Saturday, February 23, 2008

It's finally warm!

After getting up early to go into work, having to work later than I planned, getting stuck behind a train, and waiting in a long check out line at the store I finally made it out to the barn. Later than I had hoped but it was still light out and warm. I brought Axel in to groom him. He's already starting to shed and he's gotten himself some really nice scabs on the inside of his one back foot. My guess is he kicked himself, as usual, and since his skin is so horribly dry it doesn't heal the best and ends up being a nasty gross scab. I couldn't find the TriCare and the betadine was frozen so he had to go sans first aid. He didn't seem to care.

I left Axel tied and brought Cody in to groom. He wasn't thrilled with the idea but wasn't totally belligerent either. I groomed him, also starting to shed, and waited for Tricia to arrive. I was ready before she got there so I did some groundwork with Cody. He was a little concerned with what was happening outside but still minded my requests. I tried a bit of lunging outside in the yard as well. He was still a bit worked up about being away from his herd but we managed. Tricia still hadn't arrived so I gave her a call to find out where she was at. She decided she would ride Cody but in a saddle just in case he was crazy horse. So I tacked up both horses before she got there. From Tricia's report, Cody was a little stubborn, required a lot of leg to get moving away from the barn. But he wasn't terrible. Axel wasn't terribly fast himself. He kicked out a few times when asked to trot but nothing major. They both ended up a little sweaty but they're still in nearly full winter coats and it was 40F.

Cody proved himself to be quite the obedient horse when he backed out of the barn perfectly. I keep crossing my fingers that he'll load and unload in the trailer now.

No comments: