not perfect. I'll have to add a whoa in this game when he gets the back feet out so he learns not to fly backwards. After that it was the usual dinner time and off to the bar!

Skijorring!

So it was in the 20s yesterday and didn't seem too windy so it was off to the barn. I couldn't decide what I wanted to accomplish but I thought at the very least I wanted to see how the herd was doing since Corey left the week prior. Now we're down to a 4 horse herd. I wonder if the remaining horses worry about why their herd mates have disappeared and if they're next or if they just don't think that way. I'm hoping they just don't think that way.

Things were pretty mellow when I pulled up, but that's not unusual for a mid winter day. I decided I was just going to do a tiny bit of ground work with Cody to see where he was at and then turn them out into the side pasture for some play time before I left. Cody lunged as well as usual. Drat though I do keep forgetting to pay attention to where his ears are. But he followed directions well so he must have been paying me a little attention at least. I don't have a surcingle yet and I was too lazy to get out a saddle to long line with so I just stood behind him with the lead rope to see if he'd "walk on" with me behind him. He was a bit confused but moved forward. So I think that's our next step, ground driving. I think if I can get him ground driving in and out of the barn the trailer loading should be a snap.

The snow was really crispy so playtime was a little more subdued than usual but there was a fair share of silliness going around. At one point Kiko kicked out at Cody like she tends to do in this situation. Usually Cody reacts much like the photo there. But this time he just went after her. Bit at her and chased her around the trees. My initial reaction is that Cody is competing to win the place of herd boss like I thought he would. Maybe Kiko is giving him a run for his money. She doesn't seem to care about that though, since she's the only mare she's more or less in charge of the herd in her own mind anyway. It will be interesting to see the changes in the coming weeks.

After all the fun at Tom's I ran over to Tricia's in-laws farm to help her with the pony. She has a mini/Shetland who's about 5 years old that the kids have been riding. She taught him to ground drive a few years back to start his training and she decided to teach him to pull. So we drove him around with big PVC pipes wacking at his sides with pretty much no reaction on his part. So we hooked up a kid's sled to his saddle (no harness yet to fit him) and we were going to have him pull that with a bit of weight in it to see how he did. He really didn't care about the sled and at the trot we lost our weight so as we approached a snowy field Tricia got in the sled and handed the reins over to me. Rocket pulled away like he'd been doing it for years. He trotted and cantered and only looked at us like we were insane a few times. I got way more exercise running next to him with the reins than I had planned. We swapped and I rode in the sled. Then we swapped back and Tricia took the reins while sitting in the sled. So Rocket passed his tests with flying colors. Children around the neighborhood will rejoice as they get pulled around by Rocket the pony. Believe it or not, that little pony didn't even break a sweat.

So after that we grabbed Oly and Cinder and jumped on (not very gracefully) bareback for a quick ride. Cinder has quite the vertical trot being the Arab he is so I was a little on edge, but we made it out okay. And despite the wind and cold that picked up on our way back both my ears are still attached to my head. So at least I got a little riding in and believe me, I was working on some of that visualization techniques from the Centered Riding book in order to remain on Cinder's back.

I think we should teach Axel to pull a sleigh. He'd look so cute with some jingle bells.

Sunday in the Snow

December 9, 2007
Sunday we put on all of our long undies and went out to the barn so Jeff could play with his new camera. We let the horses out in the side pasture for the first time which is always entertaining. They run around like fools, kicking up their heels. Then they went on to digging in the snow looking for grass to graze.

I tacked up Axel and took him for a spin in the snow. He was less than enthused about that idea. He just wanted to hang out with the "guys." We had a few minor words about moving but being as I stayed on his back I think I won. We did end up our kind of helter-skelter ride by doing some serpentines at the walk. He's pretty good at those and I need the practice using my seat aids for bending and turning.

I turned out Axel and grabbed Cody for some quick ground work. I'm trying to keep that up every time I visit, just for a few minutes at least. Cody did pretty well, he's definitely retaining the lunging lessons. I've got some notes jotted down for things to do with him to make things a little different and keep it interesting. I'm excited to work with him every day for a month when I'm out there house/horse/cat sitting. Ooo cat time, I totally forgot about that, what fun! Plus I think I'm going to start riding Cody more than Axel. Axel's knee is sore and he's just so slow that it's really difficult for me to improve my riding or see improvement in him. I might do a few lessons on Tricia's horse and then start riding Cody weekly. I'm hoping by spring Cody will be ready to jump in that trailer and head for the trails every time we go. I'm aiming for the Gary cattle drive as well. I still do want to do a dressage schooling show. I wanted to do it with Axel but we'll see.

November 28, 2007
Last week the girls gave me a hard time for wanting to go out to the barn. I say I wasn't forcing either of them, they are big girls! Anyway, Tricia trailered Oly over to ride. My black stirrup leathers finally arrived so I put those on my saddle. And I decided to try out my new bridle. Unfortunately it is a bit small so I'm not sure what I'm going to do about that. By the time we had the horses tacked up it was already mostly dark. And the wind picked up, a lot. We figured it would be less windy if we went down the back hill and rode down there. It was slightly less windy and a lot more dark by the time we got down there. Axel and I stumbled around for a while. He kept flipping his head since the bridle was too small, the brow band was the worst followed by the nose band. His head is just a bit too big for a regular bridle but probably too small for a draft size. He needs horse and a half or something. So Tricia and Oly and Steph and Kalani wandered around a bit as well before we decided we were cold and it was time to go back up. Sadly I couldn't tell if there were any changes in Axel since it was dark, the ground was full of holes so he kept tripping, and it was too cold to really do much. We fed as usual and when Cody was done eating I did a tiny bit of lunging with him just to remind him of the whole respect thing.

December 5, 2007
This week Tricia ran into some possum issues at her place so she wasn't able to make it out. Steph didn't sound terribly interested but she came out anyway. I wanted to get a hair sample of Cody's mane for a gal I ran across online that's doing a research project on lethal white overo. I groomed him and pulled some hair off him and then lunged him in the round pen for a while. He did pretty good so I tried free lunging him for a while. He did really well in one direction but wouldn't turn into the circle in the other direction without the lead rope. He turned fine to the inside in the one direction so I assume it was just a side favoring issue and not really a respect issue.

After that I groomed up Axel and Steph brought in Corey. We jumped on bareback with just halters and lead ropes and cruised around the round pen for a while. Axel felt pretty good but once again it's hard to tell without having the space to really move out. Maybe we'll get a chance this weekend. We pulled up all the ground poles from the round pen so they won't get frozen to the ground in our way, fed everyone, and went on our way .. to the bar.

Corey is going to WCR this weekend so things are going to be interesting next week. I'll have to make sure to keep up the ground work with Cody because he's the likely horse to step up to herd boss and that could have some adverse affects on his attitude. I guess we'll see.

When I left work it was 14F. When I got to the barn it was 4F. When we left after riding it was -4F and when I got home it was -10F. But that -4F felt more like 10F because it was not windy at all. Hopefully Sunday will be nice enough, Jeff wants to come with and try out his new camera.

Chiropractor Visit

Well since I sold my old car I was able to afford to have the chiropractor out to adjust both Cody and Axel this time. Cody needed a follow up visit from his spring adjustment. I of course got to the barn 5 minutes after 3. Dr. Westman said he'd be up to the ranch sometime around 3 or 4. Well I guess he was there at 3. So I was late. It was kind of a bummer because I had wanted a bit of time to groom everyone so they didn't look like total neglect cases. Oh well, it's that time of year I guess. I grabbed Cody and brought him into the barn. I was really surprised, he was pretty calm about the whole thing. He usually gets pretty worked up when he has to stand alone without his buddies. He stood really well for his adjustment and might have even enjoyed it. There was a lot of licking and chewing going on. In the end he had one rib on each side out (an improvement from the 4 that were out in the spring), his croup was out, and his withers were pretty bad still (his adjustments are on the left there if you can read them).

