Quick ride down the road

Rode out with J and Steele at lunch yesterday. Thank goodness for the wind or we would have been a lot hotter. Cody was quiet sweaty when we were done. He was good as usual. Did quite a bit of trotting to keep up but nothing frantic. He was being a bit of a pain trying to snag grass all the time and we had one moment just as we were getting back to the barn where the wind must have blown up his butt or something cuz he jumped a bit but that was it. I can't believe how bad the flies still are. I suppose this heat isn't going to help matters either.

Welcome to the rodeo

So yeah, that was not the ride I had hoped for. Apparently this was Cody's "hey you, something hurts." I was trying to think if he's ever acted like that before but I don't think he's ever been sore like this. He's been super lame but then it's obvious so I just don't ride. So I *assume* this is just foot sore still and J said Dolly was super sore too that's why she had shoes put on. And apparently the farrier said that's not the first horse he's had to shoe this summer than he normally doesn't so I think we might be looking at shoes for the rest of the season (which is probably only 1 maybe 2 trims worth). He was his usual ouchy self on the gravel but he walked fine in the arena and I free lunged him for a couple minutes before getting on. He was the tiniest bit "off" like he has been, that sort of are you sore or are you lazy type of deal. Nothing out of the ordinary. When I got on he actually walked out pretty nicely and then I asked for a trot ... And I got the rodeo canter/buck/freakout. I have to say, he's never done that before. Even when he gets a little wound up in the arena it's still pretty controlled. This was mad angry get off my back Cody. So I finally got him back to a walk (and stayed on, yay). And I thought ok well maybe he just broke in to the canter and I accidentally jabbed him with the spur. So I asked for a trot again, this time holding the reins a little shorter just in case. And away we went into our rodeo show. That time I know I accidentally got him with the spurs after he started to freak out so when he came back to earth I got off and took the spurs off and lunged him with the lunge line for a while. Trot was just ok, he was kind of annoyed about it but didn't freak out. I asked for a canter on the lunge and then he freaked out. So I don't think it was my spurs that started this. I think he was just sore and didn't want to do it. So we trotted for a while on the lunge in both directions and I got back on sans spurs. This time I just walked and he was fine. I didn't want to push my luck so I left it at that and got off.

Visiting Axel

Down the road

Well Mr Cody was a calm boy as usual with Steele down the road. He's still unhappy about gravel and with the boots on he's fine but does take an off step every once in a while. We have a little under a month until the farrier is back and right now there's nothing to trim (as far as I can tell). Had to track down the fly mask again. Darn horse, the flies are horrible out there, he needs to learn to keep that on. Maybe since the sun isn't as intense these days and he doesn't seem to be getting burnt I'll dig out the other fly mask like Axel's and maybe that will stay on better.

Seriously.

That horse is going to be the death of me, well both of them actually. So he was a little tender in the drive way but nothing unusual and in the arena he was a tiny bit off but it was one of those things where you can't tell if he's just being lazy or if he really hurts. We trotted and cantered a bit so I think he was just lazy. Worked on some leg yielding from the quarter line to the rail. And I rode with the whip so we worked on just plain moving when asked. When I got off he refused to leave the arena. I finally got him on the cement and he parked out like his feet really hurt. Pretty much like he was several years ago when we had to shoe him. I was able to inch him forward a bit and put his boots on. I figured since he was sound riding and N was coming out later I'd just leave the boots on in the pasture for the day or two. Got half way down the driveway and he parked out again. What the heck horse! So now I'm really starting to worry. And then he pees. Seriously. Dang that horse. So I took his boots off and put him back in the pasture. I tell ya. Anyway he had his fly mask off again, but it was really close this time. He ripped a hole in it though. Still usable. I had thought about leaving that off and taking Axel's off for the day since N was going out soon but the flies were so bad I put Cody's back on and left Axel's on as well.

Bath time?

Last week I went out for a ride and Cody turned up lame. Well not really lame. Just very sore from his hoof trim. He had a huge chip in his foot from stomping flies so I think the farrier had to trim it back a little further than normal to keep it from cracking so he was a little foot sore even in the arena. I put his boots on and he felt a lot better but still not perfect. I hate making him work in the arena with the boots on though, it seems like he trips a bit in the sand so we stuck to a walk and in the end really didn't do much of anything. But lately, that's how I ride I guess. I did try and pull Cody's mane a bit. I had watched a few videos on how to do it so I decided to try my hand. I don't want his mane super short but I thought maybe if I evened it up a bit it would maybe look a little thicker. It's a little scraggly these days. Unfortunately the thinnest spots I didn't feel like I could pull without making it thinner. This might be a long term project just keeping the stringy bits out and hoping it grows in better.

After jury duty this week I snuck out to the barn for a little while. Cody seemed to be feeling a bit better so I tacked him up and rode in the arena. I'm still hesitant to push him (yes I'm a wimp/softie/pushover) so we worked on a little turn on the haunches (not so great), turn on the forehand (much better), and some leg yeilding (okay to the left, not so good to the right). We did squeak out a frantic left lead canter but between his feet and the heat I didn't want to get him working too hard. He was sweaty before I had even gotten on. When we were finished I hosed him off and turned him out. Of course the first thing he did was roll in the dirt so now he looks like he hasn't been groomed in weeks. I decided Axel needed a little TLC as well so I hosed him off too.