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.