More Experiments with Booker

So we took a chance and put the dressage saddle and snaffle bit on Booker and took off for our run down the road last week (or the week before, I can't recall).  He did really well.  His brakes aren't great but actually they don't seem a whole lot different with the snaffle than they did with his usual bit.  And the dressage saddle seems to fit him well so that's always a plus.  He looked really nice trotting down the road, very "english."  Guess this cow pony missed his calling as a dressage horse ;)

I was a bachelorette over the weekend so we met up on Sunday for some horse fun.  We decided we need to go further than our usual 2 mile run.  But neither of us wanted to run longer.  So I suggested we use a bike.  Which was definitely easier than running.  First we had to introduce Booker to the bike.  If you've ever ridden your horse near a bike trail you are probably aware that bikes are the #1 silent killer of all horses.  Not really but since they are so quiet they sneak up on ya and before you know it you are standing next to your horse instead of sitting on his back.

So we took a few passes in the driveway to get him used to it and then set off for a roughly 6 mile ride.  We swapped at the halfway point.  Had a little "moment" near some pastured horses but other than that and some real jerk-offs in their "my-penis-is-really-small" pick up truck (hello search engine hits) we had a really calm ride.  Lots of posting, holy cats, I haven't posted 3 miles in probably forever.  Surprisingly I didn't hurt the next day.

So this week I made it out alone on Tuesday for a little ride.  I didn't have a lot of time so I just tacked up (dressage saddle and snaffle) and we went down the driveway and back and forth in front of the property.  Just working on our downward transitions mostly.  No cantering, just trot/walk/halt.  We also watched some big farm implements drive by.  It's that time of year again.

Booker is well on his way to be a nice versatile and steady mount.  We are either going to introduce him to umbrellas tomorrow or shoot some blanks in the .22, depends on if it's raining or not.

Riding Alone

It is evident to me that I'm way too used to riding my slow steady guys and getting on Booker scares me a bit.  He moves so much faster and I'm just not used to it. So I decided I need a lot more saddle time to just get used to him and he used to me.  So my first lunch ride alone  we went down the drive way. He wanted to go left.  So we went left for a few steps then turned around and went right.  Walked for quite a ways.  Had a little trot (seemed crooked), walk some more, trot some more-snuck in a canter I didn't ask for but it was a left lead so I went for it, walk some more.  Was thinking about turning right at the town hall but the wind was pretty bad and I didn't want it up our butts when we turned around to come home so we just turned around and went back.  More trotting - okay super crooked, stirrups must be uneven, little canter, walking - swearing at drivers going by at 60mph thought Booker hardly noticed, more trotting and a final canter up to the driveway we usually start/end our runs at.  Can't remember what lead that last canter was, I asked for right but with the saddle crooked who knows what I got, I was busy concentrating on my position and trying to get him to lift his front and use his back.

Did some bending while mounted in the driveway, took a few tries to get him to stop spinning but he finally got it.  Untacked, inspected the saddle again (wishing I had thought of putting yours back on and pushing it back further - doh).  Did some stretches with treats and back out to the paddock.

He was a good boy, nice and calm.  Need a few more rides like that and I think I'll start feeling pretty good.  His canter wasn't horrible, he doesn't like to downshift so that takes some nagging but it's never an "OMGWE'RE GONNA DIE!" type of thing.  Just a few extra reminders to finally get down to a walk.  I think the more transitions I did the more he got it.

OH and verdict on the crookedness, holy cats the saddle was crooked, I must not have looked at it after I cinched it up or something.  Whoops.

We're working on finding a saddle that fits him so we've spent a lot of time putting saddles on and off and whatnot.  Nothing perfect yet but

Second Ride Out on the Farm

Another weekend out at the farm so during naptime I snuck out to see the boys and go for a ride.  Cody was much calmer about me removing him from the paddock this week.  Might have something to do with the fact that Haji and Axel stood on the other side of the fence right next to him while I tacked up.  It was slow going for most of the ride away from the barn.  I decided to go down to my inlaw's farm a mile down the highway.  Once we got past a few blocks of paved crossings, it was ditch the whole way.  Cody wasn't super thrilled but he plodded along, only turning for home a few times, and those time he was pretty calm about it.  None of his old spinning and trying to bolt for home.  We have a few little spurts of canter but not too much.

When we got to the farm everyone was either napping or out doing stuff so we headed towards my trailer to grab all the fly masks.  When Cody saw the trailer he thought this horrible trail ride was over and made a bee-line straight for it.  Heh poor guy.  My next ride to the farm I think I might go out in the pasture with the cows and walk around, start getting them used to horses a bit.

The walk home was in a whole new walk gear.  A really nice gear at that.  Wish we could get that kind of walk all the time!  But he was calm and it was a nice ride overall.

The flies were horrible so I threw the fly masks on everyone fully expecting to never see them again.  They're all in pretty poor shape so it wouldn't be the end of the world.  Surprisingly when I went to feed Saturday everyone was still wearing them.  I took them off overnight and then Sunday it was raining so I left them off.  When we had gone Saturday morning to feed Haji didn't come up to the barn.  Fearing the worst we went on a search to find the old man.  Turns out he was hanging out on the other side of the grove between the trees and fenceline.  Cody and Axel must have left him there and he couldn't figure his way out.  He followed me like a puppy through the down branches and back to the barn.

Sunday we drove by and all three of the horses were standing at the fence line.  Really makes the grove look huge when there's a horse standing there.

The First Mile

Well we did it! Made it down the road, about a mile, and back, in one piece!  Cody and Booker (he's Booker now, though I still like Booger better) went like champs.  Cody still doesn't keep up but he's calm and steady.  Even when traffic passes he looks but doesn't spin around and run for home.  So I call that success.  The next couple weeks my plan is to just let him go as slow as he wants as long as he's calm.  Sure it's nice to ride up next to someone but Cody is going to "retire" in style ;)  Of course then we'll have to see about riding out at the farm, that'll be whole other chapter.

And not only did we make it down the road once, we went twice in one week!  The second time the wind was blowing like mad but the boys were saints.

The trailer is hopefully coming back this coming weekend so we hope to get out a few times to some trails before the boys move to the farm.

Back on the Road

I finally met up with another boarder for a ride down the road this week. Our ride started out a little slow. Both Steele and Cody were kind of stop and go because the neighbor had the airplane running getting ready to take off. After that they picked up the speed a little. We went down the drainway between the fields and a little bit in the empty bean field cuz I can't help but ride in an empty bean field, so much flat space. Had a long grass break in the usual spot and then back over to the tree for another grass break. Steele had been giving hints the whole ride that he really wanted to start acting like an idiot and after the tree there was a car parked on the side of the road from some farmers checking crops. He decided to shy at that and then there was no going back. He'd freak out, Cody would freak out, Steele would freak out again, Cody again, they were just feeding off each other. By the time we got to the town hall they were both pretty worked up. Steele even kicked Cody (he had squealed at him a couple times prior). Luckily they calmed down a bit and after one more little burst of exciting Cody was back to a walk even with all the traffic, it was like a main thoroughfare through there today. I had him give me a left lead canter and a right lead canter in the arena before I called it a day. Left lead took two tries but he did get it fairly easily, of course it was the fastest canter ever. He was a sweaty mess after all the freaking out down the road. So the ride started out really nice and ended up a little exciting.

Quick ride down the road

Rode out with J and Steele at lunch yesterday. Thank goodness for the wind or we would have been a lot hotter. Cody was quiet sweaty when we were done. He was good as usual. Did quite a bit of trotting to keep up but nothing frantic. He was being a bit of a pain trying to snag grass all the time and we had one moment just as we were getting back to the barn where the wind must have blown up his butt or something cuz he jumped a bit but that was it. I can't believe how bad the flies still are. I suppose this heat isn't going to help matters either.

Down the road

Well Mr Cody was a calm boy as usual with Steele down the road. He's still unhappy about gravel and with the boots on he's fine but does take an off step every once in a while. We have a little under a month until the farrier is back and right now there's nothing to trim (as far as I can tell). Had to track down the fly mask again. Darn horse, the flies are horrible out there, he needs to learn to keep that on. Maybe since the sun isn't as intense these days and he doesn't seem to be getting burnt I'll dig out the other fly mask like Axel's and maybe that will stay on better.

Hot hot hot

Had another mellow ride down the road with Steele and Cody. Once again Cody had his fly mask off. This new one is tough to get on so he can't remove it for some reason. We went with 4 hoof boots again this ride and it seems like Cody is maybe starting to realize that his feet don't hurt on gravel any more. The first time he was still hesitant to walk on the road but he seemed a little more willing this time around. We made an attempt to go down the drainage ditch but were forced to turn around when the farmer was out spraying. We turned around and trotted out of there while the tractor caught up with us. He was moving fast! So we just went down to the intersection and then headed north for a half mile. These mellow rides are so nice, I just wish we could get out on a trail sometime. We just made it back to the barn as it was really heating up. Might be a while before I get out and ride again if this weather keeps up. Yucko.

Cody gets a workout

Last week I convinced Jeff to watch the baby after work so I could go to the barn when there might be people around to ride with. And I lucked out because not only was J around but so was TeeJay's owner. J and I went down the road almost to the mile mark but Cody was being a bit of a pill. The usual turning for home and getting mad when I wouldn't let him. He kept creeping toward the ditch and when he'd get close he'd start backing into it so I'd kick him a good one and we had a mini bucking session by the neighbor's mailbox. Not a big deal just a little attitude. He was pretty slow and not too happy to be out and about. I'm going to blame the wind and the fact that Atta Girl isn't Steele, his usual riding buddy. So when we got back I went into the arena and rode a bit. I had J get on him for a while and see what he could do. So I'm seeing my first problem isn't Cody, it's that I just let him get away with murder. Doh. She had him on the rail, trotting, cantering. She got a left lead on the first try. She was choked up on the reins more than Cody likes so he was fighting that quite a bit but he started settling down. She figured he'd get used to it if we kept it up. I got back on and worked on that left lead. It took me forever to get it. J says to counter bend. So we'd be at the wall and I'd have his head nearly cranked around to my knee facing the wall and then ask for the canter and he finally picked up the lead. Soooo, I guess it's user error :( Hehe. But she said he was really nice to ride and he'd have a gorgeous lope if we made him do it once in a while. She said she can work with him and me this summer in the arena and getting him down the road. I think if I kick his butt in the arena then down the road might not be so bad since maybe he'll mind me a bit more. So that was that. Bad ride on the road, good ride in the arena. He was a sweaty boy. In other news, C was there with TeeJay. I think it's been over a year since I saw her. And I asked her if I could ride him down the road and she thought that would be just fine. She's going to give me a call when she thinks he's good to go. J got on TeeJay and he was pretty rusty. But he looks good in Axel's dressage bridle. ;) So it pays to get to the barn when there's people around! So when I get the okay I'll be able to go for a few rides down the road with Cody and friends. It's been ages!

Down the Road!

So I didn't think we had gotten that much rain. Apparently it rains more at J&J. Holy mud. I was feeling pretty good about Axel not having gotten mud fever too bad but I might have spoke too soon. I didn't pull him out to look at all, I figured no reason to do that til it dries up a bit. I ran out at lunch and Cody was conveniently placed by the gate so I didn't have to walk in the mud. I was too lazy to try and get the mud off his feet so we ventured down the road without boots. Surprisingly he went down the driveway almost at a normal walk speed. He was a little looky but he was way more willing to head away from the barn than he has been in the past. Don't get me wrong, we weren't moving anywhere quickly but he was fairly calm about life. We stuck to the ditch for the most part until it got too wet. Made it down to the neighbors mailbox and then turned and went past the driveway to the other neighbors first drive way.

I did put on my spurs but I didn't have to really use them much. I just figured maybe having them would give him a little clearer instructions. We mostly worked on "walking straight and facing forward means no contact on the reins and no heels in my sides." So all in all it was a decent ride. And gorgeous out to boot.

