Day After Christmas

Axel's head is starting to look better. Atleast it's scabbed over now. Hopefully he'll be all healed up in the next week or so. He looks so sad with his big scabby forehead. I took his little pony tail out, so he was a little curly for a while. I ended up grooming both Axel and Cody while I was at the barn. They are both getting pretty good at picking up their feet. Next I'll work on getting them to pick up all 4 feet with me standing on one side, instead of walking to the other side to do those feet. Then Axel and I went on a quick ride once around the pasture so I could try out my new saddle on him. After that I put Beau in the barn so he could eat some hay in peace. While I was waiting for him to finish his snack I went and gave everyone some treats and did some carrot stretches with them. All the horses were really good at it, all of them kept their feet where they belong and both Cody and Kalani's neck cracked. They looked pretty pleased with themselves after that.

I stood around and watched them hang out for a while, Kalani looked pretty bored. He was standing in the manure pile afterall. So I put a halter on him and we practiced leading and stopping and tying. He did really well. Hopefully we'll get some more practice in with him and the rest of the horses.

Merry Christmas

I went out to deliver some christmas presents on christmas eve morning. I made it right in time for breakfast so I helped with that a little bit. After their feed they all went to the hay feeders for some hay. Tom put some hay out in the other pasture so that they'd have something different to do. No one really realized that there was hay out there so eventually I lead Axel over (since he seems to always get chased away). It was only a few seconds before Corey realized that Axel had a big pasture of hay to himself and came running over.

Cody and Kalani couldn't quite figure out how to get into the next pasture and ran up and down the fence line as fast as they could. Cody finally figured it out and came running into the other pasture. Followed, slowly, by Rusty. Then Kalani finally figured it out himself and zipped past Rusty. And lucky Beau, got to have the other three hay feeders to himself while everyone else was running around.

Chilly Sunday

Didn't do any riding today. But I did try the saddle on the boys to see how it fit. I think it'll fit ok except for the fact that it looks like a pea on a pumpkin. Little saddles on big horses is kind of silly looking. It doesn't look quite as small on Cody. I think maybe in the summer when everyone is a little more sleak looking it'll look a lot better.

Two reasons Axel got himself hurt, one he insists on standing under the trees. Nearly every time I go out there he's standing under the tree. I dunno if he's hiding or what. It's kind of cute though. The other reason, Corey still chases him around. How a 14hh Arab can bully a 16hh QH is beyond me. I wasn't fast enough to get a good photo of them running in the snow, I was more concerned with not getting run into. Hehe.

I put a little topknot in Axel's forelock to keep the hair out of his wound. It didn't look much different today, the cold weather is keeping it from bleeding. Hopefully it'll heal alright. He doesn't seem to mind, he was even trying to scratch his head on some pine needles while I was there.

Leave it to the Horses

So I went out to visit the boys today. The plan was to try out the new saddle on Axel. I first went out to grab Cody and get him groomed up quick. As I was walking him up to the paddock Axel came over to say hi, and that's when I noticed he had red gobs in his forelock. I thought, hmm I don't think there's any bushes with berries on it around here that he could have gotten into. I looked closer and noticed he had a huge hole in his head. So I let Cody go and ran up to the house to get a bucket of warm water from Tom. He came out with me to check it out. The only thing we can figure is that he drove a big stick or branch into his head. And it had to have happened between breakfast and when I got there, so in the span of maybe 4 hours or so. We couldn't find any blood around any of the trees so who knows what he got himself into.

He was walking fine, wasn't shaking his head at all. He had a little tenderness around the wound. And he was still eating. We called the vet to see what he thought, he directed us to just keep it clean and put some ointment on it once a day. Didn't sound like there was anything the vet could do as it was a puncture and you can't really suture those. He said it'd heal better if we left it open to the air. I'll be back out there tomorrow and I can check on him. I think he'll be fine though, guess he's got a thick skull.

I wonder if it'll be ok to ride him tomorrow though, a friend and I had plans to maybe go riding a bit in the snow. She's an experienced horse woman so I'll see what she thinks.

So... after all that excitement, I brushed him a bit and cleaned the 3 inches of of ice out of Axel's hooves. That's gotta make things a bit easier for him. I tried the new saddle on Axel to see how it fit. I think it's going to be ok but the girth I have wasn't nearly long enough. And as much as I asked, Axel just wouldn't suck in his belly. ;) I did pick up a girth extension on my way home that should work out.

