Lots of Ground Work

I'm getting a little bored of riding alone so much since I get to the barn more often now. To combat that I think I really need to start doing a lot more ground work with the horses. Starting today.

It was Cody's turn today to work on some cantering. But first we worked on some ground work. Axel stayed in the pasture and had a minor conniption about being alone. Cody and I worked on some of the moving away from pressure with turns on the forehand, which he got pretty well, and turns on the haunches - not so well. Worked on the bending exercises and some backing up. We did some circles at the walk and trot. We even worked on a little bit of ground tying which went surprisingly well. After that I rode for a while and tried to get some canters but we mostly ended up just trotting as fast as humanly (or horsely) possible. How did Steph get him to canter so well? We made a couple attempts at the various turns in the corners of the arena and then dismounted and did a couple stretches. I'm going to have to look at my horse massage/stretching books and get some more ideas for Cody to work on lifting his back.

I took Axel's screaming to mean he wanted to be worked with as well. The first thing we did was walk into the barn and then back out twice and he did it both times well. So he came into the arena and did some lunging. He did really well at the trot in the first direction, a little crankier in the other direction, and pretty cranky about cantering but that's pretty normal. I worked a little with the turn on the forehand from the ground, he got it okay but I think we'll have to keep working on that stuff with him a lot, he doesn't catch on and retain like Cody does. We then worked on some backing up, I wanted to back a whole lap of the arena but we made it around maybe 1/4 or more so that was pretty good. I decided I wasn't done yet and I didn't want to ride so I got out the long lines and the surcingle and we drove for a while and then switched to long lining. I think the long lines are too heavy though, despite having as much slack as he wanted he was still pretty frustrated and seemed like he was forced into a frame. Though good for him to stretch like that I don't think he enjoyed it. He was quite ticked when I asked for a trot and kicked out but manged to have a couple nice trots after that but they were very small and vertical. I tried to do some weaving but I didn't set up the cones before I hooked up Axel so I only was able to get out two and well it was just kind of a loss at that point. I did lunge him a bit more after the driving so he could stretch out the opposite way and he had a very nice extended trot. When we were done he backed out of the barn aisle one more time.

Axel's Turn

Luckily when I got out to the barn tonight the one hunter girl was just finishing up her ride. I groomed Axel in the crossties while she finished riding. She had some of the big barn doors open so it was pretty nice in the arena. I had been debating between going down the road and riding inside. Since it was seemingly deserted I decided to ride in the arena and do some video taping. I wanted to see if I could get Axel's new found canter departure on film.

Cody decided to have a complete fit while we were in the barn. He's been fairly okay lately but tonight he decided it was the end of the world that he was alone. I lunged Axel a bit, he was good at the trot but had some issues with the canter particularly to the left (I think). Lots of random bucking.

When I mounted we had an okay walk for a while. The trot was also just okay. He offered a couple canters instead of the trot probably just from his leg hurting. It took some work to keep him at a trot. I only asked for the canter a few times but when he offered it I tried to keep him going. That's what is going to kill me tomorrow. I already worked on a bit of trot on Wednesday and am sore from that. Heh oh well.

The barn owner came in to work with one of her horses so while she groomed and tacked Axel and I cooled off by working on square corners and some small circles to try and get to some turns on the haunches and forehand. I should spend more time working on that stuff with Axel since trotting and cantering isn't really our forte. Which means a lot more work on the ground. He's kind of frustrating because he doesn't pick up on that stuff as fast as Cody does. We'd still be spinning in circles if I was trying to get him to bend like Cody does.

Working on the Road

I just went for a quick ride tonight with Cody. Picked up a few things at Fleet Farm on my way. One of which was a thin felt underpad. In the end I want to use it under Axel's yellow blanket but until Cody puts on a bit more weight I'm using it to double up on his pads. I groomed and tacked him up outside and we were off (slowly) down the road. I will be very interested to see if our trips away from the barn will speed up at all after he gets his back done by the chiropractor. Last time it made a world of difference. We only made it a little way down the road. Cody won't walk straight he weaves back and forth so he can try and keep an eye back on the barn/pasture. When I was finally able to get him to walk straight for more than a couple steps that's when we turned around for home. I wanted to make him "work" on the way home but the road is really busy so it's kind of difficult. We did do some circles, we turned around and walked away again, and we passed by the drive way. We also did some trotting in front of the barn and I was going to work on backing up since he did so good the day prior but it didn't really happen. I had bought a fly mask at Fleet Farm that was supposed to cover his nose and help it not get sunburnt but it wasn't even close to covering his nose. So I guess I have to order a Cashel fly mask.