Someone is feeling good

Apparently a sore knee only means walking calmly is difficult. Bucking and jumping is exempt from the sore knee. I met N out at the barn last night for a ride before the darkness of winter took over. I walked Axel down the driveway and back and he seemed to be moving as well as the week prior so we gave it a shot. He actually moved out really well down the road. Due to our lack of riding lately he was working pretty diligently at ripping my arms out of their sockets. He had a tendency to abruptly stop and not want to move. I know Axel pretty well so normally I would haven't shied from telling him under no circumstances were we to stop but being as he has hardly been ridden the past couple years and it was cold and windy I was a little hesitant to use the same amount of convincing I normally would. He did give me one little crow hop on our way toward the neighbor's yard. Just about near the 1 mile mark everyone was walking calmly and forward so we asked them to turn around. And then the parade of tractors started and didn't stop. And Axel got a bee in his bonnet and started bucking. I more or less kept my seat but not until after I had hit my leg on the saddle horn. I asked him to stop and stand calmly and then I dismounted. Not something I would normally do but as I don't feel like it's appropriate to really make him work it was probably the safest thing to do. Cody was calm as could be while Axel bounced around behind him several times while I led him home. He was really moving out well at that point and it was just the occasional trip on the gravel that made him look the slightest bit off. I still don't think he's going to be doing any trail riding in his future though a calm ride on an isolated trail might be a little nicer than the busy road. I'll reserve the right to change my mind next spring when we get him another injection and the weather is nicer. Until then I think we'll have very few rides down the road if it's nice out, otherwise maybe some ground driving in the arena and some trick training if I get bored.

Nearly Perfect Ride

We had a farrier appointment on Tuesday so I ran out to the barn and left the baby with Jeff for a while. He was set up with a bottle but it's nicer if we don't have to waste a bottle so they try and wait until I get back. I thought Jeff had plans on Wednesday so when J suggested we go riding I didn't think I'd be able to. Well Jeff's plans changed and he offered that I go out to the barn and ride. So I met J at the barn and we took Cody and Steele down the rode. Nancy couldn't ride this week so I took her place ;) Cody was pure gold. I haven't had a ride like that on him in ages. He was calm, didn't need a lot of coaxing to leave the property, and went the same speed home as he did leaving the barn. We went south in the drainage ditch between cornfields and then ventured a bit further south than we usually go. Other than snatching grass every chance he had, Cody was a saint. He had a few tiny starts at the boogie men in the corn and needed to play catch up a few times since Steele walks quite a bit faster but it was great. Even during our little catch up trots he was calm and smooth. It's so nice riding a horse like that. I wish he was like that when he was alone but I'll take what I can get, who likes to trail ride alone anyways? I'm trying to schedule a time for the vet to come out and inject Axel's knee again. I'm hoping that helps enough for him to do an easy trail ride this fall if my trailer gets finished and brought down here. If it doesn't help him this time around then Mr. Axel might be looking at retirement at least from riding until Daniel is big enough to ride. I was trying to think of what I can do with Axel this winter if we're not riding. I was thinking of maybe clicker training him to do some tricks. Of course we can't work on bowing but there's gotta be some other tricks we could do. Maybe picking up items from the ground, he's already too mouthy, maybe we could put it to good use.

On my own

Back out to the barn last night. This time on my own. I decided to take Cody for a spin since it had been so long. He was, of course, the same as he usually is for me, uninterested in leaving the property. We worked in the ditch, back and forth, in front of the property. There was some fighting, a bit of cantering, and some crow hopping. You know, the usual. we ended by doing some trotting and a bit of wrong-lead cantering in the arena.

I jumped on Axel bareback in the arena for a few laps. He's still pretty "off" especially in the deep footing. I'm hoping next week we can get back out on the road with friends for a ride. If only I could get him to eat all his bute, he'd sure feel better as would I. Both boys had fly masks on but Cody had one ear out the side and one ear out the forelock hole. When I was done riding him I put his mask back on and put him in the pasture. By the time I was done with Axel (a whopping 15 minutes I'm sure), he had an ear out of the fly mask already.