I retrieved Cody and groomed him a bit and cleaned out his hooves. He wasn't nearly as bad as he got trimmed recently. I put the new saddle on Cody to try it out. Atleast the girth fits him! Seems like it fit well but Cody was not pleased. I tried to ride around the pasture a bit thinking as long as all the other horses were around, maybe Cody would be willing to go, but that was foolish thinking on my part. Any little turn in a direction where he couldn't see the other horses really upset him. Goofy horse.

The saddle feels kind of weird compared to riding in my lessons. Just must be how differently shaped my horses are or something.

Some Video Clips

Here's a couple video clips I took off the DVD we made when the horses first moved. I had to reduce these down quite a bit to get them to fit on the server. I might try taking some videos with my digital camera from time to time and see if that works out any better.

Axel's little trot
Running around

A New Saddle

Watch out boys, I've gotten a new saddle. I went to the WCR saddle sale last night, partly to help out where needed, and partly to see if they had anything I liked. I had been tempted to go and buy a wintec english saddle because they're cheap, but in all reality I don't really care for them, they are synthetic. I am glad I waited. For about the same price (probably cheaper) I got a nice used leather saddle. So now I just hope the girth I have fits Axel. I know it should fit Cody but Cody doesn't seem like he would like to go riding alone with me. So this weekend I'll go see if Axel wants to go for a quick little ride and try out the english saddle. I'll probably use the western saddles still for trail rides and longer rides. But the english will be nice to have for practicing some things from my lessons and maybe see if Axel would be willing to do some dressage or jumping in the future.

From the looks of it, we'll be riding through some snow drifts this weekend. I better dig out my snow pants.

Saturday Breakfast

Peace and Love

We love you, Jacque.

A Little Humor

Just a funny little comic.

Christmas Stockings

I finished the horse's christmas stockings. I hung them on their saddles since they don't have stalls.

Snow!

Went out to the ranch today to visit with the boys. I thought maybe there'd be some horsin' around in the snow but everyone was pretty mellow, standing in the sun and napping. Cody and Corey were even eating together! Cody is really fitting into the herd. I think he might even be trying to inch himself higher in the rankings. Meanwhile, Axel seems to be a bit on the depressed side. He doesn't seem to hang out with the group as much.

When I got there today Axel was hiding behind a tree. I ended up grooming him right there, since he seemed prety comfortable. I groomed Cody in the pasture as well. When I brought out the Axel's bridle to go for a ride, Axel wised up and moved to the opposite side of the tree. I guess he didn't want to go for a ride. He actually went up to see if he could get some protection from Kalani. He did give in and we went for a quick ride around the pasture. Bareback is the only way to go when it's cold out, that's for sure.

After I had helped Jacque with her computer for a while I noticed Cody was actually laying down in the pasture, along with Rusty, and the rest of the horses standing by. I haven't seen either of the boys lay down yet, so that was pretty exciting. I ran out and took some photos. So Cody is definitely feeling at home. Oh, and Cody's leg is doing fine. He was being chased around a bit while I was there, and he wasn't limping at all. Jacque said after two days he seemed to be back in good shape.

Holiday Preview

Happy Thanksgiving! I don't think the boys will be having any turkey today, though Jeff might sneak them a chicken nugget when I am not looking. It's pretty darn windy out there, so hopefully they are keeping warm in the barn or under the overhang. In the meant time here's a couple more photos.

Cody's Doing Well

Got an update on Cody this morning. He's doing pretty good. Much
less limping going on now. So definitely in a few days he'll be back
to his old self. As a side note, Jacque said she saw Axel, Cody, and
Corey all eating at the hay feeder together. So that is quite the
news. I forgot to mention that when we got the ranch on Sunday, Corey
had a huge bite on his flank. It was almost like he got scalped. And
there were chunks of hair in the paddock. We're not sure who got him,
but maybe that's the cause of the new eating arrangement that was
witnessed this morning.