Time for Shots

Stephanie came out yesterday to show me how to do vaccines and we went for a little ride around the arena as well. Groomed both horses in the crossties, they were fairly patient as far as that went, tacked 'em up and we were off. Originally my thought was a trail ride down the road but it was cold and threatening rain so we stuck to the arena. Steph rode Cody and I rode Axel. Axel had his fast pants on and we had to circle frequently so we didn't run over Cody. We did a bit of trotting and experimented with posting diagonals to check out if his crankiness was learned or if it was actually his back left foot. It was his back left, unhappy horse when you sit on that diagonal in both directions. So I might be posting the correct right diagonal and the incorrect left diagonal from now on. We'll see how that works out. We attempted a few canters purely because when I post that one diagonal Axel either bucks or tries to canter. We went with the canter as long as he was offering. Oddly none of the cantering felt good, it was the correct lead (right) and wasn't disunited but it just felt yucky. He kind of leaps into it and puts his head down and I think he's going to buck. Turns out ... he's actually striking off into the canter with his rear end (like he's supposed to) and he's brining up his back and putting his head down a bit to do so. Aka, this is what a real canter from Axel should feel like. Go figure. Sure makes my legs hurt, though he did have a few wonky sort of bucky canters that I had to squeeze him through.

Steph worked on some trotting and cantering with Cody as well as some halt and giving to the bit. She had him backing on a super light rein. She had him working on little bits of turn on the haunches, an 1/8th of a circle at a time. He struck off at the canter on the first request on his good side, it was a little more work on his bad side (left I think) but he managed. His canter doesn't look as speedy and big as it feels. It actually looks kind of "sporty" to me, almost like a reiner. He was doing a nice regular trot for her while she posted - no speeding up. And they worked on a really calm western trot as well.

Axel and I worked on backing off the bridge for a while which worked well 2 times and then he refused to cooperate any longer. After fighting through that 3rd attempt we managed a 4th attempt and called it a night on that. He's so goofy about it, hops right up on the bridge before I'm even ready but backing off it - heck no! We played a little with the bowing and treats but he turns in a big beggar when there's treats or anything that might be a treat so I don't think I'll be treating him by hand any longer. Cody did some stretching for treats with Steph and was very polite about it. She gave him his shots to show me how and I gave Axel his. It went well and was not nearly as scary as I thought it would be.

Cody's little fight of the day came when I saw some wood ticks on his nose. He was displeased and would not keep his head down for us to pull them out. He goes into immediate giraffe impression as soon as something gets near his nose that is not petting. I really have to keep working with him on that but he seems to do well when there aren't ulterior motives, he's too smart that way. I am going to pick him up a fly mask with a nose piece on it to keep away some of the sunburn he's prone too since he won't let me put any cream on his nose.

Jeff and I Ride

Finally got Jeff to come out and ride with me. He might be regretting it now, after hiking for a week he thought riding would be a piece of cake. He forgot the whole connection between how the horse moves and how the rider moves just like they are walking. We groomed and tacked in the cross ties and then set out on the road after some fighting to get the horses to stop grazing every few steps. Once they were told that wasn't the game plan they seemed to manage the rest of the ride without diving for grass.

Cody was the slow poke again on this ride and Axel was just booking it ahead. Of course he'd get too far ahead and start calling back to Cody. By the time we got to the side road Cody caught up mostly. Axel/Jeff took off a few times without warning and Cody lept into the trot to keep up. We had to go over how to pull Axel up out of a buck since he couldn't seem to canter properly. He finally settled down on the way back home. He was still very interested in the two calves and when they took a few steps out of the trees both Cody and Axel jumped. Cody actually spooked at several things on this trip, a log and a plant for example. Of course on the way back Cody got his second wind but maintained a walk the whole way. We managed to walk past the driveway and turn around without a fight before heading back to the barn. Axel had a harder time going past the driveway but he was leading at that point.

Axel always confounds me, he goes from perfect for a 10 year old kid to a real pain in the butt for Jeff in a matter of days. I told Jeff he should come ride more in the arena and get more comfortable on Axel, he looks a little off kilter when he rides and he won't admit it but Axel takes advantage of him every chance he gets. Maybe Jeff and I will take those western riding lessons I keep talking about.

