Not Good News

So far it's not looking good for Cody and his chances to rejoin the herd. Or Axel for that matter. Apparently the reason Axel was in with Cody is because Axel insists on chasing everyone during meals which not only means none of the other horses get to eat but it also means it's difficult for the barn owners to give him his supplement because he keeps walking off. So I chatted with Jason for a while and right now his plan is to move Cody and Axel to the front pasture when the two horses that live there leave at the end of the month. He figured eventually Cody will give up and stop pacing. But if he doesn't calm down soon I might have to look into some supplements for calming so he doesn't work himself sick worrying about the other horses.

Though Jason did say they would maybe try to put the horses together again or maybe put Danny back in with them and put the two grays up front instead. Really I just want Cody and Axel in with other horses so I can take one out and not have the one left behind have a heart attack, but that's selfish. In the end I just hope Cody calms down and maybe learns it's okay to be alone or almost alone.

I didn't have a lot of time so I just grabbed Cody and we went into the arena to work. Our circles were okay, nothing spectacular. Same with the turn on the haunches and forehand. We did manage to do some side-passing though in both directions. Thought each of our activities weren't great the overall work was really good. He didn't call to the other horses, he wasn't yawning, he was fairly responsive, and he seemed very calm about it - almost back to his usual self. We really have to work on our halt though. I ask for a halt and when I get it, he creeps forward. It seems like I'm always backing him up and he's just not getting it. I guess it's time to try something different. I took him to the furthest part of the paddock when we were done and tried to get him to stand still while I took his halter off, that's another thing we're working on - not running away as soon as we're done.

Still Pacing

I knew Cody was going to be a hold out on this whole herd bound issue but I thought just maybe he'd calm down after a few days. He's still pacing the fence line while Axel stands in the opposite corner napping. Unlike yesterday he led out of the paddock a lot calmer so we went right to the barn. He didn't stand well in the cross ties but I groomed a little while before going into the arena. We did more circling and changing directions and then worked a lot on turn on the haunches and turn on the forehand. After all the turning he actually seemed to calm down quite a bit. Two of the arena doors were open so he had a lot to look at but the lateral work seemed to keep his attention better than most stuff. Obviously he wasn't completely 100% in tune with me but considering how he's been lately he did really well.

I brought Cody back to the paddock and grabbed Axel. I did a few laps with Axel back and forth out of sight and back in sight of Cody. Cody wasn't going to get bored of that since he didn't really care about Axel leaving so we just went to the arena. Axel stood like a statue in the cross ties (until I put the saddle on him then he lost patience). With two of the arena doors open Axel was beside himself trying to look out every time we passed. He had quite a bit more energy than usual but despite that I was able to sit his trot again. I had the western saddle on him if that makes any difference. He wasn't bending quite as well as he usually does but his attention was outside. We trotted a bit and I asked for a few canters. Wrong lead on the left and I think the right side was correct but it was a short canter so I didn't have much of a chance to check it out. He only bucked once so I wasn't going to push it.

I got off and untacked him so I could lunge him and get a couple more canters out of him. He actually offered the canter on the lunge line several times and it was the left lead believe it or not. To the right he had a few little head twists and grabbed the lunge line out of my hand but after that he cantered nicely. I unclipped him so I could go put away tack so I asked him to trot and canter without the line and he did pretty well with that even; right lead canter with no bucking. I love how one of my horses can act like a total idiot while the other one makes up for it.

Pacing

Axel is still in with Cody. The barn owners didn't seem to be around so I'm still assuming that's the reason. However, Cody has dug himself a nice 8-10" rut from pacing the fence (thus proving that having Axel in with him does not calm him down). They moved the feeder in the middle of his rut, either to block his path (which doesn't work, he just goes around) or to put the feeder near the feeder on the other side of the fence so the horses are sort of eating together.

I did some circling with Cody right in the paddock before I brought him out to groom. As is becoming more normal now, he was a complete fool while tied to the hitching rail (the hunter girls have their lesson on Mondays so the arena/parking lot/barn aisle are all occupied). I didn't groom long before I brought Cody back in the paddock with the intention to keep working him. Axel stays out of the way and just watches so it works out okay for everyone.

Cody and I worked on circling with him keeping an ear on me. He wasn't too great at this today since he was really concerned that those gray horses were way out in the pasture and he couldn't see them. We also worked on standing and looking at me. I tried to anticipate the moment that he couldn't stand there any more and move him before he chose to move. Every time he stood and looked at me for a few seconds without his attention drifting we'd walk back towards the other paddock where he wanted to go anyway. After all this work he did calm down a notch but all things are relative of course. It must have been almost dinner time because the gray horses decided to come back up to the fence and see what was going on. That made Cody very happy so we worked a few more minutes and then I let him go.

I groomed Axel at the hitching rail and he was solid as ever, just standing still and enjoying the scratches. I thought he would shed out more black than it seems he is. But he probably has a lot more shedding to do. He seems to be getting some white hairs on his forehead now as well. I don't think it'll be a full fledged star, I think it's just old age, I mean he is 16 after all!

Still Confined

Cody is still stuck in the middle paddock. But this time when I went out Axel was with him. My guess is that the barn owners were gone all day so they put Axel in with Cody to calm him down a bit since they wouldn't be around all day. Danny must have been out with his owner so it was just Amigo and Steele on one side of the fence and Cody and Axel on the other side. Though I have to say, Axel didn't seem to provide Cody with much comfort. When Amigo and Steele wandered away from the fence Cody called for them and paced the fence.

I took Cody out to the hitching rail and groomed him there but he was a basket-case about it. I decided to work him in the grass for a while out of sight of the other geldings. He wasn't great but we worked on some of the focus exercises and he'll come back to me but only for a moment before turning his attention to the herd. So continued work on that is on the list. I really want to keep working on this while he's so worked up, I know he'll settle down as soon as the herd dynamics are all figured out but every time something changes we're back to psycho horse.

I put Cody back and just groomed Axel a bit in the paddock and just kind of hung out for a while. There wasn't too much excitement. Cody and Steele sniffed under the fence a bit and Cody squealed at him. But that was about it.

Cody's Confinement

I pulled up to the barn this afternoon and noticed that the new horse (horse owned by a friend of the barn owner's) was in the front paddock with the goofy paint gelding and the black and white paint mare. Looking further I see that Cody is in the middle paddock, by himself. I can see some other horses off in the distance in one of the back pastures. Cody was screaming his head off and not a happy horse. I was wondering what was going on. Jason was around so I chatted with him for a while. I guess he had just put out Amigo and Steele with Cody, Axel, and Danny. There was some fireworks and Cody gave it to Steele pretty bad. So they decided to put Cody by himself and give the rest of the herd a chance to get settled. The other four were getting along well when I got there. There was a few squeals still happening but very minor and all talk.

I grabbed Cody and brought him into the barn. I groomed pretty quickly because Cody was having a fit in the crossties. He did show me that his issue is not with the bit. Clearly his gaping mouth issue and probably the tongue over the bit issue is some sort of anxiety thing. I took a quick video if it with my phone if anyone wants to offer some suggestions on what to do to get him over this.

