I Knew It

And I was right not to think this issue with Axel was over. Went out last night and he had started chewing again. Though this time he's chewing in a different spot. I'm wondering if the stuff we put on the posts soaked in good to the already chewed spots but maybe didn't soak into the fresh smooth wood well enough. We might pick up some more stuff from Fleet Farm tonight as I'm still waiting for the Bitterlicks to arrive (or for them to even answer my email about when it'll ship).

Cody was looking pretty good so I didn't give him any extra food I just brought him in the barn to scrape some mud off and get out of the wind for a while. I hadn't really planned to ride but decided at the last minute to jump on bareback for a while. This of course was not as easy as it sounds. Cody decided standing by the mounting block was not in his plan for the evening so it took a lot of adjusting to get there. We mostly walked around, a bit of trotting, and then worked on some of the side-passing exercises. Cody isn't quite getting the point of moving his hind quarters when I ask so we worked in the corners of the arena for a while. Near the end of the ride I tried the forward into the wall and then sideways thing and Cody kind of got it. I don't think he got it enough to do it all on his own but he was getting somewhere so that was good. I might have to grab a carrot stick and practice having him move parts of his body with a tap. Kind of get back to basics.

I finally remembered to bring some carrots so Cody did some stretches for his. I put a few in their bunk so Vinnie could have some as well. And I passed Axel some through the fence. I was too lazy to open all the gates to get to him.

Goofing Around

Of course I forgot to take any photos last night but here's a nice one of Axel from last week that I hadn't posted yet. When I got to the barn B was just riding Diva in the arena, she suggested we head down the road a bit. So I grabbed Axel and got him ready as fast as I could leaving a bit of time to scratch some of his bug bites that itched. We made it down to the cows with Axel keeping a pretty decent pace, though trying to grab grass the whole trip. Diva wasn't so sure about the cows and positioned herself behind Axel while they looked on. I still want to take Axel and Cody to a cow clinic sometime.

When we got back to the barn we watched A load up Vinny and head out to her formation practice and then went back to the arena and goofed around. We trotted a bit and cantered. Axel canted more than he usually does so that was a win for him. Diva gets really strong in her plain eggbutt snaffle so B was working on that a bit. We tried some rollbacks and we worked on some lateral stuff which didn't go very far with Axel. We discussed jumping on the horses bareback and how exactly to go about that task. So we untacked and gave it a try. I can jump up on my belly from the mounting block but that's about it for now. B thought she needed a chair but she managed to get up on Diva with just the mounting block. So we rode around on our sweaty horses bareback for a while. I attempted an "around-the-world" for the first time. I tried to kneel on Axel's back vaulting style but he's not quite big enough for me to do that. One thing I did discover, okay two things, he backs up much better with just the lead rope than with a bit, and he understands the lateral cues a bit better with no saddle. He managed to do a turn on the forehand in one direction. So we have some winter projects lined up: bareback lateral moves. When we were done goofing off like kids and our butts had soaked up all the horse's back sweat it was time to call it a night. But not before Axel did his "rolling on command" trick. Okay so he doesn't do it on command but when he lays down to roll I've been saying "roll" and then praising him as he does it. Maybe it'll work the other way around one day.

Cody on the Road

Cody's new found slowness is going to have to change I think. I realize he's not a spring chicken but it's not like I'm asking him to run several miles at a time. Just walk at a decent pace. I guess you get what you ask for, previous years he would only trot.

So after grooming and fly spray in the barn aisle we went out to the road. He was armed with boots so there were no excuses. But it was slow as usual, he really wanted to go back to the barn. I worked on just keeping his nose straight and letting up on any pressure when it was. When I asked for a trot he'd keep aiming himself for the ditch, trip because he couldn't see the ground as it was overgrown, and then use that as an excuse to walk slow again. After letting him do that a few times (my bad) I gave him a good thump in the sides on the way out of the ditch and all of a sudden we had a new gear (sure it was only 2nd gear so much for my thoughts to canter). We walked a bit further before I made him stop and stand for a while. I even let him munch on some grass as an incentive to enjoy being away from the barn.

When we turned around to head home it was time to work. I'm not sure if I made him do enough work but we did serpentines most of the way back. Granted he could have bent a lot better. Since he had quite a bit more momentum I also tried asking for some leg-yield (forward and diagonal at the same time), though his bend at times (toward the barn side of the road) made it more like a half-pass. I think we'll work on that every time we head back to the barn, I'm not sure he was crossing his legs over quite yet, hard to tell when you're on the horse.

And as usual when we got back to the barn it was time to try and back up. He refused to back down the driveway and J and J came home so we had to get out of the way. So I asked for a back up in the ditch. I'm not going to settle for the tiny hesitant step any more, I need at least a real full step. I don't like to pull on his mouth but tiny jiggling of the reins wasn't cutting it. When he finally backed up a few steps it was because I picked up the reins and pulled firmly. We'll be back on the ground working on the verbal cues for backing up I think. I'm racking up a big list of things to work on when we can't trail ride (winter, or rain, or groundwork days). Anyway I dismounted when he gave me 3 decent steps.

Of course I put his fly mask back on after having it off all weekend (while it was sunny) and now it's raining. Good timing I have. A had some new treats so she gave me a few to give to the boys, now that they aren't getting the work provided apples. They gobbled up the treats like they were going out of style.

Cody's New Goals

• Back up under saddle


• Move forward


• Halt on a dime


• Execute all commands immediately when asked