Axel hadn't been adjusted before and he's so stoic it's really hard to tell when he's in pain. But he's been so slow lately that I thought maybe he is in pain and at least this can't hurt. He in fact was out: a couple ribs, his withers were pretty out, and his poll. He didn't show much pain upon palpitation but he was out enough that I might see some changes in him the next time I ride him. The Dr. did find out that Axel has an issue with his left front knee. He's got a lump and it's really stiff, possibly the beginning of arthritis. So I put some senior flex in his dinner for the night and we'll see about getting him on that supplement for a while. I had asked to put him on that a while ago but I don't think that had happened. I'm hoping he maybe just tripped and smacked his knee but I think it's been an ongoing issue. Poor Axel. He enjoyed the adjustment well enough, he didn't really appreciate having his poll adjusted but the rest he was fine with (Axel's adjustments are on the right).

Tricia was able to make it over with Oly for his adjustment. I had sort of wondered if he'd even need anything done since he's been pretty good lately. Hasn't tried to kill Tricia in a long time. But he was out in a quite a few places on his back and ribs, enough that the Chiropractor suggested she give him a few extra days before he goes back to work.

So we'll probably do a bit more ground driving and such for Axel while he's still putting on a bit more weight and hopefully building back some muscle before I start riding him again. And lots more ground work for Cody is in our future, especially after how well he got in the trailer the other night after their little adventure. Gotta keep up that good work.

Rest in Peace, Beau

The Great Escape

1. We switched our riding day to Tuesday this week since Steph was going to be out of town.
2. Tricia wasn't going to come but later decided it was too nice out to pass up and planned to come over with Oly in the trailer.
3. I turned down a meeting with some IT people at the WCR office.

Because of these three things we were able to rescue 5 very naughty horses.

I show up at the barn and Tricia comes along right behind me with Oly in the trailer. There's no horses in the front pasture so I head to the back hill to call for them. I can't whistle loud enough so I just yell "horses!" that usually gets them to at least look my way. I see Beau peek out from behind some trees and start heading up my way. I let him into the barn and figure everyone else won't be too far behind. No luck.

We decide that Tricia is going to ride Oly and I will drive Axel down the road to the bean field. I'll work Cody in the round pen when we return. I grab a halter and head down the hill to find the horses, yelling most the way just in case they decide to help me out so I don't have to walk all the way down the hill. No horses. I check the bottom of the hill where they spend most of their time grazing. No horses. Okay, maybe they went up the other way when I was coming down the hill. I call Tricia's cell to see if she's seen the herd but she doesn't have her phone on her. So I walk down near the creek to the bridge. There's no grazing over there but sometimes they hang out in the sand. No horses.

What I do find is a broken gate. The gate to the bridge is snapped. The bridge leads to the trails on the back hill and beyond the trails are fields and farms and roads. There is some really good grass at the top of the hill so my thought is that once they got to that point they probably stopped to graze. I couldn't get a hold of Tricia on her cell so I run up the hill nearly causing me a heart attack in the process (apparently I need to do a bit more aerobic work). She has Oly tacked up and ready to go. I tell her the news as Steph drove up. We gathered some lead ropes and halters and sent Tricia and Oly ahead of us thinking Oly would call and the horses would come looking. I guess Oly knew better because he didn't call.

When we got to the top of the hill Tricia set out across the first field to the farm house to ask if they had seen any horses. Steph and I walked down the trail in the woods to see if they were out there at all. Tricia called my cell and told me that the people at the farm house knew where the horses were so we were going to meet her back at Tom's and drive over and get them.

As the crow flies, they ended up a mile away. We had to drive 4 miles to get there though. They had ended up on the other end of one of the fields and someone spotted them and rounded them up. A guy with a bunch of horses at a farm up the road was going to try and trailer them back to us but they couldn't get Kiko in the trailer (apparently they got everyone else in the trailer though). So instead of fighting her they just put them all in a pen until we got to them.

We made two trips with Tricia's trailer to pick them all up. Kalani, Cody, and Kiko in the first trip. Both Kalani and Cody loaded really well. Kiko was a bit more of a fight but she got in. Then Axel and Corey on the last trip and they both load just fine. So we didn't get to work the horses we had planned but everyone got a few trailer loading lessons anyway. We saw some trailers at this farm, and they were big slant load goose neck trailers. My question is how in the world did they get Axel out if they had him loaded. He doesn't back out of a trailer well. I want to know their secret! Tom ended up taking us out for dinner after that in thanks for running around to find everyone.

Whew, quite the night.

Sunny Sunday

So I show up at the ranch this morning and Beau is in the barn which is not unusual. However, he's standing on the pallets on the wrong side of the fence. He must have been there for a while eating hay. When I came he was more than happy to move to the other side of the fence when I opened it for him. Actually he was ready to go outside, grab a drink of water, and head down to the pasture where the rest of the horses where.

I grabbed Cody's rope halter and went down to fetch him out of the pasture. He wasn't terribly thrilled to come up to the barn with me so we did a couple circles until he was ready to follow me up. When we got to the top of the hill he called back to the herd, luckily everyone was far too busy grazing to respond so we were able to work alone. Cody really picked up on the circling and the direction changes from Wednesday. He was pretty worked up and would only canter at first and then finally trot but walk was not in our vocabulary today. Despite his "frenzy" he kept an ear on me most of the time. We practiced standing outside of my "personal space" but he's still having issues with creeping forward. Particularly, he's creeping towards the herd. I worked on scratching his face a lot and when he'd creep forward he'd have to move out again on the circle. He got pretty sweaty again but it was 63F out so it stands to reason. Luckily it was early enough that I could just turn him out when I was done and not worry about him getting chilled.

When I figured we had enough circling I decided I wasn't going to just let him run down to the herd. I was going to walk him down to the herd and let him go as a reward. We had to do a few more circles on the way down the hill because he wasn't totally paying attention. When we got close to the herd I asked for a few more circles before taking his halter off. And surprise surprise, he just stands there looking at me. I walk towards the herd, he follows. I walk up to Kiko, he follows. I walk past Kiko, he follows. Finally when I put the halter on Axel he figures it out and stops following me around. Goofy horse.

After chasing Axel around the paddock a few times, I put the surcingle on him and ground drove him around the pasture for a while. We did some basic big circles, some sort of lopsided figure eights, and then to avoid boredom we wove (weaved?) the trees. Then we did get some long lining for a few circles. We just stuck to the walk, I was without a carriage whip so getting a trot would have been a lot of work.

The farrier is due out this coming Thursday. And the chiropractor is supposed to call back on Monday to schedule an appointment for Cody and Axel. I think I'm going to keep doing the ground work with both horses until after their chiropractor visit. Cody needs the ground work for respect so maybe one day we can get him in the trailer happily. Axel needs to work on using his hind end and needs to build up a little more top line as he's lost quite a bit of muscle lately. We've increased both of their grain and it looks like it might be working, hard to tell with the fuzzy winter coats.

A Ground Work Lesson

Tricia was without a truck and trailer and by the time everyone got to the barn it was going to be dark pretty quick. Steph decided to not work Kiko or Kalani and just lend a hand with Cody and Axel. We decided it was time for more ground work (it's always time for more ground work but with only being out there once a week it's hard to squeeze it in). Tricia started with Cody since I deemed him the most difficult. I began with ground driving Axel with Steph coaching us. Axel did really well and moved out pretty good for once. We still have some issues with turning and not getting totally confused but we do pretty good. At the very least Axel will learn to move forward without me kicking the crap out of him all the time. We even attempted a little trot which probably looked a bit more like water skiing.

Steph took over with Axel and worked on long lining (like a combination of ground driving and lunging) at the trot. I went and worked with Cody and Tricia. Basically with Cody we're working on a few things:

1. Moving forward without questioning (respect)


2. Being content away from the herd


3. Letting us work with his nose (he's been rearing when we try to worm or do much of anything to his face)

Tricia already had Cody working pretty well on the lunge. She showed me how to get him to circle on command and then switch directions when I asked. He started to understand the direction change pretty well. The point is that he should nearly jump to the next direction when told to and not have to have the handler force him to move. When I'd ask him to stop I'd "reward" him by scratching his nose. In the end Cody had worked up quite the sweat so we put him in the barn with a cooler on while we finished up with Axel.