I took him into the arena to get his feet moving and hopefully get his attention back to me and off of the fact that his herd was far away. We did some circling and worked on keeping on the outside of the circle and not drifting in. Lots of changing directions to make sure he was paying attention to me. For the first time we worked on Cody circling around me with me stationary like you see all the NH types do. He was confused at first and when he got around to my back he wanted to stop and switch directions so we worked through that. You could tell he was concentrating more, his trot got slower and more thoughtful while he tried to figure out what it was that I wanted. We worked a little bit on some turns on the forehand and haunches, mostly just working on responding to pressure. I also lunged him on the real lunge line just to get him moving out a bit and to get a canter. He wasn't very willing to canter this time but we managed.

I did try some standing still focus type work but if his feet weren't moving he wasn't paying attention to me. I saddled him, mounted very easily and we rode around the arena. I grabbed another bridle from my stash, this one is a sort of loose ring with a curved mouthpiece and copper inlays. I might stick with this bit or one like it, I can still neck rein if I want to but when I need to I can direct rein and not cause issues. He actually did well in this bit so far. There was some gaping mouth issues, I'm not sure if he ever got his tongue over the bit or not but if he did he put it back. We did a lot of walking, bending around the corner, staying on the "rail." We did circles in every corner, worked on getting that bend right and keeping the circle nice and round. I added in some serpentine and concentrated on not nagging with the reins but using my seat and legs. We trotted a little, not nearly as controlled as the walk but acceptable. In the end it was a very good ride despite the distractions. And we got to foot-print up the arena that Jason had just gotten done dragging. :)

I put Cody back in his little detention which was difficult to do as he looked longingly to the other boys in the pasture. He went over to the horses in the front pasture and called to them. One of the mares came up to see but was intercepted by the paint gelding who apparently felt threatened by Cody even through the fence. Usually Cody is pretty laid back as far as herd bosses go so I'm kind of surprised that he picked on Steele so bad. Hopefully his separation will help him get over the herd bound issue. I suppose his separation might make him a little more cooperative the next time they put him back in with Steele.

I grabbed Axel out of the pasture and we rode down the road for a while. Had a couple nice canters and generally just had a calm little ride. He seems to be getting along with the other horses really well. Steele squeals at him sometimes and paws but Axel just stands there. I'm thinking he might end up higher on the totem pole than usual. It seems like he enjoys being around some horses his same size. He was kind of tagging along with both Amigo and Steele and even though Steele seems to move Amigo around, it looked like Axel moved Steele. It'll be an interesting journey.

Manicure Day

Once again I brushed and brushed and brushed and there's still hair and mud everywhere. One of these days it'll be gone. Went out to the barn early to get the boys cleaned up before the farrier arrived. Both horses behaved themselves for their trim. He tapered Axel's front feet a bit so he doesn't flare out too much. He thought Cody's angles looked good. I could stand to get him x-rayed again though to make sure there's no change or laminitis.

When they were both done I decided to work with Axel for a while. He stood tied in the arena while I puttered around and he was very polite about it. Even with all the other horses in the aisle getting trimmed. He lunged the trot and canter pretty well also. Reluctant to pick up the canter but he had both leads. I got on and we walked for a bit and trotted. In my attempts to get him to collect a bit, wiggling the outside rein, he kept offering a canter. Well in reality I think it was actually just pissing him off and it wasn't a canter but a buck. So we tried a few canters. Went okay but slow to the right. And it was disjointed to the left. The barn owner mentioned it looked pretty rough. And boy was it. Even his trot was jerky and hard to ride. As much as I can figure it's a combination of having deeper footing so he has to pick up his feet more, he's moving out a little more than usual, and he had quite a bit of time off. I couldn't sit his trot to save my life. I was really riding poorly in the grand scheme of things. I'm pretty sure I have a bruise on my knee from smacking it on the saddle. I'm pretty sure that doesn't happen if a person rides properly. Oh well. We got out and moved around a bit and with the exception of a few little bucks things went okay. I'm not sure if Cody called while we were riding and Danny was being trimmed but when I brought Axel back out he was facing away from the gate not looking very concerned.

Mud and Hair

Mud and hair is the theme this time of year. I was going to experiment with some video taping tonight but part of the deal with boarding is that there are other boarders around. Apparently a couple of the girls have a little lesson on Mondays so the arena was full up. Rumor has it that two of the boarders are leaving at the end of this month so it should quiet down a bit. I scrapped the video taping for fear of looking like a dork and opted for some outdoor grooming. With all the mud and hair flying all over outside was the best option. The wind blew everything away and I didn't have to sweep the barn aisle. I groomed for over an hour and neither horse looks it in the least bit. Axel's mud fever doesn't seem to be showing it's face yet this year. He had a scrape on his one foot so I cleaned him up and sprayed it and some other rough spots with Betadine. Cody is shedding in full force and I could have used the shedding blade on him for days. Even with Danny in the furthers end of the pasture, I can take Cody away and Axel doesn't freak out like he does when both Danny and Cody are gone. It's kind of interesting. Next time Danny is gone I'll do some work with the herd bound-ness.

Apparently on Tuesday when it was snowing and raining and generally crappy out they brought all the horses into stalls. Including Cody and Axel. Sounds like my guys and Danny were in the small barn together. I guess they handled it fine. I suppose they were happy to be out of the mud and they probably had some nice hay to munch on.

First Ride Outside

So I've got myself a nice cold, perhaps it's pneumonia, but anyways. After WCR barn cleanup and self defense training I went out to the barn to visit Cody and Axel. Since it was fairly nice out and the shedding is going in full force I tied Cody to the hitching rail and groomed him out there. Danny was gone and Amigo was back with his old friends in the other pasture so Axel ran himself silly and screamed his head off since I had Cody and he was alone. So that was a good lesson for him anyway. I had hoped someone would be around to take a walk down the road but I was alone. Cody stood pretty well in the barn aisle so I tacked him up and decided to try a little trip down the road myself. I figured at the very least Axel could then see us and stop freaking out. I decided to try out Corey's old bit as well.

We slowly made our way down the driveway and reluctantly walked down the road. In a span of 5 minutes I think 3 cars went whipping past us. So I guess no one slows down for horses on that road. They all waved though. Cody actually behaved well when they passed. We made it down to the neighbors mailbox, which was all I intended on doing. He sped up on the way back of course and I had to ask for a walk often. I decided we were going to pass the driveway and not turn into it. The horses in that pasture were running around like crazies and Cody was all worked up over it but we survived and turned around again. I was going to push my luck and go past the driveway again but just as we passed it, Cody got the bit under his tongue and proceeded to have a fit. So that was pretty much the end of our ride. I probably should have fixed his bit and gotten back on but I didn't.

So Cody went out and Axel came to the hitching post with me. Cody took over Axel's job of screaming while I groomed. I brought him into the barn to get his feet a little drier and try and check out his back legs for mud fever. I had to grab something out of the tack room and he followed me in. I asked him to back out and he refused and there began our fight. That horse pissed me off. After some fighting in the tack room and Axel turning around and getting stuck we finally had to walk out facing forward. So I backed him down the aisle to the big open door at the other end, which he also refused to step down out of the barn. At this point he could tell I was pissed as I led him into the arena and he lunged around in both directions quite well until I calmed down. I guess we're going to have to go back to square one on the backing up issue. When we were done playing in the arena I tried to back him out the small barn door and giving him some apples as reward. He backs just fine until he gets to that point where either the ground changes or he's about to go through small doorway and then he stops. At this point I figured I better put him out as I was pushing my luck and I was tired and my nose was running. It just wasn't a good day to try and accomplish much, I must have used all my energy on Cody.

