The Last Couple Rides

Bitter sweet for sure.  These aren't our last last rides, but they are very likely our last rides in the cities.  The boys are moving out to our farm at the end of this week, I'm a little sad about it actually.  So we packed in a couple more trail rides before it was too late.  Our first ride was on Monday, which I already posted about.  Then Friday we went back to the same trail for another after work ride.  The weather was a little gloomy but no matter we had a decent time anyway.  We headed off in the opposite direction on the trail as Monday and Cody was as calm as could be.  We had even picked up some b-calm supplement just in case but he was so calm on his own we didn't give it to him.  I think we ended up going a little over 5.7 miles that day.  We're guessing Monday's ride was between 4 and 5.

Cody behaved really well.  Still a bit of trotting to keep up but he wasn't calling or trying to turn around all the time.  We even let the boys run for a stretch.  Got a little hairy near the end when I wasn't sure Cody would turn a corner or even listen to me if I asked him to stop but Booker was a star and reals it in when asked so then Cody slowed down as well.  But for the first few strides of the gallop, it was a great ride.  Both boys loaded in the trailer with no issues and we made it home and got everything put away right as the first sprinkles of rain started.

So Sunday we planned to take more of an all day ride and have a little lunch.  But when we woke up Sunday morning it was storming and the weather people said storms on and off all day.  After breakfast things hadn't picked up and the weather forecast had changed to no storms.  So we rolled the dice and met at the barn at noon.  Turned out to be a gorgeous day and thank goodness we decided to go!

We made it over to Murphy Hanrehan park this time.  Figured we needed change of scenery.  The parking lot was a lot larger than I remembered and there was only 2 other trailers in the lot.  Despite the large area I still couldn't back the trailer in a straight line!

So in total we rode 8.27 miles on Sunday.  Covered just about all the trails at Murphy.  And the sky was blue and the bugs were minimal.  Couldn't really ask for much more.  Cody was calm despite the mud.  The trails were pretty mushy and we even had a water crossing in the beginning.  Not sure why we didn't take a photo but both horses went through.  Booker was awesome, Cody needed a little encouraging but it's been a few years since we've been swimming.  The water was up to their bellies.

We rode one trail, took a break at the trailer to dry off and get more fly spray.  Then set out for a longer section of the trail.  The boys were pretty sweaty from the ride, Cody's saddle was sliding back like crazy.  I guess the Tacky-Too saddle pad is no match for heat and high humidity!  Had a few spots of trotting, a nice little canter (would have had more but everything was so wet), ran across some dogs, chatted with a little girl who called out "Hi Cody!" when we passed later on, jumped a log, and even chatted with the park police for a bit.

The boys loaded like pros and we made it back to the barn in one piece for our last adventure (of this part of the story - there's bound to be more adventures in a different form later on).  Daniel and Jeff even came out to meet us at the barn and Daniel had a little ride on Axel for a few minutes.

I'm surprised at how hard I'm taking this move. I will see the boys about as often but I guess not having them right near by is tough.  Plus now that we've had three progressively better trail rides I'd love to do that all summer. I'm just going to have to get Cody out in the pasture and push the cows around a bit and get Daniel riding Haji this summer instead.  Plus I'll still go to the barn and work with and ride Booker.  Our plan is to do a few rides/runs a week with Booker.  There's no Ride and Tie events in Minnesota but we're going to try our hand at our own version.  One of us will run while the other rides and then we'll swap.  Then I think in the spring we're going to get signed up for some Mounted Shooting clinics and try our hand at that.  We think Booker will take to it well.  So that will be the next chapter of this blog.

So I guess that ends this chapter, the next chapter will start with our move on Friday.  Like I said, bittersweet ...

A Real Trail Ride

We finally did it.  We made it out to an honest to goodness trail ride.  Now that we have plans to bring Cody and Axel back to our farm we have the trailer in town (still not completely finished but good enough).  So we're squeezing as many trail rides as we can in the two weeks before my horses move.

I successfully drove the trailer to the barn and with the help of J backed it into place.  It's been a while since I've had to drive the trailer.  J said just go slow then you have time to fix any problems.  After helping catch Booker (who made a break for it after slipping out of his halter while being fly sprayed) we brought the boys down to the trailer.  Cody was acting a little worked up so J thought Booker should go in first, thinking he'd be a champ.  Well he proved us wrong.  He didn't seem scared but he wouldn't get in all the way.  He was testing some limits for sure.  But we finally got him in and hooked up and it was Cody's turn.  Only took a little verbal encouragement and he stepped right in, slow and steady and cautious.  We made it to UMore park (Lone Rock Trail) in one piece with a slightly long parade of cars behind us ;) Cody unloaded as slowly and cautiously as he loaded and Booker rushed out facing forward.  So Cody won the trailering portion of our evening.

So Booker definitely won the trail ride portion of our evening. Cody was in a constant "trot to keep up" gear.  He never really relaxed.  He wasn't horrible, just bouncy.  Near the end of our ride Cody decided he knew the way home and kept trying to turn around (away from the trailer) and was calling like mad.  I don't know if he heard some other horses in a distance or what the deal was but he was quite unhappy.  Booker just walked like a champ and gave Cody a "WTF" look every time he called.  We had a little canter at the end of our ride. Cody started out a little frantic but settled in.  Would have maybe cantered more but the trail was full of gopher holes so it wasn't safe. There was only a few nice stretches of grass that didn't have holes.

