Weekday Visit

Drove out to visit the horses right after work today. Now that it's finally light out past 6 I actually have time to go out there. Ended up hanging out for a couple hours. I groomed Beau and took him for a walk down the road. After our walk I just let him hang out in the barn and munch on some hay. He seemed pretty hungry. I got out the shedding blade and went out in the paddock and groomed both Cody and Axel. There wasn't nearly as much hair coming off as on Saturday, which surprised me. But they're still fuzzy, especially Cody. All the other horses decided they wanted to be groomed as well. I can't leave anyone out so everyone got groomed a bit while I was there. I was kind of hanging out waiting to see if Tom would get home so I got out the camera and took a bunch of pictures as usual. I was standing on the fence when Corey came by so I sat on him for a while.

I decided sitting on the back of a horse with no reins was not a good place for me to be with my new camera so I hopped off and put the camera away. I grabbed my helmet and some clip on reins and Corey's halter. I rode him around bareback in the other pasture for a few minutes but he really didn't want to go for a ride, I think all the horses were more anxious for dinner. After fighting with Corey for a while I decided to ride Axel a bit. I wanted to see how he'd do with just a halter and clip on reins. It's quite the difference riding a little Arab and then riding big ole Axel. Axel and I managed to ride around the pasture a few times and even had a little trot. But it was pretty evil of me to make the horses ride around the pasture and not let them eat any of the grass. Poor guys have to wait probably another month before they can get on any grass.

April Fools

Well it was supposed to be nice out today. They lied. The sun almost peeked out for a minute or two and it wasn't 60F like they said it would be. But, it wasn't raining so we went out for a ride anyways.

First I had to go help at WCR with a barn clean up. After, I got the barn manager to come out and ride with me. I fetched the horses from the mud and we did our best to clean them up. Not an easy job this time of year. Put the western saddles on even though Cody's isn't fitting him well. There's a really nice one that I might be able to buy from WCR if it fits him. We figured for a ride down the road his old saddle would be fine. He actually doesn't act out at all because of it, that I can tell, it just looks uncomfortable.

We went up the road and planned to go across an unplowed bean field but it was way too soft and the horses were sinking in too far. Cody only tested me twice at the beginning of the ride. Hopefully that means we're getting past this whole issue of trying to get back to the barn. Axel was an angel as usual. He's really a diamond in the rough, that big goofy horse.

Tried out the new bridle on Cody this time as well. The cavesson doesn't fit at all but I think if I punch some more holes in it, it might work. He didn't mind the new bit, just a loose ring snaffle I borrowed from a friend. But he didn't love it either. I might try Axel's D-ring on him next time just to see. It's a bit thinner. He didn't start fussing until we were headed back towards the barn.

After our little ride we took Kiko and Kalani out for a walk up the drive way. Kiko wasn't overly scared but she's kind of a handful on the lead. She is in season so perhaps that a lot to do with it. Kalani is a big 'fraidy cat, but he did well despite. Hopefully we can work with him more and get him some training as well. It's almost time to go on some trail rides. Today was actually Kalani's birthday as well, guess he's just an April fool.

While we were walking the pintos, Corey was back in the pasture having a coronary. Running around, snorting and calling. Then Cody started calling, and even Axel started calling. Despite all the calling, the pintos didn't call back and were fairly unaffected. There's hope after all ;)

If it doesn't rain tomorrow morning I think I'll go out and take Beau for a walk down the road as well. I should take Corey for a ride but I don't think his saddle is in the tack room and we can probably wrap Axel's girth around him twice.

Saturday and Sunday

I couldn't get out to visit the boys last week so I made up for it by visiting both Saturday and Sunday this weekend. And on top of that I have a new camera so I have a large pile of photos to choose from. I managed to catch Cody and Kalani playing their little game which I wouldn't have been able to get with my old camera (it reacts too slowly). I had picked up a pair of dairy boots last weekend and boy am I glad I did. It was mud up over my ankles. The horses were covered in it. All I did on Saturday was groom. I gave Corey and Beau their birthday treats since it was both of their birthdays this week.



The amount of mud and hair I curried off the horses was insane. I guess they roll in the mud to help the shedding hair fall off easier. I bought a shedding blade to help with that. Not a whole lot else was happening on Saturday. Most of the horses were hanging out in the paddock where the mud isn't quite as bad. I did manage to get Cody in the barn to groom him without Corey driving us nuts. And out of the mud it was easier to pick out hooves.

This morning I went out and got two new bridles from Fleet Farm. Nothing special, just brown leather english bridles with cavessons. I also stopped at Petsmart and picked up a D-ring bit for Axel. I have a loose ring snaffle from Tricia to try out on Cody.

I decided to take Beau for a little walk down the road. It's pretty tough for the horses to get around in the mud, they slip and slide all over. And Beau being as stiff as he usually is, just stands there. So we went out where there was solid footing and walked around for awhile. I think he enjoyed getting out a bit. I hope to walk him every time I go out there. My thought is that moving around like that will help loosen him up a bit so he'll be ready for a little trail ride this spring.


While we were on the road the other horses were playing in the lake in the middle of the pasture. Four of them were in the water pawing and splashing. It was pretty funny to see, too bad I didn't have my camera with me at that point. Cody was the only one not in the water. Seems like maybe he prefers to stay dry if possible. When the rest of the horses took off running through the water, he brought up the rear trotting as high as he could.

After walking Beau a bit I groomed some of the horses again. Of course as soon as I was done with Axel he rolled in the mud. I brought him into the barn and groomed him again and tacked him up. Got his new bridle on and adjusted. It's kind of stiff right now, I'll have to work on that. We just went up the road and back, probably 2 block lengths each way or a little less. Just a quick ride. It was pretty windy. Axel did well though, we even had a nice little trot, a very little trot. I think Axel has mastered the jog, too bad I had him in an english saddle and was planning to post the trot!

Axel is a Dressage Horse!

Tricia and I went out for a ride yesterday. After last weekend's ride I was a little wary on how the horses were going to act. Tricia brought her dressage saddle and bridle to try out on Axel. Mostly we just wanted to see how he'd go in a different bit. After we did our best to brush a thousand pounds of mud off them, I put my english saddle on Cody and we went out to the yard. Right from the start they were acting like dorks. It was super windy and it was supposed to rain.

We walked around to the front of the house and right as we got there Tom opened the house door. Both horses spooked. So that was a fabulous start to our ride. Tricia must have really gotten to Axel, because after that he was an angel. Cody on the other hand, was still all worked up. We got up on the road and road past the nursery. They had some piles of mulch or something covered with big white tarps that were blowing around in the wind. Neither horse really reacted until we were past. Then Cody refused to go any further. He'd back into the ditch and try and head back towards the barn. It took several tries, with Tricia ponying us, or getting off and leading us, to get Cody moving in the right direction. I finally managed to figure out what to do with him, with Tricia coaching. I guess we have two problems. One is that now that Cody is the #2 man he's even more herd bound than before. And the second issue is that he doesn't think of me as the boss. Luckily Tricia was able to get me some pointers on how to keep Cody thinking about me so that he didn't have time to think about the herd or the scary tarp. In the end we made it down the dirt road, turned around and rode back to the barn, into the wind. It was like a wind tunnel.

Cody was pretty well behaved on the way back, he was a little high strung but atleast he was moving in the right direction the whole time. Tricia gave me a different bit to try on him next time as well. Axel was a complete superstar in his dressage outfit. He loved the big and chewed on it the whole time. She said he needed a lot of leg but he moved right into the bit and was even foaming a bit. So I think we havea winning combination for Axel - a nice D ring snaffle, lots of leg, and a direct rein. Of course having a really good rider doesn't hurt ;)

Now I'll just have to figure out Cody's winning combination. Atleast when he gets high strung he doesn't bolt or runaway. He just likes to back into the ditch! Unfortunately my photos were really blurry this time. Time to get a new camera ;)

Not the best ride ever

Jeff and I went out for a ride yesterday. It was pretty windy out so maybe that was the reason all the horses were acting like goofs. Or maybe it was the warm weather, spring fever. The horses in the pasture were running through the mud puddles and bucking and kicking. As a matter of fact, so were Cody and Axel, while we were riding them!

I was in the tack room looking for the weight tape and Jeff was out in the pasture with Axel. I guess he decided to go for a little ride before we got the tack out. I came out to see him riding around on Axel bareback with no halter or bridle. We all think Axel isn't the smartest horse out there but I think maybe he's got more going on in his head than we give him credit for. He went straight for a low branched tree and brushed Jeff off his back right onto the ground. So that just started the day off on a good foot!