Rainy Tuesday

I thought maybe I'd ride tonight but it started raining pretty good on my way to the barn. Cody was standing near the fence visiting with Amigo and hiding from the mud. Axel was right up by the gate. Luckily I have my muck boots back so I was able to wade out to Cody and work on convincing him to cross the mud. He wasn't too happy with that, he's not too keen on walking through mud. When I got him out of the pasture I walked him down the driveway nearly to the road to get him to walk through some puddles and clean off his hooves.

I was going to groom him in the crossties but as I tied him up he just stood there shaking. The rain was pretty loud in the roof and after walking down the drive way past the other horses Cody was a little worked up. He wouldn't calm down so I finally brought him into the arena so he could move around and hopefully calm himself down. It was probably even louder in there but moving around seemed to do the trick. I thought maybe he'd want to roll since he was wet from the rain but he just wanted to sniff the ground. I let him run around loose for quite a while, he kicked up his heels a bit. He didn't seem afraid of the rain any more so that was good. We did a little work at liberty and a bit of ground work on the leadline.

I brought Cody back outside and grabbed Axel and walked him through the same puddles. I really wanted to get his feet clean so I could see if he's got any mud fever starting. I groomed him for a few seconds in the aisle but he was pretty wet and I knew he'd roll so I put him in the arena. He was feeling pretty frisky after rolling and ran around quite a bit. There were a few moves he pulled that I wondered if he'd actually land on his feet. In the end he was just running around like an idiot ignoring the fact that I was there, but he was moving and stretching and I think since they've been stuck in the snow and ice and now mud, that's probably a nice treat to just move. He would flail about for a while and then come to the middle to see me. I groomed him a bit and got as much mud off his feet as possible. So far his legs are looking good and I didn't get out the betadine yet. We'll see how he does after it rains for several days.

Cody is Also a Movie Star

I finally made it out to the barn alone so I could video tape some work with Cody. Our ground work didn't go quite as well as it has in the past, probably because there was a video camera, isn't that how it works? Our "circle game" was kind of lazy. Cody appears to be a bit off in these videos as well. So there's our laundry list of excuses. We worked on the circling for a bit and then I got out the real lunge line and whip to just get him moving a bit and practice our gaits and cues. It wasn't our best work over all. When I was done riding we worked on a few more circles and then tried our hand at some focus activities. Cody is supposed to keep his eyes and ears on me without moving. If he moves I get his attention back. It took a while for him to figure it out but he did pretty well in the end.

I rode with Cody in just the halter and lead rope. He was a little distracted and spent most of the time cruising around the arena with his head in the air and not wanting to bend. So I used the time to get used to Cody's gaits. Since I don't ride him very often I'm not used to how he goes so I figured that was a decent place to start. We did some trotting and tried a bit of cantering. Our canters didn't last too long and a few times we were on the wrong lead but it was a good opportunity to get used to him. When I figure out either which bit he'll go well in or how to get him to start paying better attention under saddle, we'll start working on more bending and things like that. If I ever get off my duff and get some long reins I'll start ground driving with him as well. Soon it'll be time to start riding outside down the road, that will be a whole new adventure I'm sure.

And Then There Was Mud

Another nice weather day but I just wasn't feeling like riding so I went out to the barn with some chores in mind. I was late on deworming this month so that was on the top of my list. I also borrowed Steph's cordless clippers. Of course the horses weren't up by the gate so I had to wade through the mud to get to them. By the time Axel and I got out to the drive way he was covered in mud. There were no puddles to walk through so we walked through a big snow bank to try and clean our feet off a little. It didn't really help so I walked him around the arena for a while. One of the other boarders was riding so we just hung out in the middle. Axel was very interested in watching the mare trot and canter around. When his feet were as dry as they were going to get we went out to the crossties to groom. He actually did really well for most of the time but when the girl and her horse decided to go outside to ride he started in with the head flinging and getting angry at the crossties. I shaved up his back ankles to try and prevent mud fever but it might be futile judging from the amount of mud in the pasture.

When all the exciting grooming was done it was time to deworm, something I am not terribly adept at. I gave Axel half an apple and then shoved the dewormer in his mouth. He was pretty good about it, I had a bad angle but I think most of it stayed in his mouth. He spit a bit out but the job was done. I gave him the rest of the apple and took him back out side.

Cody was still on the far end of the pasture when I turned Axel out, luckily Danny came along to see what was going on and somehow got Cody running and they both came up to the gate so I didn't have to walk through the mud a second time. At least with Cody I wasn't planning on shaving his feet so I didn't even attempt to get the mud off of him. I groomed him quick in the crossties and he started to get figity pretty quickly. I brought him into the arena to deworm where I figured there'd be more room and less obstacles in our way. Cody was not playing my game. He squeezed his lips closed and flung his head in the air and was not going to be dewormed no matter what. I struggled a while with my hand on his nose trying to keep his head down and figure out how I was going to get the dewormer past his zipped lips but I gave up and went for an alternate method. Cody always opens his mouth for the bridle and bit. So I grabbed a bridle and held it as if I was going to bridle him. When he opened his mouth to take the bit I put in the dewormer instead. In the end it went quick and easy, though I wonder if I'll ever get a bit in his mouth again! He was rewarded with a bunch of quality apples courtesy of my place of employment.

Now that the ice is gone from the drive we can use the side door to the barn aisle instead of the tack room door. There's a pretty decent step up and it's pretty narrow so it's the perfect door to practice backing out of so when I was done with Cody that's exactly what I did. And he did fabulous backing through the narrow door and down the big step. I'll have to start doing that with Axel. Unfortunately they keep a bale of hay there and Axel is constantly trying to eat it.

Ouch

I thought for sure my inner thighs would be sore today after riding on Saturday but instead my abs/ribs are killing me. I feel like I did a million sit ups or something.

It was finally 50F on Saturday so a trip to the barn was required. Apparently everyone else felt the same way. Two other boarders were out getting ready to ride as well. The owner of the little Arab and the owner of Steele, who I later found out is a TWH/Andalusian (gorgeous trot - so jealous). Cody was first since Axel likes to kick at other horses, I thought life would be easier with a crowded arena and Cody. It was evident that it is finally spring, Cody found the mud and was shedding on top of it.

1. Relax in barn/arena - I groomed Cody in the cross ties, he was facing the little Arab mare for a while and the TWH/Andy for a while so he was pretty calm and just interested in the other horse. When they went into the arena he was more concerned luckily I was just about done so he didn't have to figit for too long.
2. Relax in stall
3. Pay attention to handler - he did pretty well undersaddle. I didn't want to use just the rope halter with two other horses in the arena so I just used Axel's snaffle. Cody doesn't like the snaffle so he was a little worked up about that but he settled down and did his best to listen to me on his back. If I keep it up I think he'll come around, hopefully I can find a bit that he's happy with so he can pay attention to me instead of the thing in his mouth.
4. Lunge 3 gaits - when I untacked the other horses had left the arena and Cody was beside himself so I lunged him a few times around each direction to get his attention back. It was mostly trot and a bit of canter just on the 12' lead.
5. Gain confidence with rider - we're making some baby steps under saddle which I will hopefully supplement with ground driving when I get some long lines, but he had his moments of listening to me and moments of not listening to me. He's not bending right now because he's too concerned what's going on around him but he listens to commands like "easy" and he's getting better at walking when I ask. I am hoping some of this arena work with other horses will translate to the trail.
6. Load and unload

The other two boarders were grooming up their horses after riding when I brought Axel in. There's only two cross ties and since Axel isn't particularly hospitable to other horses I put him in the arena tied to the hitch they have in there.