Bath Time

I went out again last week to ride but poor Axel had other ideas. He looked good when I brought him into the barn. I groomed and tacked him up and we headed down the road with Cody and Steele but before we even got past the property it was evident that he wasn't feeling too great. I got off to see if he'd walk it off but he wasn't even putting his full weight on that sore leg. So not knowing if he'd go completely lame or what we decided to turn around and head back. Cody and Steele kept going to have a nice ride in the drainage ditches.

Since it was pretty hot out and the horses had been sweating just standing in their pasture I decided to use my time to give Axel a little bit of a bath. I didn't use soap but I hosed him down really well and even scrubbed and clipped up his back feet. I say every year I'm going to try and preemptively combat the mud fever but I never get around to it. So this is the first step in that. If I can keep them cleaned up before it hits maybe I can keep it away by keep some MTG on him. When the gals got back from their ride they hosed off the other horses before turning them out. Of course Cody went for a nice roll in the arena, good thing we didn't use soap, I bet it felt good though!

A Real Ride

Whoo hoo! I think I'm officially back in the saddle! Of course Axel is still pretty sore on that front knee but it was time to venture out of the arena. Axel's true colors shone through once again. After essentially being on vacation for over a year (with a little work in the middle) I was able to throw a saddle on him and take him down the road. I left the baby with his dad and they went to a car show and I met up with the gals at the barn and we had ourselves a mini trail ride a mile down the road and back. Axel was limpy, he wouldn't eat his bute before we left, hey I tried! But over the course of a mile and half he didn't really get any worse. He was calm and sane. He stopped a few times in an attempt to convince me the ride was over but it was nothing major. Cody was also a rock star. Calm as can be, as far as I could see he didn't try to bolt or trot or even turn around. What good boys!

I ended up getting off half way home and leading Axel, I figured it just wasn't fair for me to make he go that long after having so much time off. He moved out pretty well after I dismounted, for part of the walk he was nearly dragging me, guess I gotta keep working on my running so I can keep up. If I could get him to eat the bute he would have probably been just fine for the whole 2 miles. Since it's arthritis I'm still going to try and keep riding, just nice easy walks of course. He needs to keep moving and I think if I can get him to start using his rear end again that will help take some pressure off the front end.

So all and all it was a good ride. I would have loved to go longer, I would have loved to do some cantering, I would love for Axel to be 100% but it's just not going to happen. Depending on how he's doing and what the vet says next spring I might have his knee injected again. It's not expensive and it helped quite a bit last time, I wonder if there's any cumulative benefit to having it done every year? It'd be nice to keep him sound and working for the next few years until we move out to our own farm and he can retire with Cody. Of course with all the excitement of finally getting out again I forgot to take photos til we got back, whoops.

Still Fighting the Mud

I managed to make it out to the barn twice last week. The weather was great and I had more or less unlimited time so it was a nice break. I dealt with Axel's feet for as long as my back could stand being hunched over. Put a lot of cold water on and scrubbed a bit to get some scabs off. I figured the cold water might feel good on sore legs. Axel wasn't terribly happy about the whole situation but he was manageable. I ended up scrubbing with Chlorhexidine first and then letting his legs dry while I chiseled the mud off the rest of him. Then I soaked him in MTG before I sent him back outside. So we'll see the outcome when I make it out there this week. I don't expect miracles but it'd be nice if the scabs were at a minimum. I brought Cody in as well and tried to get off as much mud as humanly possible. I am looking forward to everything drying out which I don't think will be too long. Rumor has it, the boys might go out back with the bigger herd. It'll be interesting to see how Cody reacts to being taken out of that herd to be ridden. He might be a bit of a pill for a while until he settles in. But I guess time will tell!

The weekend report for Cody was pretty good. N and Cody made it down the road further than usual. N usually dismounts near the end of the road and walks Cody a bit further then remounts and rides back. She's going to be gone this coming weekend so hopefully I can get out there a couple times and lunge him a bit just so he doesn't forget that he's not retired quite yet.