Booker got in the trailer at the end of the ride with just one balk and Cody got in like a pro.  We stopped at DQ on the way through town and got everyone unloaded and put away while it was still light one - the one advantage of it staying light so late.  Both horses unloaded really well and J backed the trailer into its parking spot for me. :)  Overall I think the evening was a success.  We have our farrier appointment today and we're going to try for another ride on Friday.  Booker should have fancy new shoes so hopefully he'll be feeling 100%/

So other than our trail ride adventures we've been making it out to the barn once or twice a week for a ride down the road and Cody and Booker have been doing great. Cody is slow as ever but fairly calm in general so I try to not nag him.  I've had Axel out a few times to groom and clean up his feet, his scratches are looking pretty good now.  I've used WD40 3 times on them now, I think that's doing the trick.  It is late in the season but it's still raining and there's a ton of mud so I think I can safely say it's the WD40?

After the boys leave I'll start doing some more work with Booker and hopefully we'll fix any of his little respect problems.  It'll be interesting to see how he does for shoes this afternoon.  We do know his MO now, fly backwards, when he wants to protest something.

We Can Ride Trail Ride

Well after a whirlwind summer we finally made it to the We Can Ride Trail Ride Fund Raiser weekend. I went from having no horse to ride, to having a friend's horse to ride, to having my own horse to ride. J&J offered to bring Cody for me which worked out well in the end since Cinder is getting pretty old and deserves his time off and that meant Tricia only had Dusty to offer to me and/or Anne.

So while I packed as much stuff in my mini as I could, J&J loaded Cody and their two TWHs into the big trailer. Supposedly Cody had no issues loading. Though when he got off the trailer we noticed he had a big scrape on his back right hock. Since he loaded calmly the best we can figure is he just stepped on himself while in the trailer, maybe shifting his weight at a stop or something. Cody was a little sweaty already getting off the trailer but that's pretty normal, he gets nervous and sweats. So he stood tied to the picket line for a while and grazed a bit while we finished getting everything ready and had lunch and all that. He was actually very patient. We tacked up and tried to get everyone organized to go. J&J had already set out on the trail. Cody started off as he usually does, trotting and worried about life. The last time B and I rode this trail he settled down pretty quickly so I was hoping and waiting for that moment. But it didn't come. He pretty much trotted the whole trail. Around the time we got up to the road and started heading back to the trail head is when he started to settle in with bouts of trotting to keep up with Vinnie. We did lead for a few minutes but that didn't seem to make him any happier. He might have been better off in the back but we didn't try that this time. He was a ball of sweat by the time we could see the trail head. I did get one little stretch of canter beside Steph and Boogie (gorgeous saddlebred canter on him). At least when Cody is tired there's nothing scary about his canter since I know he'll stop and not get too wound up.

After the ride I untacked the sweaty boy and dumped the pools of sweat out of his hoof boots. I hosed him off at the well and then tied him up to the trailer. He actually stood at the trailer quiet for a long time. He must have been tired. I ended up loading him to go home. J&J's trailer has a ramp and that did not seem to faze Cody at all, so that was good. In my mind a ramp would be easier, no big step up. Cody balked once but got in pretty decent after that with just J standing behind him and telling him to step up. Since I had to pack up my car, unpack my car, and get to Minneapolis J&J were just going to take Cody home and turn him out for me. I imagine he got in a real nice roll when he got home and caked himself with mud that I'll have to chisle off him.

Trail Ride Prep

I decided if J&J were going to bring Cody to the trail ride for me on Saturday I better put him to work so he's hopefully not a pain in the butt for them. I set up the "bridge" in the arena next to the wall with the two barrels (which I now remember I forgot to put away - doh) on the offside to simulate a close-quarters situation. I made Cody circle and change directions a few times (lazy pony) before walking him over the bridge in both directions. Then I sent him over the bridge with no issues. Well the only issue being laziness. But it was good to see he'd drive over the bridge even when it was loud and wobbly. Hopefully he'll walk into the trailer just as easy.

I worked with him for about an hour including riding. We walked (slowly), trotted (reluctantly), and even cantered on both leads (once and very spastic). We spent a few seconds on the turn on the forehand but he really will only swing his butt to the left. We tried to circle left and that was a fight more often than not, Cody is not left handed apparently. His neck seems a bit thicker on the left side as well so maybe he does need some stretch and massage in that direction like I conveniently ignored from the chiropractor.

When we finished up I cleaned up his bridle path and tried to clean up his whiskers. Cody prefers to try and eat the clippers instead of being scared of them. It makes clipping whiskers very tricky. I'm still questioning the amount of heat on his back from that Tacky Too pad. It just seems like no matter how cool it is out he sweats a good deal under the neoprene or whatever it is. I might have to go looking for some research.

When I put him out Jeff drove up on my motorcycle for a visit so we grabbed Axel and cleaned off his wound. He actually had stayed out of the mud since the night before so it was looking pretty clean, just full of flies. So we cleaned, scrubbed with Chlorhexidine, and borrowed some Swat to put on it and keep the bugs away. So far I think it's healing well, I just hope it doesn't get proud flesh or scar too bad. When it closes up I suppose I'll try the MTG on it but I think that'll be quite a while, it's a big wound.