1. Relax in barn/arena - believe it or not he stood there tied like a statue even with other horses in the barn that he couldn't see. There was even some calling being done by the mare to her pasture mate and he still stood nicely. I suppose I should have just groomed him and turned him out as a reward but I didn't.
2. Relax in stall
3. Back off trailer
4. Lunge 3 gaits - I tacked up the big black, shedding, muddy horse and decided to lunge him for some warm up time with the regular lunge line. He's getting pretty good at the lunging bit, a little confused when we first start out but I'm surprised how quickly he picked it up. Walk, trot, and canter with a few bucks at the canter but nothing major.
5. Move out - we worked a bit on moving out at the walk and he started out pretty good, then we did some trotting but when I post on the left diagonal he does not appreciate it. The left diagonal is the one that I'd be sitting when he puts down that sore back foot so I suppose it makes sense. I haven't figured out if it'd be better to use the wrong diagonal with him so he's not sore or if that will just encourage him to be off balance.
6. Use haunches
7. Canter both leads - We tried some cantering as well, he did okay to the right a few minor bucks but I was able to push him through. The left was a bit of a different story. First time it was the wrong lead. Second time it was disunited and I could hardly sit it (probably the biggest factor in my sore abs), the last few times I think he had the right lead but there was some bucking so I pushed him through that and tried to keep him going.

So when I was done working with Axel he had his usual roll in the arena and I brought him back out to the paddock. I tried to give both horses some apples, banana, and oatmeal cookies. Amazingly enough they weren't too thrilled with the oatmeal cookies which surprised me. Of course as soon as I moved some of the banana and cookies for Danny to eat then Axel and Cody were jealous and wanted to eat the stuff. So I guess the key to getting horses to eat something they don't want to eat is to give it to their pasture mate. Go figure. So far the mud isn't too bad but it'll be here sooner than later. Axel's back legs seem okay so far but I think I'll see if I can borrow Steph's cordless clippers to clean up his legs to help prevent the mud fever that is bound to happen. I also have to remember to groom them in the aisle or outside for a while when they are shedding, it's too hard to pick up the hair from the arena.

Good Boy, Cody

Cody and I had a pretty good ride this afternoon, all things considered. Naturally I had to wade through the beginnings of the mud river to get to the horses. God forbid they walk through the mud to come to the gate. Anyway I had brought Cody's western saddle and bridle, now that the weather is getting warmer I imagine I'll want to ride down the road eventually. I decided that Cody and I were going to do some work in the arena tonight. I groomed him in the crossties, he stood fairly okay but got a little antsy. I'm not quite sure why they react so differently in the crossties than they do tied in the barn at Pinto Creek.

I decided to try Cody in the bit and bridle again since he was a little stubborn the last time we rode and there was another horse to look at. I just do not like the bit/bridle combo that I am using, it doesn't seem like it fits. I have to undo the curb strap to even get it on him and even then it doesn't seem right. We went around several times but he was just fighting it the whole way, mouth open and only concerned with the bit. Another boarder had come in and was getting ready to ride so I decided to take the bridle off and put his rope halter on instead. He wasn't going to listen to the bit since it was annoying him so much so I thought it'd be better to have his attention first and then deal with any other issues.

The other boarder and horse was a good lesson for Cody. He really wanted to run up and meet this paint mare but he was pretty decent at minding the fact that I didn't want him to do that. He had a few hissy fits but nothing major and even with just the rope halter I was able to keep him in control. We did some trotting and he's actually really responsive to the "easy" command. The longevity of the cues isn't there yet, he'll slow up when I ask or walk but only for a few steps if he's got his mind on other things. It was a big reminder that if I can get out there and ride him more often he will really shape up. As soon as we can get past some of the confidence issues and paying attention then we can start working on bending and moving a little better.

He seemed a little off which I think is a stiff shoulder, at least I hope it's not his feet again. The other boarder let her mare and Cody meet. Surprisingly there was a bit of squealing, she thought her mare started it and then Cody was annoyed that the pretty mare wasn't smitten with him. We were standing there talking and the mare would just barely put her ears back and Cody would slowly back up. I guess he's just a pushover when it comes to women.

When all was said and done Cody was a little sweaty, it was 40F and probably even warmer in the arena (really nice for me). But it was still sunny and warm out so I wasn't too concerned, he wasn't even steaming it was that warm out. I gave him a banana as a treat, he grabbed it at first and then most of it fell onto the ground. I think he was a little shocked. When I brought him to the pasture I tried to give Axel the banana as well, he tasted it but didn't seem too interested. Since Axel tasted it then Cody wanted more, then Axel wanted more. In the end Axel ate about half the banana and Danny ended up with a bite as well.

A Much Quieter Day

Yesterday I went back out to the barn hoping for a quieter day than the previous and my wish was granted. Cody and Danny were standing at the very back fence looking over at the airport as if waiting for an incoming airplane. Axel was hanging in the sun by the corn crib and made a run for it when he saw me coming (I guess he wasn't impressed by Saturday's events).

I brought Axel in and crosstied him while he ate 1g of bute and some snacks. he only lasts a few minutes in the crossties before he starts flinging his head and getting impatient, it's very obnoxious. I tied him in the arena on the wall so I could groom and give him time for the bute to kick in. He wasn't willing to stand still from the moment I clipped the lead rope. I'm not sure where this new found hatred for being tied up is from. He's never had a problem before so I'm hoping it's just a phase from moving to a new barn.

I lunged him for a few minutes with the lunge line trot and canter. He won't quite walk, if I get him down to something that would come close to a walk he just stops instead. But he picked up both leads at the canter and didn't throw a hissy fit on the lunge so that was good. Even after lunging he still hated being tied, he's taken to bucking while tied up. After I fought through tacking and mounting we were finally on our way.

We did quite a bit of trotting that went well. He was moving out and willing to go with very little encouragement. He's still a bit off when I post to the left since that puts me sitting on that back left foot which is his sore foot. Ironically he should be balking at the right lead canter because of that same reason but it's the left lead he hates. We picked up only one little canter to the left but it was too short lived to tell if it was the correct lead or not. My camera was having some issues so that didn't get on video either. We'll have to try again next time. We didn't ride for too long since he was getting damp. Luckily he's still a fan of rolling when I untack him and it was sunny outside so I didn't have to dink around waiting for him to dry under a blanket. I can't wait until he sheds out and it's warmer.

So overall a much better day than Saturday but the impatience while tied is annoying and if that doesn't get better Axel will have a date with the hitching post this spring.

Elise and Axel Make a Movie Part 2 from Elise Ferguson on Vimeo.

What a Day

Well it was quite a day at the barn. If you're a horse person you know how to *not* make plans because they will never work out in the end. If this narrative seems a little random and all over the place, that's just kind of how the day went anyway.

I brought Axel into the barn and put him in a stall with a bucket of some treats, feed, an apple, and some bute. I wanted to see if some bute would make him move a little better and be less cranky about life when I rode. Since I wanted the bute to kick in I thought he could stay in the stall and get used to it for a while and I'd go get Cody. Danny wasn't in the pasture as he was at a parade so it was a good time to get both the boys in the barn at once since leaving Cody alone wouldn't make him very happy. Axel was doing pretty well in the stall, ate his little snack, and knickered loudly as Cody and I came in. Cody was mildly on edge but was doing pretty well. I groomed him in the crossties and took him into the arena to do a little ground work and decide what to do next.

