Lunch at the barn

Another lunchtime trip to the barn. Cody was on the far end of the pasture again. Axel was waiting at the water though. Heh. I really should go out there and groom him up and give him some attention, poor guy. Jesse is back out with the boys so that was nice to see. I rode around the arena for a bit. I think one of my problems is that I can't commit to working on one thing at a time. I started working on trotting and staying on the rail and staying in the trot and then we'd canter so I thought maybe I'd work on that. Heh. We did get the left lead a few times, I think he dropped out of if a couple times though, it was hard to tell. But we ended with a left lead canter, once he picked it up I let him have his head and tried to just keep him up with my legs. It still feels really wild but I suppose we work on getting the lead consistently first then we work on easing it up a bit. I was daring so I jumped on bareback from the picnic table and rode him down to the first gate. I didn't try opening the gate while mounted, that just wasn't going to happen with that gate I don't think. Not without a lot more work on sidepassing and the like.

Haji

We were in Sioux Falls this weekend for a wedding so on our way out of town we swung by to visit Haji. He's finally mingling with the herd a bit more so that was really nice to see. Of course he's a gray horse so he was dirty as can be. I told Daniel he needs to get some small grooming tools and get to work. His forelock is growing out nicely, now his tail just needs to catch up. He's lost a little weight from the move/winter but otherwise he's looking good. He's kind of funny shaped so even when he's fat his backbone sticks out. Poor guy reacts pretty big to bug bites so he's all bumpy but with the other horses there's probably no way he'd keep a fly sheet on. I'm sure it's much nicer not wearing one, probably just adds heat. Daniel petted him a bit and then went over to see some of the other horses and Haji followed along, making sure "his boy" was okay I'm sure ;) We brought him a big apple from the hotel breakfast. Daniel even got a little ride. Without a saddle though, Haji's not the most comfortable bareback horse but I don't think Daniel cared. I'm looking forward to when we can put Daniel up on a saddle and lead Haji around without holding the boy on.

Cody gets a workout

Last week I convinced Jeff to watch the baby after work so I could go to the barn when there might be people around to ride with. And I lucked out because not only was J around but so was TeeJay's owner. J and I went down the road almost to the mile mark but Cody was being a bit of a pill. The usual turning for home and getting mad when I wouldn't let him. He kept creeping toward the ditch and when he'd get close he'd start backing into it so I'd kick him a good one and we had a mini bucking session by the neighbor's mailbox. Not a big deal just a little attitude. He was pretty slow and not too happy to be out and about. I'm going to blame the wind and the fact that Atta Girl isn't Steele, his usual riding buddy. So when we got back I went into the arena and rode a bit. I had J get on him for a while and see what he could do. So I'm seeing my first problem isn't Cody, it's that I just let him get away with murder. Doh. She had him on the rail, trotting, cantering. She got a left lead on the first try. She was choked up on the reins more than Cody likes so he was fighting that quite a bit but he started settling down. She figured he'd get used to it if we kept it up. I got back on and worked on that left lead. It took me forever to get it. J says to counter bend. So we'd be at the wall and I'd have his head nearly cranked around to my knee facing the wall and then ask for the canter and he finally picked up the lead. Soooo, I guess it's user error :( Hehe. But she said he was really nice to ride and he'd have a gorgeous lope if we made him do it once in a while. She said she can work with him and me this summer in the arena and getting him down the road. I think if I kick his butt in the arena then down the road might not be so bad since maybe he'll mind me a bit more. So that was that. Bad ride on the road, good ride in the arena. He was a sweaty boy. In other news, C was there with TeeJay. I think it's been over a year since I saw her. And I asked her if I could ride him down the road and she thought that would be just fine. She's going to give me a call when she thinks he's good to go. J got on TeeJay and he was pretty rusty. But he looks good in Axel's dressage bridle. ;) So it pays to get to the barn when there's people around! So when I get the okay I'll be able to go for a few rides down the road with Cody and friends. It's been ages!

Windy

So I made it out yesterday at lunch in hopes I would avoid the heat. Holy wind, Batman! Walking through that wooded lane there was next to impossible. And then of course the horses were all at the opposite end of the pasture. So I had a nice walk. I would have jumped on Cody bareback but there was nothing to boost me up ;) I had considered just riding in the empty pasture but not with that wind. I was lazy so I just rode in the arena for 20 minutes or so bareback. We just worked on leg yielding from the quarter line to the rail. It wasn't great but it was a place to start. Found one tick on the underside of Cody's tail. I also found a lot of scabs under there. Poor guy, the ticks must be gnawing away at him and falling off before we see them. I think it's pretty typical for him, I recall combing through grown out scabs in his tail before. And he's not exactly the happiest camper when someone is digging around back there. No ticks on Axel that I noticed. And I gave both horses their vaccines so everyone should be set for a while now. I guess the good thing about the wind was it was keeping the flies away.

Down the Road!

So I didn't think we had gotten that much rain. Apparently it rains more at J&J. Holy mud. I was feeling pretty good about Axel not having gotten mud fever too bad but I might have spoke too soon. I didn't pull him out to look at all, I figured no reason to do that til it dries up a bit. I ran out at lunch and Cody was conveniently placed by the gate so I didn't have to walk in the mud. I was too lazy to try and get the mud off his feet so we ventured down the road without boots. Surprisingly he went down the driveway almost at a normal walk speed. He was a little looky but he was way more willing to head away from the barn than he has been in the past. Don't get me wrong, we weren't moving anywhere quickly but he was fairly calm about life. We stuck to the ditch for the most part until it got too wet. Made it down to the neighbors mailbox and then turned and went past the driveway to the other neighbors first drive way.

I did put on my spurs but I didn't have to really use them much. I just figured maybe having them would give him a little clearer instructions. We mostly worked on "walking straight and facing forward means no contact on the reins and no heels in my sides." So all in all it was a decent ride. And gorgeous out to boot.