We groomed and saddled up and went out to the road. Axel proceeded to trot around into the ditch while Cody had his own little freak out circling around. We decided it must be the wind or something but neither horse would calm down. We just went back and forth on the road right in front of the pasture trying to calm them down. Cody kept sticking his tongue out and avoiding the bit so I finally got off and loosened his curb chain. That seemed to calm him down quite a bit but he was still a bit agitated. The rule was as soon as we walked calmly down the road and back we'd stop. Axel decided he didn't want to wait and started bucking like crazy. It was actually pretty entertaining to watch but I don't think Jeff felt the same way being the one on the horse.

We did make it down the road and back calmly after that. I'm afraid that now that Cody's moved up to #2 in the herd he's even more herd bound than before. But since all the horses were having issues it was probably just the wind.

Anyways ... after that we brought Beau in and took off his rug so he could roll. I brushed him and measured him with the weight tape. He's about 959Lbs according to the tape. Condsidering his age and all that that seems like a pretty decent weight. He's similiar to Cody and only 200Lbs lighter. Cody came up at 1111Lbs and Axel was at a whopping 1350Lbs. Without moving him to more level ground I remeasured his height, still at 16 or even 16.1hh. We wanted to confirm that since Noah at We Can Ride measures at 15.3hh and we didn't believe that Axel could be taller.

New Toys

The boys have some new toys. On our way back from the farm last night we swung by the ranch to visit the boys and drop off some tires. We got three race car tires for them to play with. They used to play with them all the time when they lived at the shop so we thought maybe this would help them stay out of trouble. ;)

It was dark when we got there and most of the horses were kind of afraid of me rolling the big tire at them. We just put one tire out for now, we'll see how that goes. I'd like to hang one in a tree this spring when they get out into the other pastures. Cody and Axel knew what the deal with the tires was right off the bat. I expected Axel to be a little more into it but he did chew on the tire a bit before walking away. Cody surprised me by taking command of the tire. He played with it a little before Corey, Kiko, and Kalani had their chance to see what the fuss was about.

On our way out I had Jeff turn the car so that the headlights were facing the pasture. We ended up sitting there watching Cody and Kalani play tug-o-war with that big tire for the longest time.

Time to buy a new Jollyball

Another calm day despite the wind. It seems like maybe Cody has put himself as #2 in the herd. And Axel didn't chase Beau around at all while I was there, so hopefully he's not really doing that much any more. Tom must really be working with Axel when he feeds because he was backing up a lot better today. He'd take a good 3 steps before stopping. I did get to see Cody and Kalani play a little bit, but they weren't rearing up at each other, I had hoped to catch that. I was only out for a little while, curried and brushed manes and tails. Maybe when it warms up a bit I'll go for another ride. They must be really enjoying the Jollball. Every time I go out there I have to retrieve the ball from the other side of the fence. The poor ball has seen better days. Axel likes to bite the the ball instead of using the handle. Maybe I'll have to get them a tire to play with as well.

Another Sunday Visit

Sunday I just went out for a quick visit since I was starting my new
job the following week and wouldn't get in as many visits as usual.
Did the usual cleaning under the overhang where I like to think the
horses stand when it's windy or rainy or something. Then I went out
and curried all the horses and brushed manes and tails. Even Kalani
was willing to stand there for it. It was still pretty mellow and the
sun was out so everyone was eating and soaking up the heat.

Axel isn't quite the most graceful of creatures so I decided it was
time to work on backing up. I got out the Parelli carrot stick and
string and put Axel's halter on him. First we played the friendly
game with the stick and string, he pretty much just wanted to eat the
stick. He didn't care if I swished the string around him or over his
back or neck, or smack it on the ground next to him. Then we played
porcupine game trying to get him to move his hind quarters. He seemd
to figure that out after a while on both sides. The backing up didn't
work out quite as well as the hind quarters did. Right now he'll just
take one step at a time back. But we'll keep working on it.

I ran into Tom on Monday and he mentioned that when he had been
outside on Sunday he saw Cody and Kalani playing a couple games
together. One game that Kalani and Rusty used to always play is when
the two horses rear up on their hind legs at each other. That game
was dubbed "Stalliono," and now Cody is playing it with Kalani. The
other game they were playing was pass the Jollyball. Just like they
had been passing the stick a while ago, now they were passing their
Jollyball back and forth (a Jollybally is like a plastic ball with a
handle on it they make for horses so they can carry it around). I
knew it was just a matter of time before Cody made some new best
friends. You could tell he really wanted to play with the other
horses but was biding his time until they invited him.