First Trail Ride this Year!

I ended up making it out to the barn for a few quick minutes between chores on Friday to check on Cody and do a little pre-assessment on how his attitude was going to be for our scheduled Sunday trail ride. He was a mellow fellow so we just did a tiny bit of ground work and that was about it. Axel is lumpy again/still (face).

I hoped for good weather all day Saturday while sitting inside at my computer and 10am Sunday morning rolled around and I was not disappointed. Short sleeve weather but not too hot. I groomed Cody and planned to do some lunging just to try and make sure our ride wasn't going to be a rodeo. But he was still mellow as can be. So we did a tiny amount of ground work just to get everybody's brain where it belonged and then we waited for B and Diva to get ready. I put on Cody's boots so I wouldn't have to deal with that at the trail and we were set to go. Cody hopped right into B's 2 horse slant trailer and we were off.

We opted for a close trip to UMore which was fine with me since I hadn't been there yet. Cody got off the trailer fairly quickly but the step down is a pretty high one so I don't blame him. And he didn't continue to fly backward he just zoomed out and stood there. He was a little sweaty but not as bad as I thought he might be. The first few miles of the ride we did a little jigging and some falling back/trotting to keep up. But he finally settled in and things were going great. He was getting pretty sweaty and the trail was mostly grass so I took off his boots right before we got to the slightly gravelly part. Whoops. He was fine though, hugged the side of the trail a bit more than I would like but it wasn't horrible. Maybe halfway through our ride we met up with a lady on a big black Perch/Standardbred mare so she joined our little group and Cody was pretty happy about all the girls. Other than one other group of horses we didn't see anyone on the trail, seems to be a kind of underused treasure I suppose.

Cody started to get a little tired at about the 3/4 mark and for a while I thought he might try and lay down in the sand but we plugged along. At some point he decided he knew the way home and kept drifting to the south despite the trailer being to the west. I don't think he would have appreciated walking the whole way home so I convinced him to continue on to the trailer. When we could see the trailer parking and our new mare friend had turned off to head home we decided to get down and walk. B's knees were hurting and my hips were crying for a break so we walked the last little bit. So the really nice trail ride with Cody being a real gentleman couldn't end completely perfect. He decided he wasn't going to get in the trailer to go home. We tried all the usual tactics: general encouragement and clucking, tapping on the bum with a whip, tapping his feet so he'd pick them up, lunging/circling away from the trailer. Nothing was working. The difference between this new refusal to get in and his past antics was that he wasn't acting scared to get in. He just plain wasn't putting his feet in. He had his head all the way in and he'd bunch himself up but he wouldn't step up. He was as calm as could be. Part of the issue was that there was a mare at the next trailer winking at him. Perhaps he thought this trailer wasn't big enough or the step up was too big. We finally took Diva out to see if more space would help. But in the end we had to go the butt rope route and he finally got in. I suppose we didn't spend too much more than 30 minutes trying, maybe not even that long, and he got a ton of scratches and praises once he made it in. I guess we have something to work on when my trailer gets done, it'll be interesting to see if it was a size or step issue since my trailer is larger and has a lower step up.

When we returned from the ride Cody waited patiently to be asked to step out of the trailer but he was very hesitant about stepping down. B suggested we put him back in and of course once we started to ask and he balked we had to keep going til we got it. B and J locked arms and pushed him in after the usual tapping and whatnot didn't work. It went faster than before but he did end up tripping and landing on his knees in the trailer and scratching his left leg. Poor Cody, just can't figure out why he will get in really good for a while and then decide he's not going to do it.

After all that we decided it was bathtime. So Cody got his first bath with shampoo since I bought him. I'm not sure if that was a reward or not but I think it would have felt good. We scrubbed down Diva and Cody and then gave them the rest of their spring shots before turning them out. I was surprised to see that Cody didn't find some dirt to roll in after his bath but he is kind of a neat freak that way, he likes to be clean most of the time. Axel got his shots and we stood around and chatted for a while and before we knew it it was almost 6pm.

Fall Trail Ride in November

I finally made it out for a fall trail ride now that November is acting like October. I missed the few nice weekends in October when the barn went riding so I was very happy to make it out to what could be the last nice ride of the year. We actually rushed out of church on Sunday after spending Saturday farming and high tailed it back to the cities. Jeff wanted to bring the brown pickup back so he could get the trailer back to the farm on the next trip so I twisted his arm into letting me use the truck and pull the trailer for the trail ride. Otherwise we were one slot short. So against Jeff's better judgement he hooked up the trailer for me and sent me on my way.

Cody loaded well, just a few little stops, and we still have to kind of poke and push him into moving in the stall enough to shut the gate. Stitch and Diva got in no problems and we were on our way. The haul there went well and everyone unloaded. Cody wasn't even sweaty when we got there. I had put his boots on before we left which worked out well so all I had to do was saddle him up. I put some chlorhexidine on his spine and rubbed that in before saddling. Since the rain rot bacteria is anaerobic I figured it would be very happy to grow under a saddle. Hopefully it didn't with the anti-bacterial on there. I forgot the breast collar of course so I was riding Cody's tail by the end of the ride as usual.