Axel was doing pretty good with the long lining but at this point it was really dark so it was hard to see what he was doing. Apparently he did really well to the right but we were watching the left side and that's his stiff side. After cooling out Cody (who did not want to calm down in the barn away from his buddies), we fed and all the usual stuff.

Still riding in the bean field

So last night we booked out to the barn to do some riding. It's getting dark faster and faster so we can't waste any time. Jeff came along to shoot some video instead of his bow this time. Tricia brought Oly over again. He's getting a whole lot of good practice trailering with and without a buddy and standing quietly waiting. He's a lucky horse. Cody needs that practice for sure. So eventually I'll have some more video to post. Hopefully good enough video that won't get eaten by YouTube. We worked on some circles and figure 8s. Axel has forgotten how to turn. He has a real issue when there's other horses around doing other things, he stops listening to me and chips in all the corners to try and get near the other horse. Or try and menace Oly by pinning his ears at him. But we probably have some video of Axel trotting a little, bending a little, pretending to frame up a little, and even cantering a little. He was feeling pretty cranky though, lots of little kicks and tossing his head. Probably several factors contributing to that; he might be sore from Sunday, he might be sore and need the chiropractor (someone buy my car so I can afford the chiro visit), he might be sore from trying to frame up for the first time in several months. He was pretty willing to canter, I wonder if he's finally figured out he isn't totally unbalanced or if it just hurts less to canter. I'm looking forward to seeing the video. Jeff also got some video of Kiko cantering and then bucking. Should be very entertaining.

When we got back we fed and de-wormed everyone. Cody is kind of a pill when it comes to de-worming, or doing anything that involves going at his face. I can never put anything like sun screen on his nose, he tries to rear up a little as he did last night. Not sure why that bothers him so much. So that all reminds me to update my horse records for all their shots and stuff. And it reminds me to stop rambling so much and make real posts!

The long awaited video from Jeff. I was just going to post some clips (which I may still do) but Jeff made us a little music video instead. Sorry it was really dark out now that Daylight Saving Time is over. And Axel isn't really the overgrown pony he looks like in this video.

Awesome Trail Ride

Lexi decided we needed to go on another trail ride before winter so Sunday we packed up with the intention of just going down the road to the MN Valley Trail for a nice easy ride. On my way up to the barn I passed the trail and noticed a big orange sign that said "Trail Closed." Tricia was already at the barn so we decided we'd figure out some other place to go. Our assumption was that the trail was closed because of hunting and perhaps other trails would also be closed. We could go up north to Crow Hassen or just stick around the area and go to Carver. We knew Carver was open so that was what we opted for. It turned out to be a really nice ride. There's only 9 miles of trails but they are wide, grassy, easy trails with plenty of hills and good stretches for cantering (or galloping as the case may be). It was a gorgeous day and we made the best of it knowing before long it'd be snowing and we'd be huddled in the round pen trying not to freeze while we worked.

Axel kept up a little better but he's still pretty slow. By the end of the trail ride we figured at the very lease that western saddle is not helping matters. He's lost enough weight that it's not fitting him well and it's resting on his withers, not good. Poor Axel is so stoic he just doesn't protest his pain. It wasn't long into the ride before we all settled into a mindset that we were there just to have some fun and let the horses enjoy themselves. We ran up most of the hills and had some runs on some nice flat wide areas. Lexi frequently cantered ahead with Cinder and then walked back to meet us since Axel was so slow. We did come to the conclusion that bicycle trails and horse trails should not go together. I think I'd prefer 4 wheeler trails and horse trails to the existing situation. Bikes are silent and scary. You don't hear them coming until they are right on you and by then the horse is midair having a coronary. Even Axel, the stablest of stable horses, had a nice spaz when a bike snuck up on us. I'm not sure if that's what woke us up or what but after that our next gallop was the fastest we had done all day. Which of course ended by Oly and Axel moving 3 feet to the left in mid air when a scary clump of grass appeared. I managed to stay on, thank goodness!

After we stopped for lunch we went back out for one more short loop with intentions to take some video of us cantering around. The video of Lexi and I isn't the greatest (okay none of the videos are the greatest), by the time we got to the camera Axel had given up on the canter. YouTube kind of compresses the heck out of these videos so the quality isn't so great either.

We made it back to the barn before dark for once. I had to coax everyone up from the pasture to be fed. Which apparently was their first supper as Tom fed when he got home too. Heh oh well, trying to get Axel and Cody to bulk up a bit anyways, they're getting kind of ribby. And I even oiled my saddle so it doesn't squeak as much. So I'm on a roll, I cleaned and oiled my bridles the other week as well.

Cattle Drive

Somehow I forgot to post about the Gary Cattle Drive. Tricia and I went out to South Dakota for the Gary Cattle Drive, unfortunately I was without a good camera and my mother-in-law's camera ran out of space so I only got a few kind of boring photos. They drive the herd right through the middle of town. We're going to try and weasel our way into the drive next year.

Love the bean field

This is Beau. Clearly he has no issues with the white fence. It's not on, but my horse, Cody, still won't go anywhere near a white line thinking it might be hot. Beau, on the other hand, has no issues with that. We gave him all sorts of hay but apparently we didn't hand pick all the best bits for him so he decided to find some for himself.

Jeff came out with me again so he could shoot his bow while I rode and Tricia wasn't able to get a truck so no Oly. But we lucked out again and they still haven't plowed the bean field by the ranch. Unfortunately it's still a slow ride to get there since Axel is the king of slowness. But once we get there we do quite alright. Tricia rode Cody bareback on a saddle blanket. Steph rode Kalani after already having worked Kiko in the field before we got there. And I rode Axel. My goal was to stop nagging and figure out how to relax my rear end. I tend to squeeze from the waist down which is not a good deal. Firstly it leaves my inner thighs killing me the next two days, it confuses the horse who thinks I'm trying to half halt, and it makes me super bouncy in the saddle.

So lesson #1 for me was to not squeeze and hold too much. Bump, click, whip. The bump isn't as easy as it sounds. I'm so used to squeezing Axel to get him to move. We'll have to keep working on that one.

Lesson #2 for me was too keep my lower back and rear end relaxed. We did a lot of bizarre posting and twisting to try and get my lower leg independent from my upper leg. Then we worked on seat bones and bending Axel in a serpentine using one seat bone at a time. I did some wiggling back and forth to try and find each hip. Axel might have thought I was nuts.

Realization #1 Axel is stiff to the right because I cannot get my right seat bone down to cue him to bend around in that direction. He does awesome with very little leg or rein and only left hip when we go that direction. But right is not so good.

We did end up cantering once or twice. I think the one time Axel finally started from his rear end (that's a good thing). I was also threatened with lunge line lessons. Luckily my horses don't lunge well yet. ;)

Saturday Ride

So prior to the annual get together at the Ranch I went out to ride Axel and groom everyone so they were semi-presentable for guests. It's time to get back to work for Axel and I don't think he's totally happy about that. The pasture is really wet so we didn't want to risk sliding around and also ripping up the grass so we went for the bean field again. Steph was riding Kalani as he needs a lot more time under saddle. The bean field is still super nice and I hope they don't plow for a long time :>

One of my goals for Axel is for me to stop nagging. Squeeze, click, crop. But some how he knows when that's my goal and goes really well on the squeeze or the squeeze, click. But hey, anything that keeps me from having to constantly kick is fine by me. Though he still requires a lot of leg to bend and all that so I'm pretty sore even today. We did some trotting in a not so nice frame. We did some walking and some figure eights in a really good frame to the left, not so much to the right. We even did some cantering. He's pretty good going right with the incorrect lead. Er I think it's going right, now I can't remember. I know it was the wrong lead but he even though about framing up for it. And we made a circle at the canter. Both of which I think are firsts. So I'll take it. We'll work on leads later. After a few times cantering he wasn't so pleased being asked to do it more so things got a little hairy at that point. Speed trotting. But we're slowing working up to a nice extended walk. Slowly, very very slowly. And we're getting pretty good at a square halt.

Kalani was having forward issues but finally worked out of it after about a half hour. He was quite a sweaty mess. Axel is at least up to being able to trot for a half hour without sweating too much. On the way back Axel and I had a couple little trots on the buckle so he can start to learn to stretch out his neck when allowed.

Another Rainy Day

So last night's riding consisted of Jeff, Andy, and I driving out to Tom's. We met Tricia and Steph there as well. Jeff and Andy went off to shoot their new fancy compound bows. Steph had already done an hour of ground work with Kalani when it started raining. We ended up standing around and chatting. I groomed Cody and Axel and combed Corey's mane a bit. We did end up feeding, I chose to not tie anyone which was interesting to say the least. I'm going to see if Tom will increase Cody, Axel, and Corey to 6 cups a day of grain. They're getting a little ribby. So anyway the photos are from Saturday which I think is the last day it didn't rain. It's supposed to be nice on Saturday and there's a party out at the barn so I think I'll head out early and ride a bit. And we still haven't done some of our vaccinations. And I still have to worm from last month. And the farrier should be out soon, as in several weeks ago would have been ideal. Everyone is trying to convince me to have the Chiropractor out this fall instead of waiting until the spring. I just have to figure out if I can afford to have both Cody and Axel adjusted right now. It's worth the cost but scraping together the money is another story.

Slacking again

Okay okay, I'm slacking on my updates. Things are still pretty busy after the wedding so that's my excuse. You can take it or leave it I suppose. Anyway, on to the important stuff.

October 10
Tricia met me out at the barn without Oly this time. I saddled up Axel and she jumped on Cody bareback and we went for the bean field. It was still not plowed and I am thankful for that. Lots of wide open space to ride in. Once again Axel and I had some nice canters. Seems like right lead only but hey, it's a start.

October 14
We decided we needed to go on another trail ride but we were getting sick of the same old trail so we packed up Axel and Oly and went down south of Red Wing to Hay Creek. I somehow forgot Axel's bridle. Luckily Tricia had an extra since Oly was using his bosel. We did remember lots of snacks and lunch and ended up staying on the trail for something like 5 hours. It's a pretty nice state park/forest with lots of trails and even some small water crossings. Unfortunately a lot of the trails were rocky and hilly. Neither of which Axel really appreciates. He tends to aim towards the cliff side of the trail and I don't quite trust his judgment or his ability to find good footing. So there was a little bit of fighting over which side of the trail to ride on. But we survived. This is not a trail for Cody unless I get him some boots. Oly did pretty well also considering he was in a bosel. He continually wanted to turn around and go with whatever group of horses happen to pass us. We usually don't see other horses on the MN Valley Trail we frequent. So seeing other horses was a nice surprise. Tricia pointed out that Oly and Axel were the two biggest horses there. Everyone else had small gaited horses and the like. All in all it was a good ride on a gorgeous fall afternoon. Luckily we both had heated seats in our cars to sooth our rears after 5 hours in a saddle!

We're High Fashion

So Axel and I are *not* slaves to fashion. In fact, we're probably quite the sight when seen walking down the road. I won this blue plaid saddle blanket on the trail ride a few weeks ago. My regular black and my white pads are both connected to my jumping saddle and I'm too lazy to swap them out. So the new pad goes on. Then the black saddle. And the brown stirrup leathers which also belong to my jumping saddle but since I haven't wanted to spring for $80+ black dressage leathers, that's what I use. I haven't conditioned my black dressage bridle yet so Axel wears a brown bridle. Yesterday he also wore his yellow halter and the blue bell boots cuz the black ones have seen better days and I can't get the mud off them. I, on the other hand, am the epitome of couture ... not. Brown paddock boots, left my half chaps in the other car, tan breeches, orange tshirt, black gloves, and a black and red vest cuz it's a little cool out. H-O-T hot, as Tricia would say (though she wears her chaps over shorts).

On to the point of this post. I couldn't wrangle anyone up for riding last night and the weather was just too nice to pass up. So I went out to the barn alone. It's been quite a while since I've done that. Glad I went out there though. Axel and I went out on the road. I was thinking we'd maybe try a canter in the wide part of the ditch but it was kind of holey so we just trotted. But! We ended up coming to the bean field on the other side. The bean field that had already been combined but not dug. And it wasn't too sloppy from the rain. So into the field we went. We were working on some trotting in a circle (which we have conveniently forgotten how to do) when a big Weimereiner came running up at a distance. He must have been scared of Axel because every step Axel made toward him, the dog backed up. When he finally decided to go home Axel and I got back to work. This time I asked for a canter. And off we went cantering in the field at a nice controlled (but not collected) canter. Not a single buck. Left lead most of the time though I thought I felt him try and switch but our stamina is not there so our bouts of cantering weren't too long. Reminded me that I need to work on my canter to trot transitions, I bounce all over. In any case it was fun and we had brakes. I could have kept going but I figured Axel needed the reward of being done so we headed for home, at an almost decent paced walk I might add.

Yay for the basics. I'm excited to get back to schooling type riding. Trail riding is fun and all but I like seeing the improvements when we school.

A Few Rides

Sept. 5th
So the Wednesday before the We Can Ride trail ride fund raiser Tricia brought Oly and Cinder over along with her niece so we could all go for a ride. I rode Kiko to give her a try with a less experienced rider and Jeff rode Kalani. I think Steph rode Corey but I can't recall at this point. All was going well until we got down to the bridge. Kiko was throwing a fit because she didn't get to go over the bridge first. Lexi and Cinder rode across the bridge after Tricia. Just as Cinder got to the end of the bridge he started heading towards the edge. He misstepped off the bridge into the ditch scraping his leg on the way, Lexi bailed off, and Cinder scrambled to get up the ditch. As he scrambled he farted and scared Oly who in turn tried to kick Lexi in the head. Luckily Tricia had dismounted already and spun him out of the way and Lexi made it out unscathed but a little shook up. The rest of the ride went alright. Kalani behaved wonderfully and Kiko was just a little worked up. She's definitely a different ride than I'm used to.


Sept. 9th
So the following Sunday we all met up at the ranch to load horses and head down the road for the trail ride. We recruited Anne to ride Cinder and Jenny to ride Corey and Steph's dad to ride Axel. So it was a big group. Naturally none of the horses wanted to load and it took quite a while to get everyone situated in a trailer. When we finally got everyone in we zipped down to the trail 5 miles done the road. Everyone unloaded and Cody was left for last. I was backing him out of the trailer when one of the other horses whinnied and Cody had a fit. He decided he needed to be out of the trailer as fast as possible and took my hand with him. I almost always wear gloves but for some reason I wasn't that day. Cody ended up spraining my middle finger and ripping the fingernail nearly all the way off. I managed to keep a hold of Cody but I was bleeding all over the place. So the rest of the day I went around with my finger wrapped in blue vet wrap.

So after the excitement of ripping my finger off died down we went on our merry ways for the trail ride. We ended up in a fairly large group of horses that included ours and Tricia's friend's horses. There were some minor issues between horses but nothing we couldn't deal with and everyone settled in pretty easily. At one point Kalani decided he needed to shake and shook the saddle right off him. Tom ended up on the ground and the saddle was hanging off the side of the horse as he scurried around trying to figure out what is going on. We caught Kalani and got everyone all situated again and everything was fine. I guess that's the trouble with horses that don't have withers. Not a problem I have to deal with on Cody or Axel. We ended up riding quite a ways when Steph decided she'd head back with Kiko, Kalani, and Axel. The rest of us went for a gallop up the sand hill. Cody can really move when he's allowed. I was also surprised he didn't totally freak out about being left with just Corey and some other horses he didn't really know. I refrained from trying to get him to jump over a log, though it would have been fun. The ride back was quick as Cody wouldn't walk. He should have been exhausted at this point but he would not slow down so we let them canter for a while. When Cinder tried to get up past us I put the reins forward a bit and Cody just stretched out his canter. It was so nice. I could have let him canter the whole way back but then we would have probably had to pick him up to put him in the trailer. We had the usual loading issues on the way home, maybe slightly calmer than before but some of the horses still put up a bit of a fight. It seems like no matter how awesome they do when we practice, they decided on the trail ride to forget how to load. When I win the lottery I'm buying a nice big gooseneck trailer. Maybe they'll load into that easier!