Axel stayed pretty quiet while I worked Cody. That was the end of the calmness. The new boarder arrived and all hell broke loose. I tied Cody in the barn while I chatted with the new people. It was a good lesson for him to stand there. He screamed a bit, I suppose he knew there was another horse in the barn and he wanted to see what the deal was. Axel was doing pretty well with all the commotion, lots of things to look at. The longer we stood there the more he started pawing in the stall. I threw a saddle on Cody and rode around a little and he did pretty well. When the new boarder brought in her very very pretty Arab mare Cody wasn't so interested in anything I had to say. I tied him back up and untacked. I figured he'd be alright in the arena watching the new girl. He ended up working up a pretty good sweat so I put the cooler on him. I decided to swap Cody and Axel and maybe ride Axel. I tied Cody in the stall so he wouldn't lay down in the blanket.

Axel had worked himself into a sweaty mess at this point and rolled several times in the arena while I walked him around. Between bucking in the stall, bucking while tied up to the arena wall, and acting quite worked up about the whole deal I decided riding wasn't in our future for the day. I did get out the real lunge line and lunged him a bit. It was more like Axel just speeding around like a demon and not so much lunging. But he cantered in both directions on the correct leads. As idiotic as he got on the lunge line he's always willing to halt (and walk towards me which I don't like). So now I had two sweaty horses, Axel took care of himself pretty well by rolling but Cody just got sweatier by worrying in the stall. There wasn't much I could do at that point so I turned them both out. Axel just rolled in the snow. It was sunny so I figured they would just find a warm spot and dry off.

No videos from today, just too much going on. Maybe I'll try again tomorrow. The new boarders mare is absolutely a dream. Through this whole ordeal she was quiet, well mannered, and just plain nice. They were riding her and she was never out of control or interested in other things, she just plugged along like a good little horse. So jealous!

New Video Camera

Jeff got me one of those tiny Flip Mino HD cameras for my birthday so I had to go try it out. My main goal was to just experiment with placement and to see what the lighting was like and how the video turned out. I only had a little over an hour on Wednesday before I had to go to ballet so I was just going to ride Axel around a bit. Actually upon some discussion at Midwest Horse Talk, I wanted to lunge, walk, and trot Axel to see where he was at as far as "forward."

I should have known he was going to be a tough cookie since he stood in the arena tied to the wall without moving an inch. No pawing or kicking or flinging his head around. When I started lunging him he'd barely move until I got the whip (the contents of the part of the video that I have uploaded so far).

When I got on we walked for quite a while, I was trying to get him to "walk up" as much as I could. We did some serpentines to make sure he was listening to me. Then I asked for a trot and was greeted with some small little cow kicks/bucks. About this time a couple other boarders brought in their horses to wait for their vet. Axel was quite annoyed that he wasn't out there meeting these other horses. The one gal brought her horse into the arena to lunge him until he was ready for his shots. Axel proceed to attempt to kick this horse every time he came around the circle.

The moment of truth was as we were trotting the girl took her horse out of the arena and left the gate open. Axel and I rounded the corner and he saw the open gate and took off in one of his canter/bucking fits. Luckily I pulled him up in the direction away from the gate and pointed him at the wall until he stopped (this is not on video since the gate was open, the camera was facing away, so I guess I'll be putting the camera on a different gate in the future). After that we were about done for so we walked around a bit more before dismounting. When I untacked him he was a little damp but not too bad and it was fairly warm out. Axel decided better and rolled three separate times in the arena before I took him outside. I'm going to start putting a command on his rolling so I can get him to roll in the winter instead of having to blanket him before he goes back out.

Axel tries to lunge from Elise Ferguson on Vimeo.

2 Rides in 1 Day

Made it back out to the barn today with a lot more time on my hands so my intention was to at least ride Axel. It was a lot colder out than they originally predicted for Sunday but Axel was warm standing in the sun. The advantages of being a black horse, I guess.

1. Relax in barn/arena - he managed to stand in the crossties fairly patiently. For some reason as soon as he tries once to move and gets stopped by the lead he gets pissed off and keeps trying and flinging his head around only causing more pulling by the ropes. I haven't quite figured out what he thinks he's going to accomplish but I'm trying to time un-clipping him for when he's standing quiet. He had a couple starts from the snow sliding off the roof but no run-offs.
   
2. Relax in stall
3. Back off trailer
4. Lunge 3 gaits
5. Move out - we worked a bit on moving out at the walk and for once he didn't take those cues to mean trot, so I think that was a success.
   
6. Use haunches - we made our first attempts to work on the turn on the forehand. I can't tell if he's using his back legs properly so I'm looking forward to getting my new video camera. But at least it was a start trying to get him to understand that I was asking for a turn in place. We worked on bending and serpentines as well, I figured if he can move off my leg and seat in that respect it'll only help our other work.
   
7. Canter both leads

I still mean to stand out near the pasture and work with Cody but the wind was like ice despite the sun so I wimped out and brought him into the barn hoping that he wouldn't be as worked up as he was last time.

1. Relax in barn/arena - he stood in the crossties fairly calmly. After I picked out his feet he must have stepped on a piece of the snow and slipped because he was parked out and afraid to move at that point.
   
2. Relax in stall - when we were done working I brought him into a stall and gave him an apple. He was a little preoccupied with the smells in the stall but didn't seem scared about it.
   
3. Pay attention to handler - we did our usual lunging and backing and a little bit of standing still and paying attention. He wasn't vibrating like he had in the past but he's still not paying me total attention. The snow was sliding off the roof making some loud noises which startled him a few times but he handled it well.
   
4. Lunge 3 gaits - he's starting out a walk now which is nice, he used to go right to the trot even when I asked for a walk. He wasn't too happy to canter and threw a minor fit about it but came back down to earth after one lap.
   
5. Gain confidence with rider - we worked with just the rope halter and lead and a saddle. He was very interested in the gate and kept trying to head in that direction. He's fairly responsive to leg cues and my inexperienced neck reining. I wanted him to halt facing the opposite wall of the gate and he wanted to turn around so we played that game for quite a while. When I finally got a decent halt I dismounted. There was some more attempts to turn around as I was un-tacking in that same spot so I put the saddle back on and moved him around until he stopped facing away from the gate and finally removed the saddle then.
   
6. Load and unload

Didn't Ride After All

I ran out to the barn before heading up to the U for a NARHA State Conference. After a little work to get my car stuck in the un-plowed driveway I grabbed Axel to go for a quick ride. Firstly it took me forever to groom him. The rain or snow or whatever it was had formed lots of icicles and snowballs all over. Then by the time I was done grooming he was soaking wet. I walked him with the wool blanket on for a while and thought instead of getting out the saddle I'd just jump on bareback and use the wool blanket to soak up the wet. As I was trying to figure out how I would go about getting on his back Axel got impatient and started acting like an idiot. I finally gave up on that idea and just did a little bit of ground work. On my way back out I stopped and chatted with Jason for a while, he mentioned that all the horses were on edge the night before so apparently Axel was still feeling that.

Cody was also covered in ice but he had been standing out in the sun and was to the point where he was steaming just standing there. I was running behind at this point so I just said hi to him and went on my way.