Cody's Injury

Heard from Jacque this morning. They tried to put Cody in the barn last night with Beau to keep him from running around and hurting himself more, and to keep him off the slippery mud. But instead he just chased Beau around, so they let him back out. He really doesn't like to be separated from the majority of the herd. Even if it means a nice warm barn to sleep in. Goofy horse. He was still limping this morning so he got some more bute but they didn't find any heat in his leg anywhere. I imagine in another day or two he should be back to his old self. He'll probably get more bute tomorrow morning just to make sure he gets the full benefit of it. I guess he showed me, "take me away from my friends and I'll show you by hurting myself!" Of course that just makes me thing he and I need to spend more time away from the herd. ;)

Sunday Photoshoot

Well so much for the weather report of Sunday being the nicer of the two days. Atleast Saturday it was sunny for a few minutes while I was out. It was just dreary and cold. We cleaned off more mud the best we could but besides mud, there's sand and dust and it seems like the more you brush the dirtier they look. We took a few photos, poor boys were probably humiliated, put santa hats on them and everything. But they were cute. Hopefully we'll get a couple good ones out of it.

After we were done playing dress up, I got up on Axel, as graceful as ever, so we could get a few silly photos. Then we saddled up and went out for a little trail ride. Jeff rode Axel and I rode Cody. It's been quite a while since I had someone to go with so I haven't ridden Cody in a long time. He wasn't really thrilled about leaving his herd. And Kakei spent the whole time back at the barn, screaming and snorting because we left. We did the usual loop up the back hill. Cody was a little more than excited. He wouldn't walk up or down any of the hills. It was run run run! He had been limping a little bit so I planned to *make* him walk up the last hill but Jeff went ahead of us and trotted Axel up the hill so Cody wanted to follow. I did my best to hold him back but instead of walking he just bounced. Straight up and down the whole way up the hill. It was mighty difficult to sit that trot to say the least.

By the time we made it to the top of the hill and started walking, Cody was lame. I got off and walked him back to the barn and he was really favoring his left front. Jacque came out and took a look but we couldn't find any thing obviously wrong. Not blood or bumps or broken bones. We're guessing he either stepped on something, pulled a muscle, or twisted something. So he got some bute to help out a bit. In any case, his sore leg didn't stop him from finding his way to the hay that Jeff brought out as a treat.

The Joys of Pasture Board

Mud, mud, and more mud. I went out to visit the boys for a bit. Everyone was hanging out in the paddock, covered in mud. Actually, Cody was pretty clean, he must not have rolled like the others. So after I chiseled all the mud off of Axel, and brushed Cody, I rode around in the front pasture for a while. Getting on Axel with no saddle is quite the feat, atleast for me. I climbed up on the fence and realized he just wasn't close enough to me. I couldn't get him any closer so I just went for it. Of course he stepped away just as I launched off the fence. I managed to stay on luckily. Axel was a little distracted with the other horses playing in the pasture right next to us. We walked around for a little while and also stood and watched Kalani and Rusty play. After that it was corn cobs all around.

I'll dig up a photo or two when I get a chance.

Rainy Saturday

It was sort of nice out when I left the house this morning but by the time I got to the ranch it was raining. It wasn't raining too bad so I went and brought Cody up to groom. Corey and the girls followed us up but they got bored and left. That left just me and Cody and I think Cody thinks I'm invisible. He was very unhappy with being up there all alone. I couldn't get him to stand still tied so I decided maybe we could work in the round pen. My thought was that he could run around a bit and calm himself down then we could groom and all that fun stuff. Well he did run around but that was it. Around and around and around looking for his herd. Guess we've got a bit more work to do on that front.

So after I let Cody gallop down to his friends I went and got Axel. Atleast he knows I'm there. Hehe. I groomed him real quick and grabbed his bridle. We went into the round pen and after I got him to stand still for more than a second, I climbed up on a barrel and got on bareback. We probably just rode around for 10 minutes or so in the round pen. But I've never really ridden bareback so that was good enough for one day. It's pretty different being able to feel all the horse's movements. And let me tell ya, Axel may have a cubby butt but his spine is not!

Here's hoping for no rain tomorrow.

A Visit From the Vet

The boys had a visit from the vet today for their fall shots. Since we had given them a 6-way before they moved all they needed was a rabies shot. Heck, I didn't even know they gave horses rabies shots. Jacque said they did very well. I guess Cody crinkled up his neck though, he must not have really wanted to get a shot, go figure. Everyone was tied up at their buckets and I guess Axel untied himself and wandered around checking things out, helping where needed, I'm sure. The vet said they looked good, he didn't get a chance to peek at their teeth though, maybe next time.