Sept. 19th
So after the wedding Jeff and I went down to Mexico for our honeymoon. We arranged a trail ride that included riding on the beach and in the ocean. The horses were pretty old and you could pay extra to gallop on the beach but we opted to not do that. The trail ride itself was pretty spendy to begin with. My horse was named John Deere and Jeff's was Colonel Sanders. We rode through the jungle for a while and along the beach. When it was time to ride in the ocean they just untacked a couple horses and we took turns as couples riding into the ocean. They insisted upon leading the woman's horse into the water though I think the men needed more help. It was a pretty good time. Though not the same as galloping around and taking your own horse into the water.

Sept. 26th
Finally last week we stopped by WCR to take a look at the fence issue and then met Tricia out at the ranch. She had Oly there early and was working him in the round pen. He had stepped on his reins and ripped his face up and broke his bridle so he was looking pretty spiffy at that point. But he wasn't really fazed by it so I tacked up Axel and she and I headed out back for a bit while Jeff hung out and waited. We had a decent ride. Axel was his usual slow self. Though we did have a nice canter through the woods with no bucking. It started raining on the way back but even rain doesn't speed up Axel. We left Oly in the barn while we went to the bar and waited for the rain to die down. Tom was a little surprised to see an extra horse when he got home.

Trail Ride #3 - not really

We ended up being short a truck and trailer this week due to the State Fair and Tricia's husband needing the truck for goats (I say the goats have a bus why do they need a trailer - ask Tricia about the goat bus sometime). And since it had rained the past week non stop we thought maybe the back trail would be a little slick. So it was down the road for us. Tricia's niece came and rode Corey for us. I saddled up Cody. Tricia was on Kalani and Steph was on Kiko. Even though it had rained and there was barely any gravel on the dirt road Cody was tripping and limping and acting quite like a baby for the first leg of the road. I started to think he was lame until we got to some grass and then he was just fine. It might be time to invest in some boots for him. He just can't handle the rocks. And I was a little worried since I haven't had the chiropractor out again for his re-check that he might be getting sore again but he was an angel once we got out of the rocks.

The greenies had a great ride and Corey also had a good ride with his young rider. We just made a short trip down the road and headed back. When we got back we decided to work on Corey's training for therapeutic riding. Lexi kept riding and we attacked Corey with balls and hula hoops and big blue tarps. He was a champ. He side stepped once when he stepped on the hula hoop the first time. After that he only tried to get away from the hula hoop when it ended up between his back legs. And his spooks were very small, Lexi had no issues riding him at all, and it was her first time in an english saddle. He also survived the crazy jumping sidewalker test. So we'll probably play with him a few more times and then I think he's ready for his new job at WCR.

Don't forget about the We Can Ride Trail Ride Fund Raiser coming up in September!

Trail Ride #2

We know better than to think it'll actually rain when it looks like it might. Though after this week we're probably wrong. Last week we went for trail ride #2. This time Tricia brought down her trailer and two of her horses along with her niece. Kalani still needed practice so he was Steph's chosen mount, and I chose Corey who needs some attention before he goes off to his new job of therapy horse. Kalani did pretty well in the trailer this time. The ride for me was quite different than on Axel. Corey pretty much just bounces the whole time. In fact he booked along at lightning speed so much that we might have nearly doubled our ride distance from the week before. And Corey hasn't really been ridden this year yet.

On the way back it was evident that he was getting pretty tired. He was darn sweaty and kept scratching his face on his leg. At one point he stopped to scratch, at least I thought, and instead he just laid down with me on top! He's one of those horses that just buckles and bam, he's on the ground. Most horses go down front first then back end. Not Corey, so I really didn't even have a chance to pull him up or even bail before he hit the ground. So once I figured out where his legs were I bailed. I'm glad he's a short horse. He didn't roll, probably because he was saddled. So I got him back on his feet and paid very close attention the whole way back. I figured he'd be pretty sore so we gave him some aspirin with his dinner (which he didn't appreciate).

Kalani was a champ getting in the trailer this time so he's officially off the hook for this week. The plan, if it's not still raining, and the trail isn't 3 feet of mud, is to take Olly, Kiko, Corey, and Cody out. Cody will be our last challenge for trailering. He just doesn't really want to get in the trailer. Perhaps with Corey and Kiko along things might go a bit smoother. I'm giving Axel some time to rest, Steph's dad is going to ride him for our trail ride fund raiser and I guess he's a big guy. But he does like to mosey along so that will make Axel a happy camper.

First Trail Ride

Well, first trail ride for Kiko and Kalani. Steph decided it was time that the greenies got a chance to ride in the trailer and go for a real trail ride. We especially wanted to test them prior to the trail ride fund raiser. The trailer loading didn't go quite as expected. We had only practice once, Kiko was a champ and Kalani had been surprisingly good as well. We put Axel on first with the intention of putting Kalani next to him. But after about 2 seconds of standing in the trailer, Axel gets bored and starts pawing and banging on the walls. Which in turn scared Kalani and he wouldn't get it. After untangling Axel and trying to convince him to get his feet under him, I unloaded him and we tried a different approach. Kalani wouldn't go in alone so we put Kiko in. Finally Kalani decided it was okay and he got in next to her. Axel squeezed himself in the back behind the middle divider and we were off.

It's a short drive down to the state trail, which is a good thing. There was a lot of stomping going on behind us. We pulled in and unloaded Axel to find Kalani had pinned Kiko in the front part of the trailer. It wasn't a cool day and Kiko was sweating bullets. Kalani was dry as a bone. We let the horses rest for a few minutes while we gathered our tack. And then we were off and running. Okay not really running. Especially me, Axel doesn't run, usually. I'm not sure how long or how far we rode. We didn't make it down to the open field for cantering nor did we make it to the picnic spot. But we were out there for quite a while. Axel was particularly annoyed that he had to walk up the sand hill, that was a bit more work than he was ready for. Kiko and Kalani did really well. They were curious and frightened of a few things but overall it was really uneventful. We had some nice trotting (the only time Axel can keep up). And Axel and I had some bucking when we tried to canter to catch up. I guess we have to put that on the list of things to work on.

We made it back to the trailer in once piece and it was still light out. The weather threatened a bit of rain but it turned out to be 2 drops. Our plan for exiting was going to be Kalani in first, then Axel. But Kalani would not go in. Steph didn't want Kiko in front because she didn't want her to get squished again. We decided that Axel wouldn't squish her (just spin around and try and stand on the wrong side of her like he tends to do) so we put Kiko in and then Axel and closed the middle divider. Wouldn't you know, even after standing exhausted by the trailer so quietly, Axel still managed to maneuver his way facing backward. I had to unclip him and just let him stand the wrong way. Luckily Kiko held her own and it ended up with Kiko facing forward but diagonal, and Axel crammed in the corner facing backwards. He, of course, deserved it.

After much fighting we finally got Kalani in the trailer in the back half and made our way home. Once again it was a bumpy ride but short. Kalani unloaded, Axel had his head stuck between the divider and the roof of the trailer, and Kiko unloaded fine. In the end we all survived and fed dinner in the dark. Cody hadn't jumped the fence and seemed fairly calm though he called to us quite a bit when we were leaving. I'm not sure the plans for next week. Tricia has a different trailer she thinks is bigger and she wants to bring Olly down for a ride. I think we're all pretty confident about Kiko so maybe it'll be a trail ride with Olly, Axel, and Kalani. Or maybe I should bring Corey instead, he needs the practice especially if he's going to be a therapy horse this fall.

Slacking

I'm slacking on updates lately. No photos from last week either. Tricia couldn't make it out and it was hotter than hot so we decided against any riding. And since we didn't have her truck to hook up to the trailer we couldn't work on trailer loading. Though in hindsight I wish I would have worked on just standing next to the trailer calmly with Cody. That would have a been a good lesson.

In any case we just gave everyone a bath. Kiko and Kalani's first bath in a long time. Kiko even got shampooed. Everyone else just got a nice hosing down. Axel enjoyed himself quite a bit. He was all crusty from dried sweat so it must have felt good to get that cleaned off. Of course the first thing all the horses did was roll. But at least they got their shower on a hot day.

It's too hot!