Running out of Titles

I'm running out of blog titles when I visit the horses this often! It might not be until Saturday or Sunday that I can get out to the barn again this week so I thought I better use the last warm day to visit. Of course it started raining/sleeting on my way there. But yay for an indoor arena! I wouldn't want to be a horse when it rains in February, that's for sure. It wasn't coming down too horribly though. Axel and I went right into the arena to work on some lunging. Right as we were heading to the barn another border came in. She asked if it was alright if she rode while I was in there. She thought it would take her a little while to get that far. I had planned to stop working as soon as Axel did some good work so it wasn't a problem if she came in to ride. While she was grooming Axel did really well on the lunge. He trotted and cantered both directions, picked up both leads, and only had one tiny "weee" moment. For a while there I thought "who trained this horse to lunge!?" He did so well. The other border came in so I thought we'd keep up a little just to practice working and paying attention while there was other things going on. He was very interested in this pretty paint mare and tried his best to grow a hand or two to impress her. He remained calm but had some attention issues and we couldn't really get any momentum on the lunge so we worked on leading and paying attention that way. Overall I think it was a success. Axel appreciates that the barn owners keep nice green bales of alfalfa right by the arena gate for him to sneak on his way out. Hrm.

I didn't want to bring Cody into the arena with that flashy mare in there. He would have been beside himself trying to get her attention. And on top of that he was covered in mud so it wouldn't have been a great impression in the first place. I did very minor ground work with him just standing in the pasture, just a little backing up and the "stand" cue. I've taken to using "whoa" for stop and "stand" for when the horse is already stopped and I don't want him to move. Cody and Axel have had some exposure to "stand" when they were in Canby so I think it's working out alright. I found it actually worked with both Cody and Axel while I was trying to get back far enough to take their photos without them following me and sticking their nose in the camera. I figure even if I'm not out there doing a whole laundry list of activities they are still going to pick up on cues and things just by me being out there for a few minutes.

Two More Rides

Axel: Went out to ride Axel to see if we could fight through that left lead issue we were having. The best part about Axel is we can fight and fight and fight over whatever, leads or contact or trotting, but as soon as I get off he's friendly and wants to stand next to me. I guess he doesn't hold any grudges.

1. Relax in barn/arena - crosstied for grooming and Axel was very calm until Jason came in and chatted with us for a while. He wasn't close enough for Axel to smell or beg at so he got mad and started yanking on the leads.
2. Relax in stall
3. Back off trailer
4. Lunge 3 gaits - when I finished riding and couldn't get that left lead I decided to try and lunge a bit. Axel was a little worked up about it and let out a few nice bucks and kicks. Right lead was no problem, left lead he still wasn't getting. Third try or so I was about to back him down to a trot when he switched his lead. Flying lead change! So that was the end of the lesson.
5. Move out - we moved out a bit at the trot but it wasn't with any sort of collection at all.
6. Use haunches - started some work with shoulder fore in prep to try and learn shoulder in, travers, and renvers. I figured that should help us use our haunches and get some more flexibility for cantering on that bad side.
7. Canter both leads - we rode for a while and Axel was trying to run the show. When I wanted to extend the walk he wanted to trot, when I wanted to trot he wanted to canter (or buck). We were still unable to pick up that left lead.

Cody: I'm trying to back up and go a little slower with Cody so instead of bringing him into the barn I just did a really quick attention activity with him in the pasture.

1. Relax in barn/arena
2. Relax in stall
3. Pay attention to handler - started working on the activity where I stand in front of Cody near the end of the lead and he's to only pay attention to me. If his attention wanders, I flip the lead rope to get his attention back. He was calm and comfortable in his pasture so he was pretty willing to stand there and stare at me.
4. Lunge 3 gaits
5. Gain confidence with rider
6. Load and unload

My second ride came when I drove out to Tricia's farm to ride Oly for her since she's been banned from riding horses. Oly was just about as obnoxious as Axel has been. Constantly yanking the reins out of my hands. I'm surprised my shoulders don't hurt more than they do. It was nice to know that it's not just my horse that acts like a fool. After riding 3 times in the past 2 days walking is a difficult task.

A Fairly Good Ride

The weather website said it was 19F and felt like 13F today but it seemed warmer than that to me. Maybe because the sun was out. I went out to the barn to see if Axel wanted to go for a ride.

1. Relax in barn/arena - crossed tied and groomed/tacked and was calm about the ordeal until I un-clipped him to put his bridle on, then I had a horse on the loose.
2. Relax in stall
3. Back off trailer - did some backing up on the leadline and undersaddle, nothing major at this point
4. Lunge 3 gaits
5. Move out - trotted fairly fast but wasn't extending at all, just trying to get him comfortable moving in the arena footing, he was a little cranky but I'm chalking that up to not having to do work for about a year now. Walk was okay but still close to his old slow self.
6. Use haunches - wasn't really happening right now, we'll get there.
7. Canter both leads - we got the right lead but just couldn't pick up that left lead. Tried some canter, trot, canter which didn't help. Tried picking up the canter in the corner, counter bending, etc, still no left lead. I couldn't push him any further since he was getting sweaty and I didn't want to spend all day trying to cool him out.

I was going to start working with Cody in/around the pasture but it was too darn icy to do any work outside. Another boarder had Danny inside the arena so I figured Cody would feel okay being inside since he wouldn't be alone. I think the first thing he and I need to work on is getting his confidence up with me as the handler and we'll have to start where he's comfortable. We'll work on some tasks I've picked up from a friend and her trainer, Kirsten Nelson.

1. Relax in barn/arena - I brushed him quickly while tied in the aisle, he could see Danny in the arena and was fairly calm about it.
2. Relax in stall
3. Pay attention to handler - he was much calmer about everything since he wasn't alone, we did some groundwork and seemed to be listening okay but he was pretty interested in other things going on.
4. Lunge 3 gaits
5. Gain confidence with rider
6. Load and unload

Quick Visit/Warm Weather

40+ degrees and rainy in February, the horses have so far managed to stay out of the mud but it's a little preview of how spring will be. I'll be sporting the muck boots and borrowing a cordless clippers to trim up Axel's legs, that's for sure. I just hope the melting disperses enough so that when it gets cold again it doesn't make a big ice rink. But yay for indoor arena!

Axel's progress: Axel was a super star tonight which I was not expecting. He was calm and even listening to me when he wasn't on the lead-line. We worked on standing still for a little while both on the lead-line and near the "mounting block" (bucket).

1. Relax in barn/arena - even without Jeff around tonight he was finally calm despite the wind making some evil noises
2. Relax in stall
3. Back off trailer
   
4. Lunge 3 gaits - lunged walk and trot in both directions, free lunged trot and canter in one direction (surprised me that he was listening and actually got into that canter)
   
5. Move out - seems to be moving out really well on the lead and at liberty
6. Use haunches
   
7. Canter both leads - right lead only lunging at liberty
   

Cody's progress: Cody was so nervous, maybe it was the wind but he was just shaking. He was still obedient but beside himself with nerves. He either stepped on his tail in the pasture or he really sat down when I asked him to back up and stepped on his tail. So now I have a huge chunk of tail to add to my horse hair braiding supplies. I might have to braid his tail up if he keeps yanking chunks out.

1. Relax in barn/arena - fairly relaxed in the aisle while I brushed but still a little nervous
2. Relax in Stall
   
3. Pay attention to handler - extremely nervous in the arena, not paying attention at the halt
   
4. Lunge 3 gaits - lunged walk and trot
   
5. Gain confidence with rider - super nervous even with me on the ground
6. Load and Unload
   

Standing Still

Back out to the barn again today to try and get one of the horses to cooperate. Jeff came with this time. Axel was either feeling cooperative since our last argument or he felt more secure with more people around. Either way he stood fairly nice and I rewarded him with an apple. We did some work standing still. If he moved a hoof, I made him put it back. I turned him loose after awhile and his running around was quite a bit less exciting than usual. So maybe he's finally starting to get the idea.

