Not the Cody we remember

Axel is looking pretty good these days. Not only is he almost done shedding and getting his shiny black summer coat (which will shortly be brown when he stands in the sun too long), but he is looking pretty darn sound considering. A month ago I thought we were in for a long haul with him. I expected that rest and bute wasn't going to do much and I'd have to explore injections or shoeing or something more expensive. But so far (knock on wood) the rest is doing the trick. The farrier was out on Wednesday and thinks he has a stifle locking issue but we'll give him a bit more time to start moving around more normal before we start diagnosing more issues that could just be stiffness due to favoring one leg. Anyway, he promptly trotted away from me in the pasture proving that he's feeling pretty good these days. He's been off the bute for a while and on some joint supplements for a few days. I'm giving him a week or two more of no riding and they should be on part of the hill pasture soon, that might put a bit more stress on his legs so I'm going to give him a chance to see if that will have any affect at all.

So we rearranged our riding this week to avoid rain and whatever. So Wednesday we all finally had a chance to get together and go for a ride. Tricia brought Oly over for the first time this spring. And by a twist of fate or just some communication error she ended up bringing Rocket over as well. The Pinto Creek herd was quite surprised to see a trailer pull up with more horses and it was quite the fiasco getting them past the herd out to the trail. Note to self, use the system the caretakers have set up with the rope to separate the paddock. Everyone was especially interested in Rocket. I think Kalani wanted to take him home and keep him.

So we looked at our options and thought maybe it would be best if Steph rode Cody. He has his moments but they are usually pretty mellow and Kiko and Kalani are still pretty unpredictable. So I was going to ride Kalani for the first time. Before Tricia arrived we had Cody and Kalani in the barn for grooming and Cody was being pretty decent. Only a few attempts to dig a hole under the barn wall. But things changed when Oly and Rocket arrived and then never really calmed down. By the end of the ride Cody was a sweaty mess. Our plan was to try Cody out with a shanked bit and neck rein since he was so responsive in the round pen over the weekend. But it's really hard to judge how that went since he was having a heart attack over Oly and Rocket instead. In all reality he did okay. Very prancy but never dangerous. Kalani was great. A little fast actually which was the opposite of what I expected as they told me he tends to just stop and refuse to move. Somehow I feel less in control with a hack, and a bit like I have no idea what I'm doing. I also felt a little heavy handed with him. He does move out more than either of my horses so I have a hard time telling if we're just walking normal but fast or if he's going to break into a trot. Thus the heavy hand.

After all the excitement, the ride was acceptable, we did a little schooling in the meadow. Kalani was not interested and wants to just follow someone else. Not something I feel like trying to break him of, so that'll just have to go on the trainer's schedule (Steph). Since Cody was so worked up we decided this was not the best choice to work on trailer loading. Turns out little Rocket had only been in a trail 4 times and he tends to leap into the trailer at that. So loading him took a few minutes but he really was good about it. He got both front feet in nice and quiet and then jumped in with both back feet at once. I guess when they got home he wouldn't get out of the trailer.

I'm hoping to get out there this weekend once or twice even and might just do some riding on Cody in the pasture. If the herd is out on the back hill it might be a tough ride since he'll be concerned that they aren't around. But it must be done. We'll see what happens, plans tend to change pretty easily.