Friday the barn was busy. Riley had some people out interested in buying him. Stitch and Cody2 were out riding on the road. I had Cody in the aisle for a few minutes to groom and then had Axel in to work on his back feet a bit. And A brought Vinnie in to get ready to work in the arena.
I hand walked Cody down the road ditch just up to the neighbor's property. He wasn't perfect but he was a million times better than he had been last time I rode him. I might keep that up for a while and see if he makes any progress before trying to ride him down the road alone again.
I wasn't able to get too many more scabs off Axel but the foot that I had cleaned up on Monday was doing good. I got the other foot cleaned up a little bit but it still needs work. If Axel would let me soak it that would help. Maybe this week I can wet a rag and wrap that foot with some vet wrap then he can stand there acting helpless while the scabs soften up. Easier than dealing with a bucket.
When the arena was open I went in and lunged Axel at the walk again for a few minutes with a few stints of trotting mixed in. He was looking sound at the walk but a little gimpy at the trot which was to be expected. He takes a few bad steps at the walk still but perhaps that is due to no exercise for 5 months. I ended up getting on bareback with just the halter and lead rope. Last time Axel was recovering from whatever random lameness he had he was sound at the walk but with a rider he was still lame. We did a few laps in each direction and he was pretty darned sound even with me on his back. He was very interested in looking out the open arena doors and he was a bit hard to control with just the halter but he did really well and didn't offer any unneeded feistiness. Yay Axel!
Saturday bright and early I ran out and gave Axel his 4th Adequan shot before heading up to the We Can Ride tack sale. I ended up buying a few things at the sale: John Lyons rope reins, new riding tights, a foam english saddle pad, and some black saddle bags for Axel's saddle.
Sunday I went out to Murphy with A and rode Danny. Cody just won't fit in A's trailer and riding Danny was like a vacation. It's been a long time since I've had a calm trail ride. It started out a little hairy when the horses thought some hikers were going to eat them but after that everyone settled in and it was a gorgeous day.
I groomed Axel outside when we returned and then worked him a bit in the arena. He was not about to let me lunge him outside where there was grass to eat so we had to go in the arena. He was sound at the walk with the exception of a few wrong steps and he trotted a little on the lunge line. We only worked for a few minutes before I unclipped and sent him out at liberty. He went 1 lap in both directions at the trot (a bit of canter to the right - I think that was the direction). He was a little gimpy which was no surprise. Right now I just want to work him up to doing more trot and getting back into shape. He looked a bit more swollen as well which I hope is just because it's been warm and there's a lot of standing around with the round bale in the small paddock. All things considered, he's not that much off when he trots. The cranky head tossing or pawing seems to have dropped a notch and he'll trot fairly willingly when asked. I'm sure we're dealing with some laziness as well. We'll just keep plugging away.
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