Cody was slow as usual at first, having to trot to catch up. It didn't take long before he was a sweaty mess with the warm temps, full winter coat, and trotting. He did seem less concerned about his feet so that was good. He didn't really want to walk next to Vinnie, he seemed to want to be up with either Danny or Stitch if he wasn't lagging behind. We passed a ton of other horses and Cody behaved pretty well when they passed. Mostly I think he wanted to turn around and follow them back to the trailer. A couple times I thought we'd canter but he'd just speed trot. We did get one tiny canter/gallop in a clear spot when Stitch and Diva were cantering. I'd love to get a nicer calm canter on Cody like Diva's someday.

On the way back Cody was a lot more concerned with staying up with the group. The others had slowed down so it wasn't quite as much work to keep up but we had to trot a bit still. Cody was very happy when we got back to the trailer and everyone stopped. He was pleased to stand there and watch what was going on.

Everyone loaded back in the trailer well. A few less pokes that time to get Cody in his stall. And then we were off down the road. About a block from the intersection in Rosemont we found ourselves on the side of the road with a major blown out truck tire. I had noticed it looked low at the trail but didn't think much of it and there wasn't much we could have done about it at that point. We hadn't even passed a gas station when we had to pull over. We heard a loud crunching noise and I assumed it was the brakes. Then it dawned on me that it was the wheel. So stuck on the side of Hwy 3 with a trailer full of horses and no truck spare (we hadn't gotten that far in our repair/set up of the horse hauling rig). We made some calls and couldn't find anyone with a spare so J&J drove out with their truck to get the horses and trailer. Jeff came out from work to assess the situation and pull the truck off to an empty parking lot.

We zipped back to the barn and unloaded everyone and everything. Cody did his new usual slooooooow unload and was happy to be back in his pasture with Axel who was chasing Vinnie around.

We Can Ride Trail Ride

Despite the gorgeous weather the turn out for the WCR trail ride was dismal. But those of us that did make it made the best of it. Steph and I and Jeff went to the barn early to pack up the trailer and get the horses ready to go. A was going to meet us and follow us over. I successfully backed the truck up to the trailer and then pulled the trailer out of it's parking spot so we could load. Axel got in first as usual with no issues. Cody got in with only a minor amount of reassuring and *NO* backing out. We then had to help Vinnie load in A's trailer so the boys stood in the trailer waiting and they were exceptionally patient. I was just surprised Cody got in so willingly and that Axel didn't put up a fuss while standing there waiting.

When everyone was loaded up and ready to go we pulled out and hit the road, me driving! Only one issue that could have been a big deal, stopped at a light I probably should have just ran, on the way. We missed a turn and got a little lost but it only took a trip around the block to get corrected. And parking at the park was pretty easy since we were fairly early. It was warm out so the boys were pretty sweaty when they unloaded, then they stood in the sun eating hay while we situated the trail ride. So by the time everything was set I had two sweaty messes. We tried to put them in the shade and cool them off before they got their massages but they were still pretty nasty and the poor massage gal had some really dirty hands after my boys. Cody was kind of fussy between wanting to keep an eye on everything around him and the flies I'm not sure he took time to enjoy his massage. Axel had some issues with the flies as well and he had the hiccups. Seriously, hiccups. So weird. But since he's an itchy horse this year he did show us which spots he was happy to have massaged by curling his lip and making everyone laugh.

When it was evident no one else was going to show up, A, Steph, another gal, and I set out to the wooded portion of the trail to avoid the heat. It was pretty rocky and just about all of the horses in our group were unhappy about that. Even Cody with his boots on wanted to wander into the woods instead of staying on the trail. We made a stop in the lake for a sip of water. Cody stayed on shore, it was so muddy I was afraid he'd loose a boot. Axel tried to go for a swim and ended up covered in mud. We decided to stop back at the picnic area and take a break before heading out on one more loop of the trail. The horses appreciated the break and a sip of water and more fly spray while we packed up some of our stuff so we were ready at the end of the day.

A ended up bringing in the second most money so she picked out the western saddle and Steph as usual brought in the most money and was taking home the english saddle. When everyone was set to go we went out on the dog/horse trail that goes around one of the lakes. We had been on that trail the first time we visited Murphy. So now there's just one loop or so that we haven't seen. By the end of the day the horses were tired as well as the people. My hips were killing me, my stirrups were too long but since we were taking it easy I didn't bother fixing them. I think it's what made my hips hurt though. So up a couple holes on that saddle next time.

After we untacked and everyone had their share of water we dumped a few buckets on them to wash off some of the sweat and mud. Everyone loaded like an expert and they were starting to figure out how they need to squish a little for us to close the dividers in the trailer. It was a fairly uneventful drive home in the trailer and everyone survived. Cody unloaded so carefully and quietly he got extra praise as I was so impressed. Sadly I think it's because he's afraid now, but a quiet unloading horse is a quiet unloading horse.

Training Ride

We're just going to call this one a "training" ride. I zipped on over to the barn where B and A were waiting to go on a trail ride. I decided it was Axel's turn and he hopped into the last spot in the slant load trailer. Last spot = not as far to back out + we've been working on backing off the bridge and out the barn door = easy unloading. WRONG. He refused to get out. The problem appears to be that with the corner tack room in a slant load, he can't see where he's going. He turns his head to the left and presses his body up against the opposite wall. He can't turn around and in that position if he started to back up he'd hit that opposite wall. He won't turn his head straight and move his butt to the left and back out. After a lot of swearing and pushing and pulling and tapping and hitting and just about everything we could think of, he finally pretty much fell out of the trailer. We had unbalanced him enough by pulling on his tail a bit that he stepped back and sideways and we kept him moving with the momentum and he was finally out. New lesson: backing up with blinders on.