Axel Found Go

I thought Axel kind of looked like a racehorse in this photo. He was all shiny and tall. He must have actually been channeling a bit of racehorse when I got on to ride he was moving out at the walk more than ever before. I decided to stick with the walk since he was so willing and I gave him a long rein. We didn't ride for long, just did some circles and a few sloppy serpentines. I always hope he remembers "hey when I actually step out a bit she gets off right away."

I was going to just hang out in the pasture for a while when I was done riding because no one was around to wonder what in the world I was doing. But they came home so I decided to ride Cody for a few minutes instead. He wasn't thrilled to be in the cross ties but we made do. I was more-so wasting time until Jeff got back to the cities and I had to go pick him up. Cody has been slower and slower these days so hopefully I can get the chiropractor out soon and fix him up a bit. I guess he and Axel traded their walks or something. Since he's been kind of skinny lately too we mostly just walked with a very small amount of trotting. I've added a second thing saddle blanket just to try and pad up his back a bit until he gains some weight back but I don't want to be slamming around on him in any case. He's definitely improved in the arena, he'll now willingly face away from the gate to be dismounted, I guess he figured out that was easier than fighting it. We haven't had too many issues with "inching" in the arena lately, but that'll be put to the test next time we go on a real trail ride or something. We still need work on backing up, maybe that'll go better after the chiro. He sure goes backward fast when he's pissed about being ridden away from the barn!

Way Too Hot

Cody looked a little mopey in the pasture yesterday. I groomed him outside and I nearly passed out from the heat. It was obvious we weren't going to ride so I found a spot in the shade to sit while Cody grazed. I thought maybe it'd be cooler in the arena so I groomed Axel in there but it was still too hot so it was back to the pasture and I went home to cool off. It's supposed to be cooler over the weekend so hopefully I can get some riding in and maybe someone else will be around to ride with.

Axel Has a Calling

Hopefully I can get some photos from tonight but for now all you get is text. My best friend from 6th-8th grade found me on Facebook last year and we always talked about getting together to catch up but today we finally did it. Liz's mom messaged me and said "hey can we come down and meet your horses and hang out?" So Liz, her mom, and Liz's 10 year old son all came down for some horse time. Liz's son is on the Autism spectrum so being a therapeutic riding instructor, horse time sounds good to me. We brought Axel into the crossties and everyone did some grooming which he stood for like a complete expert.

We saddled him up and brought him into the arena. I sent him around a few circles at the trot just to make sure the saddle was in the right place and that his head was in the right place. I led Liz's son around for a while and showed him how to steer and ask for a walk on and whoa. After a while he rode around without me leading. Axel just walked around, went where he was told, and didn't protest one bit. Liz's son got a little over zealous and asked Axel to trot which surprised him but it was only a few strides and everyone survived. He probably rode around for a good 45 minutes, at least it seemed that long just watching. Axel looked really good, he was carrying himself well, he was shiny, and he looked very nice.

Liz took a turn riding for a while and they wanted me to ride a bit and "go fast." Axel actually had a couple nice canters and one disunited canter. But no bucking so yay Axel. Liz's son wanted to get back on one more time and do some trotting so I led and we trotted a few times before we called it a night. Axel took a while but finally showed everyone how he can lay down and roll over. Liz's son decided he really likes the horses and was hugging all over Axel and the same on Cody when we turned Axel out. I knew Axel would be a good therapy horses or heck just a good kid's horse.

Holy Wind, Batman

I didn't realize quite how windy it was until I got on the horse. Groomed Cody outside, tacked him up, added a second thin saddle blanket to his outfit, threw on his hoof boots, and we headed down the driveway. Cody was very indecisive and really wanted to be back at the barn but we plugged along. We made it down the one side of the road in the ditch and crossed over to the other side to go a little further. In addition to the wavering he also spent a lot of time trying to back up. Which just proves that he can back up a lot easier then the lets me think when I ask for it. Luckily he's pretty reluctant to really spazz out so a swift kick to the sides snaps him out of his reverse gear. I'm hoping that he figures out how much nicer it is to just go forward when I want than to fight the whole way. When he was moving forward decently we turned around and went back.