Parents Meet the Grandchildren

So my parents made it out to meet the boys today. We got to witness the thundering hooves when all 8 horses ran up the hill to see what all the whistling was about. We just hung around with the horses slobbering all over us. Then we took a walk across the creek and up the hill to check out the view. It woulda been a great day for riding but I guess I'm not convincing enough because Mom and Dad didn't seem like they wanted to ride ;)

Happy Birthday!

This afternoon Cody and Axel got to participate in a 6 year old girl's birthday party. Jacque's neighbor girls like to come visit all the horses and bring them grass clippings and treats and things. At one time the one little girl was taking some riding lessons from Jacque. So her big treat for her birthday is to come out and ride the horses. 4 little girls, 2 little boys, 2 moms and a dad all came out for the party. Cody got to wear a very tiny little western saddle. I think he might have been a little embarassed though.

First everyone got on a horse and lined up for a photo. The birthday girl sat on Axel bareback. They told me that he is just like Black Beauty and the Black Stallion. :) The other party goers sat on Cody, Kiko, Beau, Rusty, and Corey for the big group photo. I was helping hold horses and whatnot so I didn't get any photos of the actual party. I'll have to see if I can get a copy of some from someone.

Then the kids took turns riding Corey and Cody around the round pen. First with us leading and then trying to steer on their own. We just used clip on reins on the halters instead of bits and bridles. I think Cody was a little bit confused, and he really wanted to keep his eye on Axel who was on the outside of the pen watching. So at first I'd have to drag Cody around the ring until we turned to face where Cody could see Axel and then he'd move out a bit more. He did start figuring it out a bit more by the end but we couldn't get him to trot he just looked at me confused as to why I'd want him to trot around in a circle, going no where.

When the kids were done riding and their interest had turned to climbing on the hay bales, the dad decided he wanted to try and ride one of the horses bareback. So we got out a bridle and brought Axel into the ring. He jumped on up and rode around the ring on Axel. And Axel did so well, he really moved out and was pretty attentive. I'm definitely going to have to ride him bareback this winter (when there's soft snow to fall on). They also got the two moms up on Axel bareback. Axel didn't seem to mind walking in circles like Cody did. And all that concern Cody had for Axel while he was in the ring, Cody was no where to be found while we were playing with Axel, goofy horses.

So while the big kids were playing in the round pen the kids had decided that the horses needed some hay. Normally they get fed twice a day with both their grain and hay at those times. So hay in the middle of the day is kind of a treat. When we were done in the ring and came back into the barn, I peeked over the small barn door to see what was going on. There was a pile of hay so big you could barely open the door. The horses, of course, did mind and were in 7th heaven. When I left the barn and turned the corner there was another pile of hay that the rest of the horses were gorging themselves on. Those little kids probably carried a full bale if not more, piece by piece, out for the horses to eat. The horses were very pleased, but I imagine when they don't get hay for dinner tonight they might not be so happy!

After all the horsing around we all went inside for some hot chocolate and cookies. I've decided that my next birthday party might have to be out at the ranch too.

Zahr Retires in Style

So this isn't related to the boys but it is horse related. My favorite horse from WCR got to retire last night. I went out to see him moving into his new place. He's got a new girlfriend named Razzie and two young human friends to keep him in carrots and other treats.

The Good and the Bad

The good news is that Axel's bumps have gone away. Musta been hives. Rumor has it, a lot of horses get them this time of year. Must be allergies to something or other.

The bad news is, my car was only happy with the new battery for the time it took me to get home. I think my alternator is bad :(

One of Those Days

It was one of those days, well almost. On my way out to see the boys my battery warning light comes on in my car. I'm just about there and the voltmeter goes from 11 to 0. The car kept running but when I shut it off it wouldn't start again. Dead as a doornail. No one was a round at the ranch so I continued on with my fussing over the boys.

I groomed Cody, who was, as usual, annoyed that I took him away from his herd for something as silly as some brushing. But he could still see everyone so he was fairly calm about it.