So after we got him out of the trailer we went on our happy way. Nothing like having to hitch a ride in the first place only to have your horse do something as stupid as not wanting to get out of the trailer. When we got to the little pond/lake thing B decided Diva should go in the water. She hates water and we were ready for a bit of a battle. Axel and Danny jumped right in, and out, and in, and out ad nauseum. Diva did not want to get in. After a lot of fighting (similar to the trailer unloading event) she finally got some feet in the water. She was still not terribly happy about the situation but she stood there, walked around a bit, and didn't completely loose her mind. So we called it a success and headed back to the trailers. All in all it was a short ride but after two big battles we were spent.

Instead of the fight we put Danny in the slant load with Diva and Axel spent the ride home in the stock trailer by himself crying the whole way. Since I'm a glutton for punishment I chose to back him out of the stock trailer. Which he did. Perfectly. So I think that just reinforces the reason he won't get out of the slant is because he can't see.

First Trail Ride of the Season

I'm pretty sure Cody knew something was up after I groomed him and let him stand in the crossties with Amigo in a stall while the barn owner and I loaded saddles into the trailer. Luckily he loaded after about three attempts of "front feet in, fly backwards." He didn't know what to do with his head to make himself fit in the slant load though, so there was a lot of pushing to get the divider shut. Amigo jumped right in and Diva likewise and we were off to Lebanon Hills. Another notch in my belt for Minnesota Horse Trails.

Cody got out of the trailer a sweaty mess, partly because it was pretty warm and partly because he was a nervous basket case. He aimed himself towards "home" despite being 10 miles away and was actually fairly reluctant to follow the other horses down the trail at first. But I'll admit this is our first away from home trail ride that he walked, willingly, most of the time. The only time he trotted was when he'd fall behind and want to catch up. He wouldn't even canter more than a few strides when we all decided to have a go. He stuck next to Danny who was gaiting, and he trotted his heart out to keep up. We didn't go in the water since I wasn't sure how it would work with his hoof boots on so we just watched Danny wade and Diva do her best *not* to get wet. By the end we did almost all of the 9+ miles available and probably more since I there was a little backtracking on some of the trails. Cody was getting pretty tired by the end and my hips were killing me, though I think we were only out for maybe 2-3 hours. Cody jumped right in the trailer to go home, this time we put him in second and he fit a bit better. He got hosed off a bit when we got home and then found himself a couple nice spots to roll in the pasture. Hopefully we didn't undo any of the chiropractic work from Friday and hopefully I'll be able to catch him next time I ride (going to try and alternate days for each horse now instead of riding both every day).



Unfortunately I didn't think to take any photos of my awesome summer riding pants, pink plaid, and you can't really see them in this photo that one of the other boarders took. Oh well, next time. You can see Cody's cute boots and the fact I'm riding on a long rein, I did my best to just stay out of his way and let him be happy.

Jeff and I Ride

Finally got Jeff to come out and ride with me. He might be regretting it now, after hiking for a week he thought riding would be a piece of cake. He forgot the whole connection between how the horse moves and how the rider moves just like they are walking. We groomed and tacked in the cross ties and then set out on the road after some fighting to get the horses to stop grazing every few steps. Once they were told that wasn't the game plan they seemed to manage the rest of the ride without diving for grass.

Cody was the slow poke again on this ride and Axel was just booking it ahead. Of course he'd get too far ahead and start calling back to Cody. By the time we got to the side road Cody caught up mostly. Axel/Jeff took off a few times without warning and Cody lept into the trot to keep up. We had to go over how to pull Axel up out of a buck since he couldn't seem to canter properly. He finally settled down on the way back home. He was still very interested in the two calves and when they took a few steps out of the trees both Cody and Axel jumped. Cody actually spooked at several things on this trip, a log and a plant for example. Of course on the way back Cody got his second wind but maintained a walk the whole way. We managed to walk past the driveway and turn around without a fight before heading back to the barn. Axel had a harder time going past the driveway but he was leading at that point.

Axel always confounds me, he goes from perfect for a 10 year old kid to a real pain in the butt for Jeff in a matter of days. I told Jeff he should come ride more in the arena and get more comfortable on Axel, he looks a little off kilter when he rides and he won't admit it but Axel takes advantage of him every chance he gets. Maybe Jeff and I will take those western riding lessons I keep talking about.

Holy Wind, Batman

I didn't realize quite how windy it was until I got on the horse. Groomed Cody outside, tacked him up, added a second thin saddle blanket to his outfit, threw on his hoof boots, and we headed down the driveway. Cody was very indecisive and really wanted to be back at the barn but we plugged along. We made it down the one side of the road in the ditch and crossed over to the other side to go a little further. In addition to the wavering he also spent a lot of time trying to back up. Which just proves that he can back up a lot easier then the lets me think when I ask for it. Luckily he's pretty reluctant to really spazz out so a swift kick to the sides snaps him out of his reverse gear. I'm hoping that he figures out how much nicer it is to just go forward when I want than to fight the whole way. When he was moving forward decently we turned around and went back.