The first few yards he brought out his 2 beat walk, tried a little trot, and then settled in. He sped up again when a car whizzed by us, it was so windy you couldn't hear the cars til they were right up your rear end. About 2 blocks from the barn Cody settled in and walked at a pace slightly faster than on the way out. We went past the driveway, turned around, and then went back to the barn.

I just groomed Axel a bit, still trying to get off some of the red winter hair but it's not all gone yet. He was nice and shiny until I started brushing and that just brought all the dust to the top. Whoops. I managed to get Axel to do some leg stretches which I plan to try and do every time I'm out there. I lunged him a little in the pasture just to get him to move a bit before turning him out and heading home.

The Vet Visits

I'm still contemplating how I feel about the new vet but here's the events of yesterday. I got there about an hour early, figured I'd groom and get the horses ready. Groomed Axel first since I planned to have Cody's work done first, I could turn Axel out alone and didn't think he'd work himself into a tizzy at all. They're both still shedding - when will it end? When I was done grooming Cody we hung out with Steele and his owner, eating grass in the yard. The barn owner came out and brought some beers so we stood around and chatted. The vet pulled up and turned out to be a pretty quietly demeanored man and a little scatter brained perhaps. He took care of Steele first since his owner had to leave right away. Cody was next. I explained he hadn't had his teeth done in 2 years and that was the first time in his life. I told him how he had wavemouth and caudal hooks and sores in his cheeks etc. Concern #1, vet said he didn't know what those things were (wavemouth and caudal hooks). So he said he'd feel around and see what he thought. Cody fought this a lot which I was mildly happy about because I figured that meant there wouldn't be any question that he'd get sedated for the floating. When the vet could finally get his hands in his mouth he said he didn't feel any sharp spots and his teeth were as dull as they could be. Concern #2, he also said when he floats teeth he just sticks the float in and files away, he doesn't do much feeling around. He mentioned he prefers to float in the fall and he would take a peek again at that time and maybe run the float around his mouth at that time. On the sheath cleaning front, he seemed to be of the opinion that if nothing is swollen then there's no reason to clean out their sheaths and that even if there's a bean up there it's not hurting anyone (?). He said he'd sedate and do it if I wanted but at that point I figured there's no reason to put Cody through sedation just for this sheath, I just thought since he'd be sedated for teeth why not get it all done. So in the end both horses just got their Rabies shots.

This leaves me with enough money to get the chiropractor to come out. I think if Cody doesn't put on some weight, and the chiropractor doesn't make him feel better, then I might see if I can get Brad out for a second opinion on the teeth later this year. I think this new vet is not an equine dentist and while I'm not willing to put my horses through a floating if they don't need it, I'm not certain he could really tell what was going on by just a quick feel that didn't involve getting all the way to the back. Perhaps next spring or this fall if one of the other boarders has a different vet out I'll meet them and see what I think. The guy was nice and gentle but he didn't seem overly thorough and maybe a little too laid back. Hey he could be right but can't hurt to have a second opinion.

Two Rides on a Windy Day

Of course yesterday when it was gorgeous outside I spent the evening in the movie theater. Tonight it was windy and threatening to storm so I went out to the barn. Go figure. It wasn't raining yet so I groomed Axel outside where the wind could blow away any hair. He's still shedding a bit but almost back to black again. A couple spots the hair came off in big chunks, slowly but surely he'll be back to his shiny self.

I decided to just put the western saddle on him, I seem to sit better/deeper, I think because the western saddle doesn't have the thick panels. I lunged him a bit, he did really well at the trot and even had what I'd consider a nice extended trot (for Axel at least). He was a bit full of himself and kept trying to buck instead of canter but he wasn't pulling, just kind of being generally humpy. The arena was pretty warm so he was good and warmed up. He still doesn't quite get the bending exercise. We rode at a nice walk for a while where he was actually moving out a bit. The trot to the right went well but to the left he wanted to either stop, canter, or buck. He does not like when I post on the left diagonal. That diagonal leaves me sitting when his left hind is on the ground and that's his sore foot. I should probably just post the wrong diagonal but I'm afraid of unbalancing him. When I got off he followed me around for a bit and when I went to try and get him to do some stretches he immediately thought we were doing the bowing trick. Actually he was looking for his snack that he gets sometimes when we do that trick. He did finally let me stretch his front legs a bit. We'll have to ease into the back legs but those are the ones he needs the most.