It was just too hot to work last night. We weighed the options of swimming, just riding, giving the horses baths, or working on trailer loading. We decided the trailer loading was our most needed lesson. Kiko was a champ, Kalani was a champ, Cody ... not so much. I got his front feet in no problem nearly every time. I got his whole body in once. After that he wanted nothing to do with it. I did some lunging and tried again. He still refused. Tricia did some lunging because he kept plowing people over, then she tried loading him. Finally after a long time of waiting and asking and waiting and asking, I got to the side of him and tapped him in the butt with a carrot stick (natural horsemanship tool like a whip but not). If he moved forward, I'd stop tapping. If he backed out, I'd tap. Nothing even close to painful, just annoying ... tap, tap, tap. Sure he was probably bored by now and just gave in. But he stayed calm and jumped right up into the trailer. We tested the process several times and each time he got in easier. So the tapping has won. We're going to try again next week instead of waiting so long between lessons.

We have a plan for the week after next, Tricia will bring Olly down and we'll load up two of our horses (probably Cody and Kiko) and make a dry run down at the state trail. Maybe we'll try Kalani the week after. I'm not sure what Cody's deal is with the trailer loading. Especially since he'll load once like a champ but then freak out in subsequent loading tries. He definitely needs a confident leader and it takes a lot of patience to gain his trust. I thought just maybe the trailer loading issue would go away now that his back seems to be feeling better, but I guess those were a little to high of hopes. Oh well, we'll work our way through it.

Next trailer lesson: getting Axel to back out, yikes!

Sticky Horses

It's been a while since I've been out to see the horses. No lesson this week, Tricia was away. So Steph and I went down the road with Kalani and Axel. Kiko's hooves are split so she won't be going on the road until we get her shod. Axel was his usual lazy slow self and Kalani wasn't much better. Well I stand corrected, Kalani isn't slow. He's sticky. He stops and will not go. When he does go he can really move out nicely but when he gets stuck it's for good. Steph finally added spurs and a crop to her person but I think he pretty much ignored the spurs. She was a little freaked out on what his reaction would be to the crop especially since we were on the road so she skipped trying that out.

It was super windy but Kalani did pretty well with that. I like riding in the wind, especially Axel. Since he goes so slow, the wind makes me feel like we're going really fast! Our future plans include some trailer loading and unloading lessons, a trip or two down to the state trail for some trial trail riding, and of course the We Can Ride trail ride fund raiser. All that and a wedding of course!

Time for a swim!

Considering it was 90F out and a billion percent humidity, when I got to the barn I thought better of doing an actual riding lesson with Axel. Steph and I decided to take Kiko, Kalani, and Axel down to the creek and go for a swim. Unfortunately Tricia had fallen asleep and forgot to show up ;) While we waited Steph got on Kalani bareback for the first time to see how he'd react. He was being quite stubborn and not wanting to move. So after she got him moving a bit she called that a lesson and moved onto Kiko. Since Tricia didn't show up we decided just to Axel and Kiko down ourselves.

I made a few feeble attempts to swing up on Axel by standing on a bit of a hill but it just didn't work. I was able to jump up on him but only after we went halfway down to the bridge and Axel stood in a big rut. Guess I have to practice that a bit more. He's a good horse to practice on, he just stands there like nothing's going on.

We decided there was no better way into the creek than where we got Axel in the other day so that's where we headed. Kiko was a little on edge having never walked around in that area before and only being her second time across the bridge mounted. We got to the edge of the creek and I decided to wade in myself to see where the best places were to stand since last time Axel took a nose dive in to a deep spot. We thought maybe I could find a better way in but I wasn't really able to find anything. Axel climbed down the bank without any issues. It took quite a while, however, to convince Kiko to climb down the bank. The water didn't scare her but instead she didn't want to take the big step down the bank. After wading around for a while Axel and I found a slightly better spot on the bank that was more of a slope than a step. After a few minutes of coaxing Kiko to step down in that stop she finally ended up in the water.

When we were done wading around we headed back up to the barn. I couldn't get back on Axel so I ended up walking up, getting my exercise at the same time. Swimming was definitely the best way to beat the heat.

Success!

I do hearby declare (and maybe regret it later) that Cody has been cured of his crankiness by one Dr. Westman, equine chiropractor and vet extraordinaire. I think I gave it enough time and testing with various variables to determine that Cody is now feeling much better than he was. He's back to his old happy self, easy to ride, and a great baby sitter. He's also very shiny. Though I didn't have many doubts I decided one more ride for he and I would be in order. Okay okay I haven't taken him out alone yet but even when he was cranky that wasn't any worse than riding him with another horse so I just haven't gotten around to testing him out like that. It was hot, and Tricia and I decided we just didn't want to think about working on the dressage yet so another trail ride was in order.

Tricia opted for bareback on Axel and I stick with the dressage saddle on Cody for our trail rides. The possible path to the creek was still a bit muddy though we tried it again. Turns out what Tricia had seen as a possible way into the creek was in fact a big cliff not something we could pass. So that was out. So it was back up the hill as usual only this time we ventured off the trail. Into the woods. Did I mention, no trail? Axel stomped over trees, Cody waited until Axel picked the worst possible route and then we'd go around a different way. Luckily I was wearing pants and had a saddle. Tricia, on the other hand, was not so lucky riding bareback with shorts and no shoes (hey she had her helmet on, we're a poster for safety these days). We ended up going nowhere and having to turn around and go back. Somehow we came out of the woods in a different place than we went in. Needless to say it was interesting. I think under normal circumstances Cody probably wouldn't have enjoyed our trek through the woods but stepping over all those trees and branches was probably scratching the bugs away quite nicely. Unfortunately the photos I took don't do the woods justice. It was a lot more crowded in there than it looks. The rest of the ride was just some meandering around as usual. No major work, just walking and sweating and staying on the trail. At the end of the ride it was thundering and the clouds started looking pretty ominous. We made it back to the barn, untacked, fed everyone, and got to the bar before it started hailing. We have great timing, I tell ya!

Test #3 for Cody

The bugs are getting bad again. Luckily this time I remembered to buy some fly spray. Who knows if it'll work. It's a good placebo at least. Steph was on her way to Colorado this week so it was just Tricia and I, a good time to test out Cody's attitude without Kiko or Kalani. I'll remind you that prior to the chiropractor visit, Cody would constantly try and turn around and go back to the barn when we rode him. It was a struggle just to keep him going in the right direction. The past two rides were great but we also had multiple variables. Kiko and Kalani were finally ready for the trail. Being near the top of the herd I couldn't confirm that it was the chiropractor that changed his attitude or if it was the fact he got to ride out with a couple more of his herd than usual (though we had issues when we'd ride with Corey).

So this week (we've moved our lessons to Wednesday so we can partake in Ladies' night at the bar afterwards) we headed back out to the trails. I picked up an English breast collar to try with Cody. You generally wouldn't put a breast collar on a dressage saddle but since we were trail riding and that saddle slips so bad on Cody I figured it was worth the $10 at the tack sale.

Cody was feeling a little slower than the past two rides. Granted it was over 80F. But even with his laziness/tiredness/slowness he never once tried to spin and run for home. At one point Tricia was trying to get Axel to canter and ended up cantering off to where Cody couldn't see, he just looked up for a second and went back to munching on grass. He even refrained from calling back to the herd when they called to him. He felt a little off so we didn't work him much. We did the usual trail through the woods. He still wants to canter down and up those little hills but I can keep him at a controlled trot now at least.

When we came back down the main hill we ventured off to another trail we hadn't been on yet this year. I'm on a quest to find a way into the creek and Tricia thought she saw one. Unfortunately it was swamp on the way there. Axel froze, and Cody tried to high tail it out of there (he doesn't care for mud too much). So that plan was foiled. We did find a short drop off on the opposite side of the bridge that Tricia managed to get Axel in. Cody didn't really want any part in that adventure so we sat and watched. Our little creek gets a lot deeper than anyone though. Axel ended up to his belly at one point. In an attempt to turn around and come back and avoid the deep spot they ended up going for a bit of a swim. Axel's front end went off a ledge and he dunked himself head first into the creek, butt in the air. He didn't look entirely pleased with it and Tricia managed to contain herself until he was back to ankle deep water. Then we burst out laughing, I wish I would have gotten that on film. Poor Axel, his forelock was all wet and he looked pretty pathetic. But I bet the cool water felt good. He just didn't appreciate getting water in his ears. I had a video of him all wet getting out of the creek but that's another video that keeps failing when I try and upload it for whatever reason.