Sunny Saturday

I didn't have a lot of time today so it was just a quick visit. I had Tricia come out with me and we went for a ride around the pasture bareback. When we got there we found most of the horses napping in the sun.

Axel did not want to get up. Tricia even sat on him for a while and he just wanted to nap.


We decided to use Axel's laziness for a photo op.


We finally got him up to go for a ride. I rode Cody and Tricia worked with Axel. He's starting to catch on pretty well.

Goodbye Rusty!

Rusty's owner came out today to take him to another barn. His arthritis is getting pretty bad and she wants to keep him indoors more and also closer to where she lives. So out in the cold we went to load him in the trailer. Cody was eating with Rusty when I got there. They've been hanging out together a lot, so I think that Cody will be a little sad to have Rusty gone. Rusty's owner put some polo wraps on his legs to provide some protection while in the trailer. Poor Rusty hasn't worn wraps in a while so he was high steppin' it for a while, it was pretty cute. And good ole Rusty loaded into the trailer like an expert. He was sad to go and kept calling to the herd, and the herd all lined up at the fence and called back. It'll be interesting to see what happens to the herd dynamics now. Rusty was kind of a protector of Beau. Hopefully someone will step up and take over that job. I think maybe Cody would be the next best canidate. Someone needs to keep Axel from chasing Beau around all the time.



And just for fun, I'm going to start calling Axel, "Sugar Lips" from now on.

Farrier Visit

Yesterday was the 2 month mark. Tom and I were out grooming when a big bald eagle flew over.

We had the farrier out yesterday to trim. Axel really needed it. And now he looks fabulous. It was super sunny and warm. I almost had to take my jacket off when I was grooming it was so warm, but I didn't want to get my shirt dirty.

So much mud!

Only two short weeks of freedom left before I start another job. Well I suppose that's a good thing but it means less barn time. Went out to visit the boys today. This warm weather and rain has left the paddock and pasture a complete muddy mess. It must be tough getting around because everyone was up hanging out by the barn today. No halters and lead ropes today, I just went around and curried all the mud off of everyone and then I did manes and tails. Raked some of the manure out from under the overhang so there's atleast once dry, clean place for everyone to stand. Played some friendly game with Axel but he didn't want to play the porcupine game. Which was fine with me since he insisted on standing in the mud. Cody and I played some other Parelli games and he did really well. Slowly we should be working up to a good relationship. It'll just take some time. Right now he certainly knows me as the girl with the treats in her pocket.

Saturday Trail Ride

I had my friend, Stephanie, the barn manager for the Minnetonka barn (for We Can Ride), out to ride with me on Saturday. We decided to go for western saddles since we wanted to go up the road a bit for some site seeing. The pasture was pretty gross to begin with and I'm tired of riding around in circles. The road was actually a good choice. It was wet but not icy and it wasn't all rocky like it is in the summer so the boys didn't have to tip-toe. We went down the dead end road until we spotted that dog that had chased me before. That was our cue to turn around and go down a different road. It's not a busy road by any means but the one SUV that did go past us (twice) didn't even bother to slow down, he just sped by waving. Some people are very rude. Cody was having some issues at that point but they weren't due to the being scared of the car. He was fussing with his bit and cranky that we weren't heading back to the barn, I wonder if maybe his bit is pinching him, it almost looks a bit too small. So we did a little dance in the ditch while the car passed. A few feet from where the pavement starts cody decided there was something scary and he wouldn't go any further. So we decided that was a good time to turn around anyways. Since the road was so nice we decided to go for a little canter on the way back. Cody was pretty excited but he collected pretty nice when I asked for it. Axel was feeling his oats and took this opportunity for a little buck. Steph said he picked up the canter right away and even went on the lead she requested, might have been a fluke but that's ok. We made it back to the barn right before it started raining and spent a little time cleaning out the barn and under the overhang. We also took Beau's rug off and brushed him a bit as well. So all in all, it was a good day.