I so wish I would have had my video camera on me today. When Axel finally laid down to roll he did his usual routine. Got his left side all nice and dirty and then worked on rolling completely over. Somewhere in the middle of one of his attempts his back legs went straight up in the air and he proceeded to kick them up and down like a little baby for a good 5 seconds before finally making it over to the right side. It was truly one of the funniest things I've ever seen Axel do.

Cody seemed to do alright in the pasture by himself while Axel was in the arena. He has dropped quite a bit of weight though. It's been a while since I've put the weight tape on him but he measured at 952lbs which I think is too light for him. Axel coincidentally taped at 1172lbs and he's actually looking really nice these days. I groomed Cody outside as well, he's still shedding a bit but he's harder to groom since he's a little bonier and more sensitive. He stood calmly in the arena tied to the wall while I tacked him up. Another boarder came in to work with her horse so Cody was less than excited to be lunged, he wanted to watch the other horse but we worked it out. Cody remembered the bending exercise after some work on it.

He was reluctant to walk out because it was in the direction away from the other horse. He finally gave in when I asked him to trot so we trotted in a circle for a bit. The other horse was working on ground tying so we trotted around as a bit of a temptation and Danny just stood there. Wish my horses would ground tie like that! I didn't want to do too much work with Cody. With his weight loss the saddle isn't fitting the greatest and I only had one pad to use. He was probably just distracted but almost seemed out of energy as well. We worked on the halt while I chatted with the other boarder for a while. It was probably the most patient Cody has been in a long time so after standing there for a while I got off. We stood there a little longer while the other boarder and horse left the arena. Cody even stood patiently for that. Of course as soon as we turned away from the gate to take off the saddle he got concerned and we fought for a while over that.

I tried a little bit of work with the whip to get him to stand patiently and look at me while crazy things were happening around him. He was pretty confused, started to understand, and then tuned out. We also worked a bit on some of the turns on the forehand and haunches, trying to get to a point where I don't have to actually push him around.

The vet is supposed to be out around 5 on Friday to do some of the horses shots. The plan is for him to do both Cody and Axel's teeth and sheaths and their rabies shots. From what I'm told the vet doesn't usually sedate for teeth but I don't imagine he's going to get too close to either end of Cody at least without sedation. Seems like a late appointment to do teeth but maybe he's just going to take a peek and set up a time in the future. Luckily I will be around on Friday to be there. Saturday Steph is going to come out and show me how to do injections and get their 5-way and Flu shots done and hopefully go for a ride.

More Work for Cody

Lots of action at the barn tonight, some of the other boarders had their farrier out doing shoes and whatnot and the barn owners were out working on the yard. I groomed Cody outside, he's just about done shedding just a few long hairs left. He stood fairly patiently and was watching the dogs and the barn owners in the yard instead of longing after the horses in the other pasture. I put him in the arena to tack up and as soon as I put the saddle on his back, before I even cinched it up, he started in with the yawning. I'm going to have to have Dr. Westman out to do some chiropractic work on him and see if that helps at all in addition to the dental work and having his sheath cleaned.

I lunged him for a bit at the walk and trot. He wasn't too keen on cantering on the lunge and I didn't have the whip. He remembered the bending exercise really well also so I mounted up and off we went. He was fairly distracted by all the goings on but he was listening pretty well. We did some circles in the corners of the arena at the walk and then we trotted a big circle for quite a while working on the bend and relaxing and then a little bit on making the circle wider.

We moved back onto the rail and when he was trotting calmly I asked for the canter. He actually picked up the first lead pretty well. The other direction took a few tries including one run off into the wall but the bending helped get his attention back where it belonged. It was warm in the arena and we had worked pretty hard. In fact we hadn't even worked on the halt at all because we hadn't stopped moving. Another boarder came in with her horse to do some groundwork so Cody and I worked on the halt at the far end of the arena. He seems to be getting better at it. And I've started asking him to back up when we stop. He's reluctant at first but after I ask-he fights-he gives in, then the next time he gets it right. Slowly but surely.

And just for the sake of it I started with a cue to get Cody to pick up his front foot to work on teaching him to bow as well. I've decided to start with the horses picking up their hoof, then holding their hoof up, then I'll move onto the bowing part. When all was said and done I went to put Cody's saddle down and get his lead rope, Danny was learning what hobbles were, and the other boarder grabbed a pitch fork. Something spooked Cody and he flew backwards, not sure what it was but he stopped and was fine. He backed out of the barn aisle like a champ (hey Axel, take a hint!).