The first few yards he brought out his 2 beat walk, tried a little trot, and then settled in. He sped up again when a car whizzed by us, it was so windy you couldn't hear the cars til they were right up your rear end. About 2 blocks from the barn Cody settled in and walked at a pace slightly faster than on the way out. We went past the driveway, turned around, and then went back to the barn.

I just groomed Axel a bit, still trying to get off some of the red winter hair but it's not all gone yet. He was nice and shiny until I started brushing and that just brought all the dust to the top. Whoops. I managed to get Axel to do some leg stretches which I plan to try and do every time I'm out there. I lunged him a little in the pasture just to get him to move a bit before turning him out and heading home.

Lots of Riding

Cody went first tonight. I groomed outside and I'm glad I did, the hair was flying. Luckily both horses are starting to get a bit shiny so maybe there is a light at the end of the tunnel. Cody and I started with some of the bending exercises from the previous day. It only took a few spins before he remembered what I wanted. We did a few circles as well and then I tacked up to ride. I was going to try some circling techniques from the Stacy Westfall demo. The point was to keep a bend using the inside rein, keep traveling in the circle, and then work on widening the circle with the outside rein. He's supposed to gain some balance in his movements and then we're supposed to work into a figure 8 where half the 8 is counter bent. We didn't make it to the figure 8 but he did pretty well with trotting in the circle. I worked on some of the bending from in the saddle as well and that took a few more spins than on the ground. I asked for some canter as well. He took several tries to get into the right lead canter and picked up the wrong lead a few times until I counter bent him in a corner. The left lead canter he picked up on the first try but wasn't terribly excited to maintain it for any length of time. We had a few good downward transitions from trot to halt or walk. We even had some fairly decent halts. I need to add more backing up to our halts but I did make sure I never asked him to move forward out of the halt, we only changed directions. He's definitely started to figure out that when I'm going to dismount I want him facing away from the gate in the opposite end of the arena and that I do not want him to try and turn around to look at the gate. The nice thing about Cody is that with consistent work a person can really see his improvements.

Axel only had some minor screaming bouts while we were in the arena. When I took Axel out of the pasture and groomed him at the rail, Cody ran around a bit and made fuss. I took Axel in the arena and we did some lunging before working on the bow. The bow work didn't go quite as well as yesterday but I think it's a slow process. I was huffing and puffing by the end of our session. I picked up his foot and lowered his head over and over again. Every once in a while I'd tempt him with a treat. One instance he bit my finger which still hurts, my own fault but dang. That will just help me not use treats very often for this trick. One time he touched his knee to the ground and I patted him and praised him. Another time he had his head all the way upside down nearly touching the ground so he got praise for that one as well. Of course I tried to video tape both the bow work and riding Cody but my aiming skills are less than stellar so it's back to the drawing board on that one. I'll see what I can piece together and add them later.

The lady that owns Danny came in right as we were finishing so I asked if she wanted to ride down the road. I tacked up and she and I went down the road and then up the next block. She thought the total trip was about 4 miles. The brown western saddle is a lot harder than my butt tends to like. Axel did pretty good and kept up with Danny and I don't think Danny was being held back at all. He didn't even try to kick him until the end of the ride but he was also stomping his foot spontaneously which we later found out was due to a stone stuck in his frog. Cody was having a minor fit when we left and one when we returned but I suppose he just kept up with the fit while we were gone we just couldn't hear him. I think he's at least changed his fits from pacing and screaming to just standing and screaming so he wasn't sweaty at all when we got back.

I will probably run out tomorrow again for a few minutes and just do some groundwork to give each horse a chance to get out of the pasture away from the other horse. I still hope that they will eventually figure out that it isn't the end of the world when one of them leaves.

I am raising saddle broncs

Sorry another post without photos. It's really hard to take pictures this time of year when it's dark almost immediately. Also I'm spamming my own blog in my attempts to catch up on missed posts. Oh well.

Last night I met Steph at the barn as usual. Patti and Scott had just finished up feeding so when I went to get Axel he was more concerned with the hay feeders and did not want to be caught. Cody was standing still so unfortunately for him I brought him into the barn. I haven't ridden Cody in a while and Axel was kind of a jerk on Sunday so I thought maybe I was going to get off easy with Cody. Steph had given Kalani some bute at breakfast and was trying my AP saddle on him to see if that made any difference in his sudden girthiness. The trip down to the bridge was uneventful. Kalani does no better in an AP saddle when it comes to keeping the saddle on while mounting, he's just too darn round. Cody stood well and actually lead the ride down to the bridge. We made it up the hill and around the meadow and into the woods easily. Then it all went wrong. Kalani got a little fast going down the little dip in the woods, Cody spazzed, jumped straight in the air and bucked the whole way down and up the hill. Tiny little jackhammer speed bucks. He's never bucked for me before. Apparently I'm on a roll with horses and bucking these days. On the way back through that section I let Cody lead thinking at least he wouldn't have motivation to run to catch up. He walked down really well and then sped up and cantered up the hill followed by bucking around the next two turns. At least he didn't run me into a tree. When he gets going like that, he is not going to stop no matter what is on his face or in his mouth. So I don't think having the rope hack made him more misbehaved but we might still go back to a bit anyway. He pranced his way out of the woods back into the meadow. There, as usual, we did some circles and he was an angel again.