We turned him out and grabbed Cody to do similar work. I did a little lunging with him and then worked on standing still. About this time Cody's pasture mate and owner came in which pretty much removed any attention span Cody might have had. We spent a lot of time facing away from the barn aisle and Cody spent that time vibrating because he was so worried he couldn't look at what was happening. We tried for quite a while to get him to just relax for a second and look at me. I didn't completely win that battle but he had a few moments of licking and chewing so instead of giving him a heart attack we ended the lesson there. It's going to be a long road but it would be worse I'm sure if I couldn't get out there as often as I can. I'm interested to see if Axel is still as calm next time I go out alone.

Axel Follows Jeff Around from Elise Ferguson on Vimeo.

Try Try Again and Probably Again

I might have to rewrite my goals for these horses. Sheesh nothing like thinking you know your horses only to have them act completely different. I started with Axel again today and we went right into the arena to work on standing still. I started by grooming him in the arena tied to the wall because he was a mess, he must have rolled in something after getting sweaty last night. He might have been an ounce better than the day before but he was still pretty obnoxious. After working a lot on standing and not moving I let him have a break and run around (maybe that was a mistake). I figured if anything he's getting exercise and he was doing quite a bit of cantering in both leads (always the correct one to boot). So after some running around we worked just a bit more on standing and then he was ready to go back out. I had the wool blanket on him for a bit but he wasn't as sweaty as the night before and the sun was out so he was good to go.

Cody seems to be settling in as far as letting me take Axel away and not having a heart attack over it. I crosstied him and groomed him. He's starting with the pawing again so I snapped him with the buckle a few times while he was doing it to let him know I didn't approve. We worked a bit in the arena with some circling and then some standing still. He seemed pretty responsive so I grabbed the saddle to go for a ride and see what he thought. He too didn't want to stand to be tacked up but he was better than Axel. And the mounting process took a lot less time than with Axel but still something to work on. He was a little fast but he was pretty good about walking when I asked. He really wanted to stop at the gate but was willing to listen to my leg after he knew I wasn't giving in. He got pretty sweaty fast so we only rode around for a while. After riding I went through two blankets to try and cool him out. We spent quite a bit of time in the arena waiting. Someone that is moving her horse here at the end of the month came in so I chatted with her for a while while Cody was impatient to go out. He wasn't drying but he was cool so I let him back out in the sun.

I plan to work more on the attention issue but I thought first I should work on whoa and stand commands so they at least know what I'm trying to get at. Every time one would move a foot, he'd get put back in his spot and told to stand. No one perfected that yet so we'll keep working. So maybe it's back at it tomorrow. I'd like to ride but if Axel won't stand still he's gotta work on that. What little I did ride yesterday and today has made my inner thighs sore, so I guess it's been a while.

Frustration

Wow was tonight a frustrating evening. It was nice out, I left work early, and I was going to take my calm, slow, plod-along horse, Axel, and ride in the arena. Led him into the barn and he was calm and willing. Crosstied him to groom and I think that's where things went down hill. After standing in the crossties for a while he started jerking his head around, getting really mad at the ropes. He would paw at the cement ground and just fling his head all the while putting pressure on himself since he had the rope halter on.

I tacked him up and took him into the arena to put on his bridle. I was going to tie him to the tie ring in there but he was kicking at the wall and trying to walk away and just not standing still. I let him do a couple circles in the arena on his own and then I attempted the bridle again. He took the bit but kept flinging his head not letting me buckle everything up. Standing still was not happening. Finally got him ready to go and lead him over to my make shift mounting block. The mounting process took probably 20 minutes. He would not stand still. Head flinging, gnawing on the bit, and being generally rude. We haven't really worked on ground manners too much because he's never really had any issues with it but it was evident now that he had zero concern for manners.

I finally was able to get on in a split second that he stood still. He wasn't nearly as awful under saddle, or I was able to handle it better. He had quite the walk, which is not something he ever has. He threw a few minor attempts at a buck or whatever. We worked on some figure eights and serpentines, I thought that would get him listening. He spent the whole time fighting with the bit. His body was cooperating but his head was not in the game in the least bit. When I finally got a good halt with no yanking at the reins I dismounted. My intention was to lunge him and somehow try and win the battle he started but there wasn't a lunge line around. I chased him a few times at liberty and he bolted around like an idiot.

He was pretty sweaty by the end of all this. Mostly I think he was sweaty from working himself up, not from anything physical that we did. I put the cooler on him and walked him around the arena for quite a while. He cooled off but was still wet. I thought he might roll so I took the cooler off but he just took off running again, so it was back on with the cooler and more walking. I finally decided to take the cooler off and put him in a stall to dry.

I grabbed Cody to bring him in and groom and give me something to do while Axel dried. He hadn't even been calling as far as I could tell. He was standing back from the gate and just hanging out. Cody was really good in the crossties. Concerned about what was going on around him, he still kept trying to turn around but he was just trying to see. The barn owner's brought in Amigo, so the two were facing each other in two sets of cross ties. Cody got pretty tall looking at the new horse but they both stood there and didn't squeal or anything. I turned him back out and went back to deal with Axel.

Still a wet mess and steaming I put the cooler back on yet again and tried to tie him again so I could try and scrub him dry. I scrubbed for a while but I think at this point the fleece was wet. He wasn't going to stand there any longer and I was tired of getting head butted. He was so angry, flinging his head around, he smacked his head into the part of the stall that sticks out for latching. I finally just took him outside and walked him for a while, he wasn't steaming any more but still wet. He wasn't going to dry if he had to stay inside and get himself worked up so I just took him back to the pasture. It was still 37F out so there wasn't much more I could do. I checked on him before I left and he wasn't shivering at all and dinner would be served sooner than later.

Ug. So frustrating dealing with rude ground manners. I'll go back and try again in the morning. I'll bring more blankets this time. This video is from Wednesday, just playing around with different websites to upload these to.

Axel running around a bit from Elise Ferguson on Vimeo.

Getting Closer

Cody: brought him in the barn and actually backed him through the tack room. I was able to cross tie him finally. He was concerned that something was going on outside the far barn door so he would have stood a lot better had he been facing that way but overall it went well. Turned him out in the arena for a few minutes, he mostly just hung out at the gate. Worked at liberty for a few minutes and then on the lead. He was a lot more attentive but we still need some big lessons in attention. I almost got on bareback but since he doesn't stand by the fence while I climb up it just wasn't happening.

Axel: he called a few times while I was in the barn with Cody but he wasn't too horrible. I put him in the stall while I shut the doors. He figured out the little hole for his head in the door right away. I groomed him a little in the stall and he had a piece of apple. I turned him out in the arena and he ran around for quite a while. He hangs out by the gate a lot so I figured I'd give him an apple when we were in the middle of the arena. Before he got to the middle he spontaneously did some spectacular moves I've never seen him do before (check out the low quality video). We did some real simple work on the lead line before I brought him back outside. Cody had been calling quite a bit and I think that's what send him running most of the times. I think we'll definitely be ready to ride on Friday and this weekend assuming I can actually get on the horses with no mounting block.

Still Trying

Okay so didn't I say these would be shorter? I'll do my best.