Windy Thursday

Went out to hang with the boys a bit. It was a pretty uneventful day. Super sunny and nice out but a little windy so every once in a while everyone would take off running. Tried to work with Axel on some lunge work but I think we gotta start at the beginning. He had no idea what I wanted him to do. So we did practice some ground work, walk and halt. Couldn't quite get the trot in hand going. I let him go and went to halter Cody. Had the halter on but not buckled when the herd started running from the evil horse eating wind. Cody wanted to run with them but he stopped when he realized he had a halter on. He could have stepped away and the halter would have just fallen off at that point but he didn't so I rewarded his repsect by giving him a scratch and letting him go.

So after all the excitement of the wind died down the fun began... I think they call this, pass the stick.

Gorgeous day today

I spent most of the afternoon out at the barn with all the horses. Groomed Cody up and played a little Parelli friendly game with him. He's getting a lot more people friendly, mostly I think he's looking for treats though ;) I put Beau in the barn and took off his rug and let him roll in the dirt for a while. While he hung out in the barn and ate I groomed Axel. He must have been laying in the snow, his whole right side was soaking wet. And that combined with his black hair in the sun, you could see the steam coming off of him. I put the english saddle on him and we played around in the front pasture a little bit. I don't quite have the hang of the figure 8's yet, but I think Axel is starting to get it. The snow is pretty weird right now so we only got a little trot on the way back to the paddock. Though it was a very smooth trot. I am excited for summer to come so we can go for some real rides.

I untacked Axel and put Beau's rug back on and let him back out side with the herd. I was just kind of hanging out wasting time when Corey started following me around and wouldn't leave me alone. Tom had said to ride him whenever I want so I grabbed a bridle and took him into the round pen. I actually coudln't find his bridle so I just used one that looked like it might fit. And I just decided to ride bareback, he's close to the ground so I figured if I fell it wouldn't be too bad. I couldn't quite get him close enough to the fence to get on so I kind of had to fling myself at him. But the little goof was so good, he just stood there solid until I was on all the way. We walked around several times and he decided he was done and just stopped. Not wanting to end on that note I did get him moving again before *I* decided it was time to stop. He's a fun little guy and it'll be good to get him out on some trail rides this spring too. That way we'll have atleast 3 horses to go on rides with, Cody, Axel, and Corey. Now we just have to get Kiko and Kalani working under saddle.

Right before I left I put out the Jollyball to see if anyone wanted to play. Actually everyone took their turn carrying it around a bit. Cody seemed to like it the most this time. It's supposed to be nice again tomorrow so I'll probably go out again and see what kind of damage I can do with lunging. :>

Happy Birthday, Rusty!

Thursday, January 19, was Rusty's 25th birthday, according to the barn calendar. We didn't have a party or anything but I gave him some extra treats when I was visiting on Saturday.



It was pretty chilly out on Saturday so I just groomed the boys a bit. Cody's been hanging around a bit more than usual but I think he's just looking for some treats. He and Rusty were hanging out while I groomed Axel. Cody had his turn and got the treats he was looking for. And since it was Rusty's birthday I groomed him a bit too. Not sure if his owner made it out to visit him or not. One day I'll meet her. It was pretty chilly out so I didn't stay for very long and the front pasture was open so everyone was interested in checking out if they could find every last bit of hay out there.

Axel meets his match

I had Tricia out for a ride after conditioning Saturday afternoon. It was nice and sunny out and a great day to ride. Tricia rode Axel bareback and I put the english saddle on Cody. Tricia began the ride by vaulting up on Axel. Then she took him around a couple trees in figure 8s until she got him to bend with the turns, something he usually just doesn't do. She said he was a completely different horse than he was the first time she rode way back in the beginning. Cody couldn't figure out the reasoning behind doing figure 8s, when we'd get half way around a tree he could see Axel coming around the other side so he'd take the easy way around. I think he thought the point was to keep his eye on Axel the whole time. I probably should have pushed Cody a little harder to listen to me but just staying out in the pasture and not trying to get back to his herd was some good practice for us. We took a few laps around the front pasture in both directions. Tricia kept fighting with Axel when we'd pass the one corner that would take them back to the paddock until he finally gave in and would listen to her. She had him do some trotting circles in the middle of the pasture as well and he really started to collect. He's got a really smooth trot, but of course she could probably sit even the bumpiest trot. So Tricia thinks if we keep working on Axel he could make a pretty darn nice horse. Maybe it's not so far fetched that some day we'll get Axel to jump or something. She's probably going to come out every other Saturday after conditioning the therapeutic horses with me.

