Only 3.5 Hours

I only spent 3.5 hours at the barn last night. Maybe a little longer than planned but it was farrier day so there was a lot going on and a lot of people to talk to. All the boarders are pretty spread out in the times they are able to ride. I'm usually there week nights, A is there later on weeknights, S is there during the day as well as S&L and J, and B is usually on the weekends. So we don't all run into each other very often unless we plan something.

J was fertilizing the pastures and hoping for rain. There was a note on the white board that Dallas was sold already. S&L are getting out of horses so they can move to FL or something. I was surprised how fast Dallas sold and I guess Riley has some lookers as well. I guess Dallas is going to a 6 year old girl that does breed shows so that should be a really good home for him.

I brought Cody in first and tied him in the arena with Amigo. He was tied near the open barn door but he was still kind of concerned at the happenings going on around him. He calmed down a bit when I brought Axel in and tied him next to him but he managed to dig himself a pretty impressive hole in the arena that I had to fill when we were done. Cody stood for the farrier as well as he usually does. He has a crack in his left front that the farrier marked with a rasp to see if it's getting worse or growing out at all. Axel was a little less than patient and really didn't want to stretch his back left out behind him. I should probably start working on the leg stretches with him too. The farrier looked at his xrays before trimming so maybe he'll be able to get around a little better now.

While we were working on Axel, S suggested we clip Cody's goat beard. I had my doubts that he'd actually tolerate the clippers but she thought her clippers were quiet enough so she gave it a try. Only a few minutes later and Cody is a new man sans beard. He looks so much nicer now. I guess he was just fine with the clippers. S is going to be selling all her equipment when Riley sells so maybe I'll see if I can buy the clippers from her. J might also be interested so we might have to duke it out.

I ended up lunging Axel at the walk for 5 minutes in each direction. He did pretty good for the first 5 minutes but the second 5 minutes he was getting bored and wanted to stop or slow down. He ended up doing a little bit of trotting just to pick up the pace and so I could ask for a walk and hopefully get it. He was moving well at the walk though, more sound than he's been all winter. He was pretty cranky about getting into the trot but would settle in after a few head tosses. I think by the end of the month he'll be trotting fine, I bet most of it is just annoyance at having to work again. Lunging at the walk is really difficult I've found. It's boring and hard to keep the horse moving and out on the circle without wandering away.

I lunged Cody for a few minutes as well and he did finally break into a canter but it wasn't great. I was happy he at least did it considering the last time we tried. I ended up putting both horses back in the pasture before B arrived and wondered if I was going to ride. So I went out and got Cody again and decided to get back into the dressage saddle (note to self, wear breeches next time, jeans + dressage saddle = not fun). B wanted to work on her posting and whatnot for the show she's doing this weekend so we were exchanging tips and tricks. She was trying to find the right stirrup length both for her saddle and for her ability to trot. We ended up swapping horses so she could try and post on Cody and I could try Diva. And we've determined it's not her ability to post it's Diva. She is so bouncy you just can't help but post high out of the saddle. I felt like I was three miles above her. I'll stick with my QA/Paint horses I think. Yikes! Cody and I managed to get a left lead canter after a few tries and B got a right lead canter albeit pretty lazy on Cody's part. So I called it a night at that point and helped video tape B so she could analyze her riding before the show.

My plan next is to keep working on Cody from the ground doing some of Kirsten Nelson's exercises that I have in her first workbook. I'd love it if I could get Cody back to sane without the chiropractor and then just use the adjustment as icing on the cake later on. Cody is going to need some sane as soon as the pastures are open again because Vinnie is going in with the big kids and Jesse is probably going back with Logan and Steele and Cody hates change. We've decided the pasture arrangements are as such "the geldings", "the girls", "the old men", and "the big kids." Cody and Axel are the old men.