Cows!

We got the trailer all packed up and ready to go, groomed the horses, hand grazed them for a while, chatted with J about where to park the trailer when we returned, and off we went. Axel got in like a champ but he was pretty squished in his slant. Cody took a small amount of coaxing but not bad at all, he's at about 2-3 tries now, which sure beats hours. Cody was also a bit squished in his slant so we're back to the drawing board on how to modify the trailer so they fit better.

Axel was pretty worked up when he got off the trailer (turned around and walked out just to make life easier), and he was worked up in the arena while Jeff tried to adjust the saddle and/or mount. So while we were supposed to be warming up and visiting cows over the fence, I suggested that I warm Axel up for Jeff. Cody was feeling calm and collected so he pretty much stood there while Axel kind of bounced around the arena. At that point I thought it was best that I just stick with Axel and Jeff stay with Cody. Axel doesn't quite have my number as much as he has Jeff's and I didn't think it'd be fun for Jeff if Axel was a pill the whole time.

Since Cody and Axel didn't seem fazed by the cows at all when we split up in two groups we started with the cows. Both horses could really care less about the cows. If we got close enough without moving the cows Axel would stand there nose to nose with a cow. If the cows didn't move he wasn't too excited to walk right into the middle of the group. And if the cows ran behind him he'd kick at them and pin his ears. But other than that he seemed pretty interested and locked on a few times. Cody did pretty well, he was feeling a little slow but he followed the cows without an issue. Jeff said he thought he locked on a few times as well.

When we swapped groups Jeff and I worked in the arena and they taught us a few things. We worked on getting a whoa as well as some rollbacks to get the horse on the haunches. Nothing ground breaking but it was good for Jeff to have a little instruction on some basic riding skills. Axel threw out a couple bucks to show his disapproval of having to work, or something. The trainer asked if she could try Axel for a bit, so I thought it was only fair to share the pain. I sat on her horse but didn't really end up riding because I was busy watching her work Axel. Mostly she was trying to get him to give his head and back up when asked. After a lot of fighting she got him working pretty good and also doing some right turns which I guess he was being ornry about. Surprisingly later when I was back on him and asked for a backup he did really well. At the end of the night we split up groups again and did some kind of team penning work which was a good time. Axel managed to kick a cow but I don't think he got her too hard, naughty horse.

Overall it went well and it was a good time. I think the horses enjoyed themselves and were happy for something different. Danny got a little less afraid of cows but I don't think he's going to run out and work on a ranch any time soon. Things only went south when we got back to the barn. We had put Cody in the last stall and he stepped out of the trailer before he was untied. He freaked out and smashed his head into mine and in turn into the wall of the trailer. He must have stepped on me as well, I've got a huge bruise on the back of my left leg and my right foot is swollen a bit, thank goodness for the steel toed boots. Despite his freak out, we calmed him down and stepped him out of the trailer. When he had his back feet out we stood there calm and I petted him for a while before getting all the way out. So we'll see how he does next time, but he won't be in that last stall that's for sure. But I was surprised how he calmed down pretty easily. He's really mellowed out lately.

So that was our little cow adventure.