I groomed Axel and tried my rope halter on him (that I tied my self). It fits pretty good, now I just have to cut off the extra long ends. I got out the saddle and saddled him up and went back to get my helmet. As I was coming back out I noticed Axel's hindquarters were covered in bumps. I don't remember seeing the bumps when I was grooming. They didn't seem to be bothering him and they weren't like sores so we went for a ride anyways.

Went down the road this time for our ride. Had a really nice canter in a wide ditch, went nearly the whole block, and not a single buck. Then we went out into a bean field that hadn't been plowed yet. Cantered for a quite a ways there too. We came to the end of that block and we were going to visit the mare that lived there. As we were standing across the road from the mare, a dog came across the road to see us. Axel decided the dog was going to eat him and took a 90 degree turn to the right and started running as fas as he could. All the way across the bean field until he came to a row of trees. He finally stopped. I had lost a stirrup and was bouncing around like a sack of potatos. I definitely need shorter stirrups.

So we stood there calming down a bit and I noticed that dumb dog was still there. He had chased us all the way across the field. And the owner or daughter or whoever, who had seen this all happen, didn't even bother to call her dog back. Stupid dog ended up following us nearly the whole way back to the ranch. Let's just say I was not pleased. Stupid dog nearly got me killed. Someone needs to train Axel to kick things on command ;)

So with some shakey legs (mine) we slowly walked back, stopping for some nice grassy snacks. Apparently Axel wasn't all that scared, still had his appetite after all. So when we got back to the ranch I called Sandy to see if she could come out and take me to get a new battery. I layed in the grass and watched the boys graze while I waited. 65 degrees out, not too bad of a day to be stuck outside waiting. Anyways, we got a new battery and my car started, though I think I need a new connector thingy.

We're not sure what the bumps are that Axel has, maybe hives or some sort of allergic reaction to something. Hopefully they'll be gone tomorrow. I probably can't go out there tomorrow until we figure out what's wrong with my car, unless Amy gets home and lets me use her car, but I'll give Jacque a call and see what she says he looks like in the morning. I'll have to plan to wash my brushes and stuff in case it's something contageous or something he was allergic to in the brushes. Poor big guy, he doesn't seem to annoyed by it all though.

Next weekend there might be a birthday party of little girls out to see all the horses, then hopefully Mom and Dad and maybe Grandma and Grandpa and Amy will come out that weekend to meet the boys. They haven't met them yet. The vet is due out on November 8th for shots and stuff as well. So it'll be an eventful couple of weeks

Squeezed Out Another Nice Day

It wasn't looking so nice today but I went out to see the boys anyway. Luckily while I was there some blue sky peeked through and it turned out pretty nice. I groomed Cody, who really didn't want to stand there for me for very long. Then Rusty came by and wanted some attention so he got groomed to. Then I groomed Axel. I was just going to leave after that but I changed my mind and tacked up Axel. We went for a quick ride in the woods out back. Even had a nice canter in one of the clearings. I got a crash course in mounting while trotting. That was interesting. After the bridge I had to dismount to close the gate and Axel would not stand still. He kept trying to follow me. Finally I thought he was going to stand so I started to get up and off he went. He really missed his buddies I guess.

One More Nice Autumn Day

Turned out to be a pretty nice day today. They kept threatening rain but it was sunny for most the afternoon. After WCR I went out to visit the boys. Surprise surprise! I tacked up Axel and we went for a little ride.


This time I thought we'd go down the dirt road a bit and see what was there. Most of the way it was a nice grassy ditch to ride in, so that was good. Near the end of the dead end we came upon another friend. A nice little roan horse. Not sure if it was a girl or a boy but it had some really pretty eyes. And Axel was very interested. But we managed to keep it in control and he tried his best to pay attention to me and not the other horse. The whole trip only took us about a half hour to 45 minutes. So just a nice short ride.


Afterwards I passed out some carrots we had leftover from WCR. Everyone was quite appreciative. Even the boys. I remember one of the first times I met the boys I brought them some carrots, that's what the school horses are always excited over. Axel just looked at me. Cody grabbed the carrot and spit it out on the ground. I took that to mean they'd rather have apples, they never spit those out. But now it seems carrots are a welcome snack. So I hung out for a while and hung out with the herd (yes I am a dork). Cody was almost eating out of the same hay bin as Corey. Corey was eating out of the feeder and Cody was eating hay that had fallen on the ground next to the feeder.. There was some shifting around for a while. Then Cody ended up standing back a bit just waiting. He looked like he was waiting to be invited to eat with Corey and Kiko. It was cute.

