Brought Axel in, now a full week after his knee injection, groomed him and got him in the arena. I had him walk on the lunge in each direction for probably less than 5 minutes each. Still sound but dragging that right front a big (we'll see how he looks after a trim). Of course now it's a week later and I can't recall if I asked for a trot or not. But I was dared to get on bareback I think B thought Axel was going to act the fool. I jumped on with just the rope halter and lead and we did one lap in each direction at the walk. It was a perfectly sound and willing walk. It's been a long time sine I could say that. So even with some weight he's sound at the walk. My thought is that even if we can get him sound at the trot he can still do little trail rides at the walk.
I didn't feel like riding so I grabbed Cody and just groomed him quick and asked if B and Diva wanted to go for a walk down the road in-hand. Diva is getting over a nasty case of scratches so she's on vacation for a bit but a nice walk would do us all some good. Cody was slow on the way out but no calling and no wheeling around to bolt for home. We even made it nearly the whole mile. I asked him to turn around and go back as soon as he relaxed and started licking. Of course the trip back was much quicker but it was calm. We even stopped to visit some grandparents walking with their little granddaughter, she wanted to see the horses.
I think Axel and I might start walking down the road for our conditioning, it's much more interesting that lunging at the walk and easier to judge distance/time. If I was a smart person I'd have already trained Cody and Axel to pony and I could ride Cody and pony Axel but the road is just a bit too busy for me to feel comfortable doing that.
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