Relax a little, Booker

Well Mr Booker decided since he found a hole in the hay net he didn't want to give that up and took off when I came into the paddock. Luckily he didn't go far and I was able to catch him fairly easily.

I tacked, fly sprayed, and walked out to the middle pasture. I had some tagalongs but we were able to get through the gates without too much trouble. Made sure the saddle was on straight and mounted up. He stood pretty still for once (didn't want to leave the group at the gate I'm sure). So we walked the pasture to check out the footing and what not. Did some big trot circles at the far end. He wasn't settling in, was pretty "up" about it all, nothing horrible, just not a nice easy trot. I'm pretty sure he was concerned with his buddies. So I was going to work on cantering big straights but I changed my plans since he seemed more likely to ignore me.

So the plan was, walk or trot away from the gate, if he gave me a super easy trot, or if he transitioned down to a walk easily, or a good halt with out turning or wandering, then we turned around and went back towards the gate as his reward. I decided that for me at least, when I ask for a trot or a canter I want something super mellow and easy by default. I figured he's got the speed and I think if we keep light aids (which shouldn't be an issue if we work on getting him back to a snaffle) then he won't get sticky and it should be easy to let him "go" when we need it. I don't think we're going to be winning big dollars in the mounted shooting and it sounds like speed isn't necessarily the way to do that anyways. So consistency on his part and steadiness and all that I think would be more applicable to other stuff like trail riding etc.

He was getting good at the halt, I'd do voice "and whoa", then stiffen my body, then reins. Still had to do a couple tugs on the reins for halt but he was catching on and doing really well just standing there. Trot to walk transitions went pretty well too, I'd just change my body from posting to a more stiff sit and he'd transition down. I did do one canter just to see but it was pretty vertical and big so I didn't do more of that. He transitioned down pretty well though.

When I finally asked for a trot and he just broke into a super easy nice trot, I stopped him and got off. So I think that's the kind of thing I'm going to work on when I ride. That seems pretty simple and I get some variety of gait to get used to his movement. I'll just have to make sure I let him extend from time to time.

So his leg looks super awesome. I didn't clean it but there's barely a spot left of scab or whatever. Probably by Friday if we clean it there'll be nothing under that tiny scab. Then we can start putting some MTG on there and get the hair to grow back.

Memorial Day

I waddled out to the barn again on Memorial day for a little while just to check on everyone. N has been busy lately so she hasn't had too much of a chance to get out and ride and who knows when this baby is coming so I figured I better take my chances while I had them. Instead of doing the long walk to the pasture to get a horse and bring him to the barn I just grabbed a few brushes and went out to groom in the pasture. Of course Cody was on the opposite side and Axel was no where in sight. Turns out he was napping on the far side of the pasture and it's a slight hill so you can't see on the other side until you get closer. It was difficult grooming, I didn't grab the right brushes and both horses had quite a bit of mud. Plus the bugs are starting to come out so there was a lot of swishing and biting going on that I had to dodge. The horses haven't quite figured out that standing on top of me does not make the bugs go away. I'll have to remember to bring out the fly masks next time I go out and pick up some fly spray as well. So in the end I didn't get much grooming done. Axel's legs are looking pretty good, still a couple remaining scabs but nothing new so that's good. Next time I'm able to bend over I'll get him shaved up again and maybe start putting on either some desitin or MTG.

I did manage to catch some crazy horse antics as I was walking back to the barn. Someone got some wind up their butts and took off in the next pasture so Cody and Axel started running. It resulted in a good 10 minutes of the next pasture running back and forth at full speed and Cody and Axel running in circles around their feeder. Axel was bucking and bouncing and Cody was just his usual frantic self. Of course by the time I got out my phone to try and video tape it they were too tired and hanging out by the water tank instead.

Finally Spring

Boy is it a lot of work going out to fetch horses these days. It's a long walk and once I get Axel haltered and ready to go he's now walking much faster than me. Too bad getting on and riding from the pasture to the barn isn't an option. Luckily it should only be a few more weeks before the baby arrives.

I did make it out on a nice afternoon just to check on things. Axel's legs are healing up finally, he still has a few scabs here and there but J has been helping pick them off when she has a chance. His ventral edema is gone and any stocking up in his back legs seems to be gone as well and he doesn't seem to be in pain. He is fat though, very very fat. There's so much grass in the pasture they are in now, even without grain he's keeping the weight on. Poor boy is going to be in for a shock when I can ride again!

I gave Axel his spring shot in the barn and then I just brought Cody's shot out to the pasture with me. I wasn't in the mood to do the walk back to the barn an addition time and I figured Cody would be a lot calmer if he didn't have to be taken away from his neighbors who he loves so much. He really wants to be in with Cody2 and Stitch. I guess all the brown/white horses like to hang out together.

N rode in the arena this past weekend and walked Cody down the road a bit. I guess it went pretty well. He was a little upset about being away from the neighbors but not too horrible. Chiropractor is coming on Friday so I'll be excited to see if there are any attitude changes following the adjustment.

New Pasture

So the boys are now out back in one of the big pastures. There's a bit of gate management that has to be done to get my guys out and not get the other herd with it but with all the grass it's not a huge issue. And boy are the horses happy to be a dry grassy pasture. They made me walk nearly to the back of the pasture to fetch them last night. Not that I couldn't use the exercise but it was the first 87F day and I think that might be my limit for heat while pregnant. I was beat by the time I got Axel back up to the barn. If I was agile and not in the state I'm in I would have figured out how to get on Axel and ride him back.

Cody was standing next to the fence with the other herd nearby. He didn't seem terribly concerned when I took Axel out either. He might have been calling a bit while we were in the barn but it's hard to tell who was yelling. He did come running up to the gate when I brought Axel back so he missed him a little. It'll be interesting to see how he reacts when N takes him out the next time. I just didn't have the energy to do it myself.

So I hosed off Axel's legs one more time, perhaps the last time if they keep healing. I got a handful of scabs off and things are looking pretty good. He must be feeling okay didn't pull his legs away when I picked or scrubbed. There's still a bunch of scabs stuck on there pretty good but things are going in the right direction. After spraying I scrubbed them good with the chlorhexidine. Seems like the hair is growing back as well. And in even better news, the winter fuzz is all but gone. Axel is shiny and black again and nearly all the swelling on his belly is gone. In a week or two he should be looking pretty darn spiffy. Then he'll turn red again of course but we get a few good days in there. He's also walking pretty well at least on the lead. I'm hoping this fall we can get back to light work again and maybe a trail ride if we can work out any of our kinks from not being ridden in so long. Jeff offered to start going out there and working with him as well but we'll see if that happens. I don't think a few more months off work is going to make a huge difference in his attitude after having a year and a half off. We'll just have to start with lots of ground work in tack as a reminder.