My boys are sweeties. Axel has really "joined up" with me but Cody still thinks I'm just that annoying girl that keeps putting a saddle on him. Hopefully playing some of the games this winter will help him trust me more. Then he and I can go for rides alone like Axel and I have been.

Dreary Day

Well it was a dreary day today but wasn't raining so I went out to visit with the boys. Gotta get in all my visiting while I can before my contract job starts. It was pretty mellow in the paddock today. The boys are really starting to fit in, even with Corey. He still moves them around but they are getting along a lot better. I just did some grooming today including Rusty and Corey and a little bit of Kakei. Everyone was just hanging around today. Axel and I visited the roundpen just to see what that was all about. Mostly he just thought it was a good place to eat some grass. After I watch the Parelli 7 Games video again maybe we'll start playing some games. It might be hard while there's still grass though!

Tom and I took a walk down the back pasture. The horses are going to be staying up front mostly now. Apparently someone had some issues yesterday afternoon. Several of the metal fence posts were either out of the ground completely or bent at 90 degree angles. The bottom rope of electrobraid was busted completely in one place and probably a good 50 feet or more was drug across the pasture and hung up on several trees. My assumption was that someone was goofing around and got caught in the fence and then proceeded to freak out and run around until the fence came off. That's my guess at least. None of the horses had any rope burn or anything out of the ordinary. So it's a mystery who was the culprit. We did find some hoof prints on the wrong side of the fence in one place. But it only looked like one horse worth of prints. Perhaps in the freaking out there was some crossing over the fence.

Tom has some plans to split the hill pasture into another section so he can rotate pastures easier. And also hopefully get some fence up on the other side of the creek for another pasture. In any case he might have to electrify the fence around the back pasture to keep the kids from getting too close to the fence!

Beau, Axel, and Cody

And it was back out to the ranch this afternoon. When I got there Kalani was napping in the sun, laying in the middle of the front pasture. Everyone else was grazing away. And Corey and Cody were about 3 feet away from each other. Yay! So we groomed up Axel, Cody, and Beau. Dick came out to ride Beau and Tom rode Cody. We took it slow going up and down the hills. Beau did great, though. He's got arthritis but he really loosened up on our ride. The very last hill seemed like a bit of work for him but other than that he was really happy. And Cody, I think he was really happy that Beau went out riding with us. Jacque has said that she's seen Cody standing behind Beau at the hay feeder, waiting for an invitation to eat with him. I think he really wants to be Beau's friend. So it seemed like he was really looking out for Beau on the trail ride. When they got to the top of the hill they were nose to nose checking each other out. So cute! Goofy horses, there was some loud airplane coming from the other side of the woods somewhere and Axel did not want to go into the woods. Beau had to lead until we got going. But after that we made it just fine. I think they are pretty happy with all their new friends.

I Love Fall

I hate wasting these really nice days so I went out to see the boys again today. I can send out resumes at night, right? Heh. I figured today I'd see if Axel wanted to go for a ride, just me and him. I groomed for a while and started tacking him up. Got a phone call from a temp agency about a possible job. While I was on the phone, all the other horses thought they'd try and help by stealing my brushes. I had to play tug of war with Axel to get the mane brush out of his mouth!


Took us a few tries to stand still at the mounting block, but not too bad. Going down the hill took a little more encouragement than normal but we made it down to the bridge before Axel started calling for his buddies. I dismounted and opened the gate and we walked across the bridge. I closed the gate and managed to mount from the ground (yay me) without too much difficulty. We walked up the hill and stopped to visit Tom who was cutting low branches. Then we made our way through the woods and then out in the clearing. Wandered around the clearing a few times. Axel called a couple times to his friends that stayed behind. Other than some calling he seemed pretty calm about it. We kept our trip different from other trips so we don't get into any patterns. After a while we made our way back down the hill and across the bridge. Took me a little longer to remount from the ground but it went ok. Then we walked back up the pasture hill and met up with the other horses. They were pretty happy to see us. Kakei's always concerned when one of her herd is missing. We walked up the hill and then tried some trotting and cantering in the front pasture. That was a bit more difficult so we'll have to work on that. We visited the round pen for a few minutes and then we finally went back into the paddock and finished up.