A weekday visit

Went out for a little visit today. The plan was to do a little Parelli with Cody and Axel. I brought out the rope halter that I had made and Corey was following me around practically putting his head in the halter. So I figured I'd practice on him. He was a pretty good boy, but he's had quite a bit of handling and whatnot in his life. After that I tried to work with Cody a bit. My rope halter doesn't really work very well, it's all crooked and doesn't fit right so I think I'll have to break down and buy one sometime. Mostly with Cody I just worked on the "friendly game" and getting him to pay attention to me and not the other horses in the pasture. We stood in the paddock and faced different directions and I petted him. He'd start pulling his head and nodding up and down towards his friends so I'd slowly pull the lead until he'd face his head to me then I'd pet him some more. We didn't have any breakthroughs but we'll keep working.

My intention was to work on the "porcupine game" with Axel but the rope halter just wasn't working on him and he was a little confused about it. So we ended up not really playing our games. After that I just kind of hung out for a while and tried to clean up the paddock a bit. Cody spent some time with Koko the cat at the water trough. He kept trying to smell Koko but the cat would step away from him. They are cute little friends.

A winter ride

Jeff and I went out to the barn on Saturday to do a little riding. It was actually pretty sunny and nice out for once. We put Beau in the barn for his little personal hay buffet and we took off his rug and brushed him a bit. He's looking pretty good as far as I can tell, I don't think he's lost any weight. We left Beau in the barn and groomed Cody and Axel. The boys are getting very good at picking up their feet for me, I'm so happy about that. I imagine the farrier will be happy as well. We decided to just go for a bareback ride in the front pasture. Getting on Cody bareback is quite a bit easier than getting on Axel. I looked away for one second and Jeff was already on Axel. I think he got on from the fence, which I always have trouble doing because he swings his rear end out. It looked like he stood pretty good and didn't walk away. I used the mounting block and hopped up on Cody and we were off into the pasture. Cody was still pretty reluctant as none of the other horses were coming with us. We made it around the pasture twice, only a little discussion about who was the boss. Atleast I know one way of keeping Jeff and Axel at the walk, take away their saddle! Hopefully I can get Cody out a couple times a month for the rest of the winter so he stays sound for some spring riding and learns that even if he leaves the group for a little ride they will be there when he gets back.

It's supposed to be pretty warm tomorrow so I will go out again and visit the boys and maybe work on some Parelli or something with them. Tonight I have my first Teaching Assistant class for WCR. My own riding lessons tomorrow night. Horse training on Thursday, and winter conditioning on Saturday. I'm also thinking of signing up for this workshop that the U of MN is offering in February on various topics for horse owners.

Where is the sun?

Since I am once again unemployed, I went out to visit the boys today, on a Thursday. I put Beau in the barn with some hay so he could have some peace and quite and a little lunch while I was there. I haven't taken off his blanket yet but felt around under it and he almost feels like he's gaining weight. If I can get someone to help me on Saturday I'll take off his blanket and see what's going on under there and maybe brush him a bit. So while he was munching away I went and groomed Axel. He was very good about his feet this time. Picked them all up pretty easy, only a little trouble with his left rear but not nearly as much trouble as it usually is. His head is still scabbed over so I can't really tell what's going on with his wound. I figure when it's healed up he'll start scratching his head on trees and the scab will fall off on it's own.

Cody came over to see what was going on so I groomed him next. He was such a good boy. I picked up both his front feet from the left side. I went to both sides for the back feet because all the other horses were crowding around and I didn't want him to loose his balance. I brushed the other horses a bit because they were hanging around. And everyone got some apple treats. Cody was being quite friendly today and following me around and just kind of hanging out with me. That was a nice change, usually he's off being a horse with the rest of the herd.

When I was done grooming I decided to jump on Axel for a quick spin around the pasture. He tries to pretend he doesn't see me coming with his bridle but I know better. It took us a couple tries to stand still well enough for me to mount from the block. Part of the problem was Corey trying to get Axel to move away, once Corey got bored of that then things went ok. Axel wasn't completely into the ride but we made it around the pasture in once piece. He's so funny, I cue him for a turn and he turns 90 degrees. He doesn't quite bend, he just stops and turns. Silly boy. Hopefully Tricia will come out and ride with me on Sunday morning and maybe she can offer some tips to get him to move a little more smoothly.

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.