Still waiting for spring

We're still not up to the nice 40's and 50's we were a couple weeks ago but the sun was out this weekend and the 30 degree temperatures felt pretty warm since the sun is much closer these days. I brought Axel in for some grooming and who knows what. A was in with both her horses and Vinnie was being his usual teenage self. The bad thing about a black horse is the more you brush the dirtier they look especially this time of year. The shedding has slowed down a bit for now but Axel is still as hairy as can be. He's still swollen but they are also still hanging out close to the feeder so I don't expect too much change in that department until it starts getting a lot nicer.

The pasture is getting pretty muddy but there's still a good layer of ice under the manure so when I pulled Axel out of the pasture he wasn't walking too well but he shaped up when we got on good footing. His nice clean back feet from when I got them shaved up the last time are no more. The back of his left hind is full of scabs again and it must be sore judging from the way he did not want me any where near it. I didn't scrub with the chlorhexidine this time instead I just covered him in MTG in the hopes that either 1. it loosens up the scabs a bit and keeps away some of the mud and/or 2. it actually does kill the mud fever. I might go on an alternating plan this spring, one week scrub clean and the next time douse in MTG. In the grand scheme of things even when his legs hurt he's very cooperative.

The BOs are going to put up a temporary fence in the pasture to keep the boys off the low parts and give that half a chance to actually grow this year before they start grazing it down to nothing. I'm glad about that but I'm sure that means Axel will stay swollen a little longer and where they do end up will probably be pretty muddy.

Sunday I wimped out and stayed home but N had a chance to get out and work with Cody again. I guess he did pretty well and made it down the road to the spot Danny had issues in last week. Then he started to balk a little. N dismounted and walked him past the scary ghosts and got back on and heading home. He was a little worked up on the way home (doing his best Rollkur impression I'm sure) but settled in and she didn't have to have him circle at all. I guess they worked on stopping and resting and being calm on the walk back. And apparently he was not sweaty when they returned which means despite some of his protesting he was calm enough to not work himself into a lather, good boy Cody! Hopefully by the time it's really nice out and people are ready to ride around the block Cody will be easy to handle and N can get out for some longer rides with him. He seems pretty decent when you take him away from the property on a real trail ride so I'm not too worried about that and all this going out alone on the road should only help. I just wonder if we'll every get Axel back in physical and mental shape to do some trail rides this fall when I'm able to ride again and my trailer is done (fingers crossed).

Flying a Kite

Made it out to the barn on a day when it was warm enough I didn't have to wear 10 layers of clothes, and boy was it nice. N was getting Cody ready and I had Axel in the aisle with him. Of course that didn't stop Cody from sweating just standing there. A showed up and got Danny ready while Cody was warmed up and Axel was long lined for a while. We decided we should all head out on the road for a while and enjoy the weather. I decided it was probably going to be easier to just lead Axel on the road rather than ground drive him but I left his tack on, figured maybe he'd stay in "work" mode that way.

Things started off a bit rocky. Stitch was alone in his paddock and subsequently running the fence line and calling. We were barely out of the driveway when Axel took flight. He went straight up in the air with all four feet, bounced a couple times, and then came down calm as can be. So we walked on. A little while later he did the same thing. When cars would pass we'd stop and wait just to be on the safe side. Cody was very well behaved and even led the pack for most of the ride. Axel repeatedly flew up in the air for no reason. Our goal was to make it the full mile but as we were getting about a 1/4 mile away from our destination Danny decided there was some horse-eating corn stalks in the far ditch and had some moments of trepidation. It eventually led to him backing up til he hit the near side of the ditch. I think he spun around at the change of footing and lept into the ditch. Well most of the snow is melted around here but the ditch has a good 3-4 feet still in it. Basically the top of the snow in the ditch is level with the road. Danny was unable to float on top of this snow and ended up sunk to his belly. A was able to get off and re-situate her reins to use as a lead while Danny laid in the snow patiently waiting the "ok" to work himself out of his predicament. And there I stood not taking photos with my phone. Duh.