So all in all it went really well. I think Axel might be a good prospect for taking on trail rides out to different places. Cody might need some more coaxing before he's ready to leave the herd by himself. He's really worried even when I just bring him up to groom by himself. Wednesday we have plans to go riding with Tom and one of the other boarders. Hopefully this weekend my parents will come meet the boys as well.

It's Bad

You know you're horribly addicted to horses when you feel like you haven't spent enough time with the boys because you were only there for 3 hours yesterday. Heh.

3's Company

Another little trail ride today. And another gorgeous day for it. Went out to the ranch. Pulled Cody out of the herd to groom first. He was a little annoyed and didn't want me to take him away. The rest of the horses were right in the front pasture so he was pretty calm about it. Jacque came out as I was finishing up Cody so I groomed up Axel as well. I'm going to have to get some tips from Tricia on her skilled scratching techniques ;) Jacque found some cardboard and wire and we measured the boys withers so I have some models to use when I get around to finding some english saddles. They are some wide boys, that's for sure. Anne called and came out to ride with us as well. So Jacque got Corey ready and we were all set to go. Corey hadn't been ridden out of the round pen in probably 2 years so he was a little tough to get moving at first. Once we got going though he went pretty well. He was a little nervous and wound up but he kept it pretty much together. We took it slow and walked the whole trip, which was a little tough for Cody, he really likes to run up the hill on his way back to see his friends.

Another Gorgeous Day

No photos from today, oh well. After therapeutic riding this morning, Tricia and I went out and saddled up the boys and went for a quick ride up the back hill in the woods. She was fairly impressed, so that made me proud. And I think she might have made a new best friend of Axel. Tricia knew all the right spots to scratch and had Axel standing there with his leg up in the air and neck stretched out enjoying the attention. But she didn't take any grief from him and made him stand to mount and wouldn't let him run up the hill. Guess I gotta start keeping the boys to a walk up the hills now ;) She thinks Axel would be good on the long trail rides she and her friends like to do. So that could be a fun thing to do sometime.

Gonna go out to the barn again tomorrow and groom them both and hopefully go for a ride with Jacque. We might also measure withers so I have some idea of what size saddles would fit them for when I get around to getting an english saddle. And I hope to borrow her Parelli 7 Games tape so I can watch that and start playing some games with the boys.

And luckily I was working on this site this evening so I wasn't paying full attention to The Horse Whisperer on television, or I woulda been bawling like a little baby, sad movie :(

4 Mile Ride

The weather report predicted rain on Wednesday and Thursday so I decided to go out the ranch one more time while it was still nice out. I saddled up Axel and brought out the mounting block. I'm not sure if he's ever seen a mounting block before so I thought it'd be a good idea to introduce it. Well that goofy Axel just stood by the mounting block like he's done it a million times before. I wiggled the saddle, pulled on the stirrup, put my foot in the stirrup and he just stood there. So that pretty much put an end to our practice of standing still while mounting. Tricky fellow, that Axel. So Tom went and got Cody and saddled him up and we went for a ride down the road to find the State Trail. We walked down the gravel with only the usual tenderfoot issues. When we got to the pavement things slowed down a bit. Axel started calling and Cody joined in. Must have been all the new sights and smells. We got out the country road and walked all the way down to the trail entrance, cars whizzing by, and no issues at all. It was slow going as the boys were being extra alert, but we made it safe and sound. We walked the trail for a while before we turned around to head back. Axel and I had a little canter along the trail with no bucking. Cody proceded to trot the fastest shortest trot ever. Only one minor surprise on the way back when a dog ran across the road. But Cody recovered quickly and was just startled. When we got back to the gravel road we cantered a few more times along the corn field. I think Axel may have gotten a few bucks out but nothing major. Cody even picked up a few canter strides as well. So we probably went a little over 4 miles total and it all went fantasically.

I've made a little map of our usual trail ride and some of the escape locations the boys seem to find themselves in. Luckily since we've found their way out and fixed it, they've keep themselves on the correct side of the fence.