Thank You "Beery" Much!

I was going to scrub some horses last night but the yard is stacked with leaves so they trumped the mud and rain rot. Wednesday, I promise! But I did run out and drop off a case of beer as a "thank you for the heroic rescue of 3 stranded trail riders, their horses, and the trailer." J said she was just glad to help but I figure who can't use an extra case of beer, right? I grabbed my grooming bag with the intent to sterilize all the brushes, when I'm going to get a chance to do that before tomorrow, I'm not sure.

I checked on the muddy horses' backs and the rain rot isn't gone gone but it doesn't seem to be getting any worse and Axel hasn't gained any new bald spots. It's not a trip to the barn with out passing around some snacks so I brought out 3 apples. Vinnie got his first as he was waiting by the gate. He eats very daintily so I shooed away Axel while he finished his apple. Cody got his next and Axel sulked in the corner until he got his. He's still chasing Vinnie around but Vinnie is starting to fight back a little. They have a sheet on him to help protect him from loosing chunks of hair and skin. Axel has done a pretty decent job ripping the blanket to shreds and it's a heavy duty New Zealand canvas sheet. But it might be giving Vinnie enough courage to throw some kicks in Axel's direction. If he'd make contact one of these times maybe Axel would settle down a bit.

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.

Farrier Day

Just got back from the barn. The farrier was out to trim everyone up. The flies make for trimming feet a little more tricky but everyone managed to stand pretty well. When that was all said and done I went to ride Axel in the arena while A worked with Vinnie. It's always a good lesson for Axel to be in the arena when someone else is working since he tends to not like other horses much. He managed to shake his bridle off, luckily I didn't have to reward him by dismounting, A put the bridle back on for me and we trotted off. Of course that just made him mad and he threw out a few bucks in response. When I got a few nice things out of him I dismounted and lunged him for a bit. I'm hoping if I can get him increasingly comfortable on the lunge he'll start feeling better under saddle. He threw a few good bucks and fancy moves on the lunge but leveled out and worked well so we called it a night.

On the Road Again

One of the other boarders, henceforth known as A, has decided to buy Vinny from the barn owner, henceforth known as J. So she wanted to go for a ride last night. Unfortunately the hunter girls were having their lesson so A couldn't lunge Vinny before riding so she saddled up Danny instead. J got Jessie ready and I got Axel and we took off down the road. Axel (and Cody) need to put on some serious moves here pretty quick or we won't be able to ride with all these TWHs. They are a fast bunch and even with Axel feeling pretty good lately, we still lag behind. We ended up trotting most of the ride. While that's probably good for Axel's weight, it's probably not good for his foot. In any case he was trotting very nicely. He had a few minor moments of crankiness towards the other horses but didn't do anything about it. It probably helps that they are never behind us. When we got back A and Vinny's new co-owner played around a bit in the arena. He looks a lot like Axel as far as preferring the halt to any other gait. But he's only 3 so it might not be too hard to train him to move out once in a while.