In the end he made it out to the field side of the ditch and they walked back toward the nearest driveway so they could get back on the road. Unfortunately the field was very muddy so it wasn't a clean walk for either horse nor leader. We decided that was a good time to head back. Cody was a little wound up on the walk back, when Danny thrashed in the snow, Axel freaked out a bit and Cody tried to head for home. Nice to know when his buddies are in trouble he'll just be getting the heck out of there ;) We did make it back in one piece, Cody using his best Rollkur impression the whole way. Halfway down the driveway Axel decided to rear and jump around like an idiot so he sealed his fate for some lunging.

I haven't been lunging him much because of his knee but in my mind if you are sound enough to leap in the air or rear then you are sound enough to sweat some energy off on the lunge line. So he trotted and cantered a bit and it didn't take long before he came back to earth. Apparently a little adrenaline makes for a nice painkiller for arthritis.

All three horses rolled on their lead lines and we stood around and chatted for quite some time. It's been a while since there's been more than one or two people at the barn at one time and the weather was nice so we didn't freeze standing out there talking. Now if only I could have been working on my favorite part of horse riding: practicing the halt under saddle while chatting with people ;) I should get plenty of practice with that later this summer when I can get back on a horse again, hopefully after wearing Axel out first!

Cody's Report

Ahh finally a gorgeous weekend. Wish I would have been able to get out and enjoy it on the back of a horse! Luckily for Cody, N was able to make it out and ride. She took him out on the road for the first time this year and he was not a perfect calm trail horse. But I wasn't expecting that. I was *hoping* he'd be super good for her but alas that was not the case. Sounds like it was a slow ride out and a fast ride home. She had him do a lot of circles and passed the driveway back and forth several times. I guess he did a lot of jigging but it doesn't sound like he tried to kill her or anything so that's good. Maybe after a few times he'll settle down. He's still cross cantering and doesn't like to pick up the left lead canter.

So Mr. Cody needs to do some more work. Ideally I'd ground drive him more (and Axel) and lunge him more at the canter. I also have an exercise that's supposed to help his canter leads but N would have to work on that one under saddle.

I just hope he can settle in by Summer so when I'm feeling back to riding again we can do some trail rides. Well I suppose we have to finish the trailer first ;)

Not a happy camper!

Last Sunday Axel was in fine form. I brought him into the barn and tacked him up, lunged him for a while. He was feeling pretty lazy and wasn't interested in running and bucking at all. I finally got on and walked him around for a while. It was so nice out I decided we should head down the road a little so we could keep moving but get some fresh air. We headed into the ditch and walked along until we got to the spot between the two fields. Axel stopped to look around and be the usual lazy Axel. I asked him to turn and head between the fields and before I knew it I was on the ground next to him and he was grazing. I have no idea what happened. He wasn't pissed as far as I could tell, there was no tell tale tail swishing or ear pinning. So I don't know what his problem was but he had all four feet off the ground and I flipped over his shoulder. I'm almost positive I landed on my feet and then stumbled backward and hit the ground. I wrenched my arm, side, and shoulder trying to rescue myself and keep hold of the reins. Though I had no need to worry since Axel was more interested in grass than going anywhere.

I grabbed him and tried to lead him over to the side of the ditch so I could mount easier. He decided (after weeks and weeks of standing knee deep and running through mud) that he was not going to step in the wet part of the ditch so he launched himself over the ditch and kicked my right leg in the process leaving me with a purple goose egg bigger than my hand. Needless to say Axel spent some quality time on the lunge line in the arena after that. He actually cantered both leads soundly until he was sweated up pretty good. Probably the most exercise he's gotten in a year. He even did some trotting that looked more on the side of sound than usual. Maybe a little stretching out is good for the ole boy. I was very unhappy with him so after he ran enough I put him back outside and went home.

My next trip to the barn on Tuesday was a little calmer. I just groomed both horses and scrubbed up their legs with some Chlorhexidine to try and fend off the mud fever. It just won't stop raining and they haven't had a chance to even dry out and now it's getting too cold to get the hose out so I'm left with mud, wet rags, and long hair. Ug. If they ever dry out I'll try and shave them both up a bit but who knows when that'll happen.