So all we're left with is a video of Axel trotting around with Tricia. Unfortunately YouTube compresses the heck out of the video and it ends up looking pretty bad. I should see if they look any better on other services or if I can just put them on my own server.


The final consensus is that Cody is feeling better thanks to the Chiropractor and his attitude has improved significantly making him much more fun to ride. I'll have the chiropractor out again in a couple weeks and see how he's doing and have a follow up adjustment.

Cody's Second Test

I didn't want to get too excited last week when I rode Cody along with Jeff on Axel and Steph on Kiko. I was optimistic that the chiropractic adjustment would help Cody feel better and would change his attitude, but with Kiko along it was hard to tell which factored into his mood. He was really great but I didn't want to jinx it. So this week Steph decided it was time to try and take Kalani on the trail. Tricia came along and rode Axel and I rode Cody. I'm still hesitant to say Cody's attitude change is just from the Chiropractor, but dang! He did so well once again - and no Kiko this time!

Kalani was quite a bit more hesitant than Kiko had been on her first ride. He was pretty sticky too. He'd stop and then refuse to move any more. But we made it through the meadow and through the woods and back without any major drama. Cody was an angel, I rode on a loose rein (proof in the photo) and he even almost walked down his favorite hill to run on. He seemed a little annoyed at Kalani if he got too close but I know they're buddies so I wasn't too concerned. He was probably just demonstrating his authority since Kalani hadn't been on the trail before.

So after a couple laps on top the hill we did a lap in the bottom of the hill pasture. Trotted over the log a few times. Cody did it once and then decided we had teased him long enough and it was time to go home. But he was still pretty well behaved. Axel tried his hand at jumping the log as well. I made a little video, but once again I will have to upload it later. Our next test will be just Cody and Axel on the trail, and perhaps just Cody on the trail. I should probably ride Cody a time or two more in lessons before switching back to Axel, just to build a better understanding of what Cody is looking for from me and what I'm trying to tell him.

Okay for some reason this particular video keeps failing when I try and upload it.

Kiko's First Trail Ride

We didn't have a lesson this week on Tuesday because we were getting ready for our tack sale at WCR. So last night I convinced Jeff to come out to the barn with me and go for a ride. Steph decided to head out there as well and work with Kiko and Kalani since she had missed Tuesday also. Jeff likes to go out to the pasture and find Axel and just get on him, bareback with no reins or anything. That usually doesn't go real well but he managed to stay on until Axel went for a skinny path between the electric fence and the round pen, so Jeff bailed. Stephanie got Kalani ready pretty quick and went out to make up for his last lesson where he was a total spazz. Jeff and I stayed back to groom Cody, Axel, and Kiko. We convinced Steph it was time to take Kiko on the trail. Meanwhile she and Kalani had a pretty good lesson. His first lesson with the hackamore last week did not go well. It was too windy and he was just freaking out. Luckily this week it was nice and calm and he did just fine in the hack (yay I get my D-ring bit back). He was kind of sore (probably from their farrier visit on Wednesday) so she ended the lesson early and on a good note.

We finished getting the other horses ready and covered in fly spray. I picked a wood tick off Axel's sheath, not exactly the best place to have a tick I would think. Both my horses were pretty beat up from bugs, hopefully the Wipe will last a few days. I've gotta pick up some actual fly spray this weekend. Any recommendations?

For some reason this week, Axel was just pissed about his skid boots. Jumped around like a fool, untied himself, and ran off up to the overhang of the barn. Then when Jeff went to lead him to the gate he was just angry and planted his feet. I'm not sure he'll ever get used to those boots, but I guess him being pissed off is better than him kicking himself bloody. So we mounted up on the other side of the gate from the rest of the horses and headed off in to the sunset. Okay well just headed off down the hill. This was Kiko's first trail ride, and probably her first time carrying a rider up and down hills. I don't want to put all the credit on the chiropractor because I'm sure Kiko's presence helped, but Cody was absolutely awesome. Calm, forward, and happy. I'm sure feeling better after the adjustment played a large role in that. We'll see next time we ride without Kiko.

We made it across the bridge and up the hill, through the woods, and out into the meadow. We even had a little trot and Kiko was a saint. I think she startled twice, but her version of startling includes planting her feet, that's the kind of spooking we'll take. We stopped for a photo since I made Jeff carry his new camera and then we went back down the hill. This time Kiko went across the bridge while being ridden, Cody had to lead though. And when Cody and Axel made their way around some trees and Kiko couldn't see them, she didn't mind one bit.

I'd call her first trail ride a success. Sheesh, I totally forgot to post this video, just another of the horses running up the hill. You get to see a little bit of Cody cantering, which he rarely did before the chiropractor (coincidence or not). They just had their feet done so everyone is a bit off.

Tack Sale Fundraiser

I'm just trying to get the word out about our fundraiser. We Can Ride is having a tack sale fundraiser on Saturday, June 9, at 10a.m. in Eden Prairie. We have all sorts of tack from western and english saddles, to breeches, chaps, boots, and horse blankets. You name it, we probably have it! We have great prices and it's for a great cause! Help raise money for therapeutic riding! If you want more information you can email me or go to the We Can Ride website at: www.wecanride.org

Chiropractor for Cody

Cody had his first visit from the Chiropractor on Thursday. Yes, you read that right, the horse chiropractor. In general Cody seems quite unhappy under saddle (spins in circles, herd bound, doesn't stand still, evades the bit). Before I start trying to teach him to tolerate me riding, I figured I better get him all fixed up to make sure none of his behavior is related to pain. His teeth were pretty bad so now that those are all fixed the next step was to make sure his back was feeling okay. Tricia had noticed he tenses up when saddled which is a sign of discomfort.

I snuck out of work a few minutes early and headed out to the barn. It had been raining all day and was raining most of my way there. But as I pulled into Chaska things started clearing up and even showed some blue sky and sun. This was a relief because Cody doesn't do well locked in the barn by himself. I can only imagine how hard it would be to adjust a horse while he's pacing and pawing. I opened up the barn and Beau was there to greet me. He was left in the barn to hide from the rain and hopefully avoid making his rain rot any worse. Tom had opened the bottom pasture so no one else was to be found. I ended up opening up the whole barn and using the stretchy gates to block the entrances. It was pretty muddy in the paddock so I thought we might have to resort to working in the barn. Maybe with the doors wide open Cody would feel better if he could see his herd.

I headed for the pasture to find the horses. I can't whistle so I just started yelling for them. Amazingly enough I saw a few heads pop up from the bottom of the hill. A few seconds later there was a herd of horses standing half way up the hill wondering what all the noise was. With a little more coaxing the stampede started. I managed to get a little video of the running (which I'll post when I get it uploaded). I shut the gate to the pasture once everyone was up by the barn and fetched up Cody.

He wasn't too dirty because he refrains from rolling in the mud, so grooming him was a quick job. He was fine for the most part while in the barn because everyone else was looking through the door at the stretchy gate. But as they got bored and moved off, Cody got more agitated so I turned him out into the paddock with Axel.

When the Chiropractor arrived we decided to work in the paddock under the overhang where it wasn't muddy and was almost level. Cody stood fairly patiently, always keeping his eye on the herd, and only having to turn around once when the horses moved to the other side of the paddock. Axel stayed out of the way most of the time but did drop in a few times to visit and get in the way. I was surprised how well Cody tolerated the adjustments. He's not overly cuddly and I figured being poked and prodded like that might not be his cup of tea. After several adjustments he started licking and relaxing a bit. He even got a little bit of acupuncture. The whole thing took maybe 45 minutes or so. The Dr. said that most horses have 1, maybe 2 ribs out. Cody had 2 on one side (I think), and 4 on the other side. His withers were out, and he did a lot of adjustments on his back as well. He checked out Cody's sore shoulder and discovered it was quite stiff so he stretched that out a bit as well - another surprising sight to see Cody tolerate having his leg swung all around.