Not wanting to tempt fate and get a nice bronc ride down the big hill on the way home, we walked into the woods again (much to Cody's dismay). When he halted calmly I dismounted and led him the rest of the way home. As soon as I was leading and not riding he was calm and didn't care if Kalani got too far ahead of him. It was a good workout for me to walk up the last hill on the way home. And good practice for Cody to walk up that hill slowly. But I think we're going to be working on ground driving this winter so he can get used to not seeing me (ie on his back or behind him). I'm hoping that will transfer better to the saddle than plain ground work did.

Winter trail ride

Sunday I picked up Steph on the way to the barn. Laurie was coming out to ride Kalani to help her decide if she was going to buy him or not. We went out a little early and I thought we'd get some photos of the horses running around in the pasture but I guess the side pasture isn't as exciting yet. I opened the gate and they all just walked out and looked for grass. Not exactly the usual crazy running around excitement. I guess I have to wait until the dead of winter when they've been cooped up in the paddock for too long.

So when Laurie arrived we groomed and tacked up Kiko, Kalani, and Axel and went out on the trail.

We don't often use the trail in the winter due to the hills and thinking it'll be too slippery but it had only just snowed so it seemed like it would probably be okay. Kalani had some issues at first, once he figured Laurie out and stopped putting his tongue over the bit then he settled right into the ride. Axel was just okay. We kept it at a walk and everyone was happy. Axel brought up the rear as usual, Kalani gets annoyed when Axel is in front and he has to walk too slow. We took the last loop and Axel stopped to relieve himself leaving the other two horses to get further in front of us. That led Axel to trot to catch up. Unfortunately that meant trotting towards the big hill on the way home. I got him into a walk right before the hill but he was pretty wound up. Very occasionally he gets worked up about the group of horses leaving him and this was apparently one of those occasions.

He could see the horses, they were only 30 feet in front of us on the way down the hill. He proceeded to start trotting down the hill, not something I tend to enjoy doing so I tried to slow him down. That just lead to bucking. Bucking down the hill on the upside of the trail in the trees. So I close my eyes as to not loose one of them on a branch, and try my darnedest to get Axel to stop. I can't really use a pulley rein, his balance isn't so great and going down hill all I could see in my head was us tumbling head over heals. I couldn't push him through the bucking as I would normally do because we were headed down hill. So instead I yelled "here we come, I'm sorry, watch out!" Luckily we caught up to the other two quickly and stopped the shenanigans.

So overall it was quite the adventure and I'm pretty sure I pulled a muscle in my butt in the process. Laurie isn't sure about Kalani yet and she has another horse to look at that is a mare in foal and her husband wants a baby. So Kalani might still be in the market for a new home.

Mud Everywhere!

Where to even start? As usual we did our best to meet at the barn and get everything loaded up on time if not early and I think we actually succeeded this time. However it was raining and so we probably stood around a bit longer hoping it would stop. When it didn't really, we hooked up the trailer and loaded horses and were on the road about 10 minutes after we planned to actually be at the park. For this trip we went with Cody and Axel in the front and Kiko and Kalani in the back. Cody got in with a little help from the tapping stick, no big deal. Axel is always a champ and jumps right in. Kiko and Kalani had a bit of trouble but nothing major. I just managed to get stepped on by Kalani as he decided to exit prematurely. Ended up with a bruise on my thigh that you can't actually see.

At some point the rain let up, the horses were tied to the trailer at the park happily munching away at some hay. We were all getting our paperwork turned in and having some lunch when it started raining for real. And it rained and rained and didn't show any signs of letting up. Though once we finally gave in and went to tack horses it did let up for a while. We managed to make most of the ride either under the trees out of the rain or with just minor sprinkling. We didn't, however, miss out on any of the mud. At one point we came to a spot in the trail that was mud all the way across. A really wide part of the trail too. Anne and Cinder tried to make a new trail through the trees but ended up in some low area and Cinder went up to his chest in mud, Anne bailed and they both decided that was not the place to cross. We finally managed to get everyone across the mud on the opposite side. The trip back Kiko decided to jump over the mud which was an interesting feat to say the least.

Overall the ride went well. Cody managed to walk most of the trail with only a few minor bouts of needing to trot in place, and it was the first time Andrea rode him in the rope hack and the first time he was ridden in the rope hack with all sorts of unknown horses around. Axel found his soul mate when it comes to trail rides, Alissa's horse Pacman is just Axel's speed. Darrel might have been pushing Axel a bit to walk up but I think if he was given a choice Axel would have hung back with Pacman all day. Kiko was her normal sane self and didn't even bat an eye when other mares joined our group. Kalani had a few issues just with the new horses and not knowing them and wanting to check everyone out. Other than that everyone survived (and there was not spastic cantering for me yipee). It would have been nice if the weather was better and perhaps more people would have made it out but we did raise over our targeted amount for We Can Ride so that was great! And we found a nice new leg of the trail. We usually head East on that trail so this time we opted for West. From that particular parking lot to the end of the trail to the West is about 3.5 miles. So it was a nice short little round trip (7 miles total). The East leg of the trail from the main parking/camping area to the highway is about 6.5 miles so that's a lot longer and, as we found out, a lot sandier. The West leg is wide grassy trail which is a nice change of pace. Had it not been raining there would have been a lot of nice spots for trotting or cantering.