He definitely didn't lean into it and savor the adjusting like some horses do, but he stood very nicely considering he was separated from the group. Dr's orders are to not ride for a few days while he recuperates and to have him adjusted again in a month.

Musical Horses

Tuesday Tricia came down with pink eye so she thought it would be better if she didn't come over to teach my riding lesson. Earlier I had taken some volunteer time from work and helped Stephanie clear the trails at the home school. She was going to work with Kiko and Kalani as usual so I decided to ride Cody again. Cody was still kind of ornery with me and he definitely didn't listen to me as good as he did when Tricia was there. I chalk that up to me not doing things properly with out being observed. He kept cutting corners to follow Kiko and really got in her way while we cantered. A crazy counter-canter, which made it impossible for him to make a sharp left instead of barreling up towards the barn. The good news is that we were able to do some bending at the halt better than we had done before. But the ride was kind of a bust overall.

When Steph switched to work with Kalani I decided to ride Corey for a while. The wind was pretty crazy and Kalani didn't know what to do with himself so that ride was a bit trying as well. Top that off with Steph trying to ride the horses in hacks for the first time. Kiko was brilliant in the hack. Kalani, not so much. Corey enjoyed himself, just wandering around in circles watching Kalani freak out at the wind. I tried to trot him around a barrel, he's supposedly a barrel horse, but it didn't go very well. I'm no expert on neck reining and I think I was confusing him. Steph got up when she was done fighting with Kalani and cantered him a bit and tried a barrel at a slow lope but he lost his footing and nearly ended up on his nose. So I guess it's back to basics for Mr. Corey. He was pretty cute though, lots of suspension and a super cute little Arab canter.

Saturday Afternoon

It was supposed to storm today so I sat around the house until 1pm. It just didn't drop an ounce of rain so I went out to the barn. Things were pretty mellow. I was surprised to find everyone up in the paddock just hanging out. I figured they'd all be grazing in the pasture. I groomed Cody and Axel a bit, mostly just to scratch all those itches the stable flies have caused. I decided not to ride but instead take Corey out for a walk. He's maybe going to be a therapy horse this fall so he needs a little practice. Some people walk their dogs down the road, I walked a horse. Corey did really well, he was excited to look around and see all the sights but he didn't spook at all. And he followed directions pretty well. Walk on, walk up, trot, easy, and whoa. He's got a pretty vertical trot so that will be interesting to lead. Shouldn't be anything different than Ruger already at WCR.

After our walk I picked up the tack room. One of the saddle racks fell off the wall again. So I put that stuff away and then I just hung out for a while. I didn't take too many photos, just a couple including this one of Axel. His winter coat is almost gone and he's getting black again. Who knows how long that'll last though.

I've got an appointment for the chiropractor to come out on Thursday and see Cody. He says it'll just take a half hour so hopefully I can get up to WCR in time. I just hope Cody does well with the adjustment. I'm going to have to make sure the rest of the herd is up in the paddock so he doesn't get all worked up. That won't help anything. I hope the adjustment helps him out too, he still tenses up when I saddle him along with his left shoulder being sore.

Cody's First Dressage Lesson

I really need to get the camera or video camera out to the barn soon. This week was Cody's first "dressage" lesson. I suppose technically it wasn't a dressage lesson, it was just a lesson. But the same could go for Axel. We're just trying to teach them to carry themselves correctly and in the end I'd like to do a Dressage Show with Axel. In any case, I decided for the next few weeks I would ride Cody because so far we haven't had much luck together. I had Tricia ride Axel during the lesson so he doesn't get out of shape.

First things first, I could just pay Tricia to ride Axel and watch. He looked so good I could not believe it. He looked like a pro! It was awesome!

Item number two: I am way too timid/wishy-washy. After being told under no certain circumstances (which was still probably too wishy-washy) was he to act like an idiot, Cody shaped up really nicely.

We had our first discussion right out of the gate when he didn't want to go down to the end of the pasture where we intended to ride. But after we got over that he was really well behaved. Stephanie was using my extra D-Ring on Kiko and Kalani so I found a big O-Ring with a curved mouth piece and some small copper inlays. That seemed to work out well for Cody so we might stick with that one for a while. We did the basic walk and trot stuff. Trying to stay on the rail and bend around my leg. Cody's a bit more responsive than Axel but he still needed quite a bit of leg to figure out what it was I wanted him to do. Things were a little more difficult on his left side since his shoulder is sore. I've got to get my fiances in order and see if I have enough to get the chiropractor out for him next month. Unlike Axel in the beginning, Cody will trot around the "arena" almost as many times as you want without having to be prodded to keep going. His trot is a lot smoother and easier to sit though it does pick up a bit when he gets going. We had one very minor issue in the middle of the lesson when he wanted to head back to the barn but it was very minor and we worked through it. The rest of the time he was darn well behaved. I think riding him for several weeks in a row is really going to help. Mostly I think it'll just help me figure out what cues I need to be giving Cody to keep him paying attention. It won't hurt him to get a little exercise and face time with me either.

Saturday Ride

This photo is from several weeks ago but it kind of goes with today anyways.

It was a gorgeous morning so I made my way out to the barn. Tricia was going to meet me there after she finished doing some ground work with her crazy horse. While I waited I groomed Beau for a while and gave him a Betadine bath. He doesn't roll so he was still full of winter hair. I used the shedding blade on him as much as I could and the hair just came off in carpets. He still looks a bit worse for wear even after the bath, but he's better than before. He wasn't terribly excited with the hose, I suppose it was still a bit chilly. But he did keep himself occupied by eating the dandelions out of the yard. In the meantime Tom turned he herd out into the top half of the back pasture. There was a bit of bucking and running by Kalani. Cody trotted along behind and Axel brought up the rear and stopped as soon as he found a blade of grass. In hindsight we should have waited to turn them out until after our trail ride but what was done was done.

Tricia arrived and we went to retrieve Cody and Axel. Cody was all worked up having to be tied in the paddock while the rest of the herd was out grazing. Nothing I wasn't expecting of course. Then he got Axel worked up though, so they were both pawing and pacing and acting like general fools. It made Tricia feel better about her crazy horse though ;) We managed to groom and tack them up and walk them down past the first gate. I switched Cody back to a regular D ring snaffle. I just can't neck rein and if he's not going to listen to me in the first place I want to be able to direct rein and get some action in his mouth with both sides of the snaffle. At least that's the plan. After some discussion on which side of the hill Cody was going to stand on so I could mount, I ended up mounting on the off side just to make everyone's life easier. After we made it up the hill it looked like his saddle had slipped back pretty far, however, it was just at the edge of his shoulders. I reasoned that Cody doesn't even seem to notice that I'm riding him enough to notice his saddle wasn't quite right. Though any further up and it would have probably interfered with his shoulders so who knows, just an observation I made.

We made our way through the woods and managed to walk down the hills (using Axel's rear end as a wall). We did gallop up the one hill to the lookout point. One thing Cody is good at, walk to gallop transition. After a minor discussion on our way out of the woods we made our way back around the meadow at a nice canter. Well nice canter for Tricia and Axel, kind of an uncollected canter for me and Cody. On our way back around it started thundering and then raining. It wouldn't have been such a big deal but Tricia had left her trunk open with her computer and camera in it. We walked across the bridge and shut the gate. Normally we'd make sure to walk back up to the barn but we threw caution to the wind and "let'er buck" as it were. Cody quickly passed up Axel and galloped up the first part of the hill, topping it off with a few little bucks. He evened out and galloped the rest of the way with Axel behind. The next gate was shut so that was the end of our little run.

We dismounted and walked the rest of the way back to the barn being followed quickly by the rest of the herd. We untacked in the barn and gave the boys a couple apples. And by the time we were done with all that the rain had stopped. Tom had shut Tricia's trunk so we didn't have to rush back after all. Oh well. Any longer of a ride and Cody would have been beside him self with anxiety. I'm hoping that riding him for the next several weeks we'll work out a few issues. That will remain to be seen. It'll be fun seeing someone else ride Axel though, he looks so pretty these days.