So when all was said and done we packed all our stuff back up and decided to put Cody and Kalani in the front this time. We thought Kalani was just too long for the back of the trailer. Turns out Axel is also too long for the back of the trailer but he did fine and it was a short trip. Another discovery was that Cody is quite calm when asked to back out of the trailer "lead rope over his back" style. In fact he backed halfway through the trailer by himself and then stopped and looked around for a person to guide him the rest of the way out. Axel still insists on turning around to get out. That one might take a while to get figured out.

Finally a trail ride/Ouch

We finally made it down to the MN Valley trail near the barn. Nathan had fixed the trailer brakes so Tricia was able to use the trailer and bring Oly and Cinder (Dusty/Dirt had thrown a shoe). So she and Lexi came down and picked up Axel and the three of us went to the trail. Lexi and I hung out with the horses while Tricia took the trailer back to get Kalani and Cody. 4 horse trailer and 5 horses doesn't work out quite so good so we made 2 trips. Luckily the trail is only 5 miles from the barn.

From the sounds of it Cody loaded really well. It looked like he unloaded just about as good. Just a minor increase in speed right at the end of the trailer but nothing major. He started out on the trail pretty calm. Got worked up a little ways in but as soon as he was in front of the pack he was once again calm as could be.

Axel was moving out a little more than normal, still slow but he did his best. It wasn't until we started cantering where I ran into trouble. The first short canter Axel plunged his head down between his front legs. I was able to pull him up and push him forward but it wasn't the best ride ever. Later on in the ride everyone decided to do another canter, this time they just kept going a lot further than I was prepared to sit. Axel continued to canter with his head between his front legs and no amount of me yanking on one rein would get his head up and I wasn't in the best position to force him forward more. I did my best but it was not pretty and I am pretty sure he was disjointed on top of it all. The third time I said "no thanks" no cantering for us. So somehow in everyone else's mind cantering away from Axel and I was a good plan. Axel proceeded to have a fit. I tried to get him to just walk or trot behind them but that turned into our spastic head between the legs canter again. This time I could not pull him up at all. The reins on my dressage bridle are so short I only had one had on the reins and I was fighting with all my might to either pull him up or push him forward but I was not winning the battle. When Axel finally gave in I got off to wait. He proceeded to call to them and run around me in a circle freaking out. To say the least it was not fun.

The return trip Axel would even throw his head down in a small trot. Punishment for that was circling. I think I only had to circle two times before he stopped with the head deal. Then he decided that Oly and Cinder and even Kalani were evil beings and if they got within 10 feet or so behind him he'd try and kick at them. Cinder actually got Axel moving out quite a bit for most of the ride. When that finally wore off he was still pretty fiesty. We had some interesting "collected" trots and even popped over a log.

We'll just say I've had better rides. There are not many parts of my body that don't hurt today. We decided to load our three horses first this time so Cinder and Oly didn't have to load and unload. So Cody went first, he needed a minor amount of convincing but got in pretty effortlessly. Axel jumped right in as usual. And Kalani just needed a little coaxing as well. The unloading was a bit different. In all reality it didn't go that poorly it just sounded like it. When we pulled up Cody turned on the volume and the welcoming committee and he traded cries as loud as possible. When he finally shut up Axel decided he had enough of the trailer and started shifting his weight back and forth squishing Cody in the process. Andrea was able to back Cody partway until Axel squished her against the wall and stepped on her foot. Cody flung his head up in the air and hit it on the trailer roof. Believe it or not, he then proceeded to back calmly the rest of the way out of the trailer. Axel can't figure out the backing deal so he walked out forwards but calmly and in control.

I just hope Axel is a little better behaved for Steph's dad on the WCR Trail Ride Fund Raiser. He should be fine, Steph's dad usually just walks and he's a horseman so he should be able to put the fear of god in the horse if he misbehaves. We're still not sure what other horses we'll have. With Kalani and Kiko for sale and Andrea maybe riding Cody, who knows. She can maybe ride Papillon if needbe. Time will tell. I ordered mecate reins partly for the trail ride as I don't have any long western reins any more and eventually I'd like to try Cody in a bosal. I might start with just the rope halter and mecate reins and see how that goes before I buy a bosal.

Murphy Hanrehan

Wednesday we decided to venture out of our little comfort zone and head over to try Murphy Hanrehan for some trail riding. I was lucky enough to have Tricia and Steph fetch all the horses and gear and I just met them at the park as it was on my way. Tricia brough Oly and Lexi had her new horse (Dirt, Dusty, whatever). I rode Kiko and Steph was on Kalani. It's a pretty nice area, the camp ground part is really nice. The part of the trail we took was a bit rocky (bring boots if Cody ever goes) and some of the horses were having issues. Kiko had shoes on so we had no problems at all. It was nice to finally have a calm relaxing ride. Kiko was an angel while every one else came up with issue after issue (mostly the rocks).

After I got used to the fact that Kiko moves out a lot more than any of my horses things were fine. I even had her in the back of the pack which we'll blame on my "slow butt." The only potentially scary thing that happened was on a nice flat strech we decided to canter. Kiko took two strides of canter and then bolted into a gallop which I was not ready for. She then dove into the weeds for no apparent reason, made it back on the trail, and came back down to a trot when asked. Not sure what that was about but it was Kiko's first gallop under saddle.