Cody and Axel's pasture mate, Danny, was in the barn with the vet and then working in the arena. Both boys were standing at the far end of the pasture while their pasture neighbor, Vinny, was freaking out because no one was near the fence to visit with him. Word has it that in a matter of a single day both Cody and Axel have climbed the ladder and Danny is now the bottom of the herd (previously Danny was boss man).

Axel: brought him into the barn and he was calm enough that I cross tied him and was able to groom him finally. We had a snack and visited the stall for a moment. Then we joined Danny in the arena for a little while. Did some walking around, walked over and backed off of the practice bridge, and just kind of hung out. Axel was calmer than the previous day but still had some spunk in him. He likes to headbutt when he doesn't get his way.

Cody: expecting Cody to be a sweaty mess after being in the pasture alone, I was ready with the cooler but when I brought Axel back he was just standing at the gate. He had called a few times but apparently didn't pace at all. He was looking for us over the vehicles and looked a bit like a giraffe. He and I went in the barn, visited the stall, and then into the arena, he wasn't quite calm enough for the cross ties. He was a bit distracted in the arena and wasn't completely with me but he wasn't calling out so it's progress.

I think by Friday I should be able to ride Axel, we'll see how he does tomorrow as far as being calm in the barn (if there's no one else there that is, not sure if that affected his calmness or not tonight).

Impatient

Ran out to the barn later than I had planned. But I was greeted by both Cody and Axel at the gate. They actually called out when one of the barn owners drove up. Guess it doesn't take long to learn who carries the feed buckets, eh? I had a heck of a time getting Cody out of the pasture, Axel kept wanting to sneak out. He was nearly charging for the gate. I walked Cody up to the barn, through the tack room, and into the barn aisle. He was actually fairly calm about it, still takes a little coaxing to get him through the tack room but his reaction is similar to his trailer loading issues. So getting him comfortable with the tack room will only help the trailer loading, right?

I tied him for a minute in the aisle, I didn't cross tie him yet as I had a rope halter on him and we haven't worked on the cross ties yet. He was calmer than the day prior but still a little agitated. I turned him out in the arena where he trotted around a bit. No calling or anything. I lunged him a few times, he was a little more defiant than Sunday but still pretty good, he was willing to walk today. When I was done with that I walked him into a stall and tried to give him a treat but he was more concerned with sniffing everything.

After shooing Axel out of the way to get Cody back in the pasture I grabbed Axel and went back to the barn. Cody started calling a bit but I couldn't hear any running. Axel even needed some coaxing to go into the tack room. I guess even he needs some time to adjust. He was quite a bit more worked up that Cody for once. I put him in the arena right away and he trotted around for a while, then he cantered around (both leads weee), then he galloped around a bit. After that he wandered around snorting at everything. He wasn't going to stand still for grooming so I lunged him around just a few times (he's not very good at it yet).

Both horses have lost a bit of their ground manners when they are worked up about whatever it is they are worked up about. There was minor improvements so we'll keep working on it by just going into the barn and not doing anything terribly difficult. I, for one, am getting impatient, I want to ride and and have a good time! Hehe. Or at the very least work with a horse for more than 2 minutes at a time.

Day 2

Another entry so soon? You know it. 2 miles away is going to mean more posts more often. Maybe shorter posts but more of them.

I actually spent nearly 4 hours out there today. I was greeted by the 3 great danes barreling down the driveway as I drove up. They were just out for their bathroom break. No one else was around. I decided to start with Axel so I haltered him and brought him into the barn. He was slightly hesitant to go in the door and then hesitant to go into the stall. I left him in the stall and went to check to make sure Cody wasn't going to have a coronary. He was calling a lot but seemed to be standing in one place so I figured he'd be better off in his paddock than if I tried to put him in a stall as well.

I let Axel loose in the arena and he trotted around for a while checking the place out but he wasn't terribly calm about it. He slammed himself against the gate a few times in protest. He also kept calling to Cody or anyone that would answer. I tried to groom him for a while but he was pretty unhappy about being separated. I decided to take him back to Cody and groom in the paddock since it was still really nice out.

When I was done with Axel I brought Cody into the barn to see what he thought. I didn't try a stall with him, maybe sometime in the future. I put him in the arena and he ran around frantic and calling. I didn't attempt to groom him he wasn't going to stand still. I did, however, lunge him a few times in each direction and I got some good whoas and some licking and chewing so that's where we stopped and went back outside. I groomed him out there and put him back in with Axel.

By this time another boarder arrived so I stayed and chatted with her for quite a while. She has the black TWH that is next to Cody and Axel's paddock. I watched her ride for a while and she offered for me to try him out since I hadn't ridden a Walker before. He was kind of fun to ride but since I don't really know what I'm doing with a gaited horse I still like my boys best. When she was done she turned her horse out and we chatted for a while when the barn owner's came in with their horse who had been out for training. We decided to put Cody and Axel in with the TWH and move the young Grulla into the paddock by himself.

There were no fireworks at all. All three of the horses took off running for the back end of the pasture, circled around a bit and then ran back. There was a bit of sniffing and more running around but no squealing or kicking so I think they will get along just fine. And hopefully sooner than later I can take one horse out and not have the other pacing himself silly in the pasture alone.

Good news, I saw Cody drink from the automatic waterer so he's got that all figured out. I'm sure Axel has it figured out as well. I was concerned that Cody would be frightened of it or just not want to drink the "yucky" different tasting water but my fears were put at ease. I still have to figure out what to do about Axel's supplement. Right now I'm out so it's not a big deal. I might just feed it myself when I'm out there since I think I can get out there most days of the week. Then they don't have to separate him and muck with that whole deal.

A New Chapter

Yesterday afternoon was the first page in a new chapter for Cody and Axel. Jeff and I met Stephanie out at the barn. She had just got done showing Kalani to a potential buyer (Kalani decided to do everything opposite from what Steph told the buyer, so we don't think he's sold just yet). Patti et al was packing up some trailers to start moving to their new farm. And Tricia was on her way with her trailer. It was a packed house. We carried the remaining odds and ends to the truck. Patti and her crew were ready to pull out just as Tricia arrived with the trailer. We were pretty happy to not have an audience for loading.

Since Cody doesn't always load very quickly the last thing we need is "help." When everything was in the truck and all that was left was horses, Steph grabbed Cody and I grabbed Axel and we walked down the yard to the sounds of Kalani and other horses calling. Cody only balked at the trailer a few times before he got on. Even the times that he balked were minimal, just backing up, none of his usual flinging his head up in the air and flying backwards. Axel jumped right on as usual. I rode with Jeff in his truck and we led the way, Steph jumped in with Tricia and the trailer.

When we got to the new barn, Steph unloaded Cody, who unloaded easier than he loaded. No flying backwards, just calm walking out even while Axel and the other horses called out. I unloaded Axel by turning him around, I didn't feel like fighting at this point. Axel was a little warm and Cody was a sweaty mess from the ride, at least they didn't freeze. Luckily it was 44F and sunny, couldn't ask for better weather in January.

We didn't waste time wandering around, we put Cody and Axel in an empty paddock between two pastures each with two other horses. The north pasture had a little colored Arab (I think, sure moved like an Arab) that kept running back and forth looking very pretty. That horse's pasture mate was in the arena riding around with her owner. The south pasture had two geldings, a Grulla named Vinny and a black TWH named Danny. The boys started by meeting the geldings, it was pretty calm but they kept getting too close to the fence and getting zapped. When they went to meet the Arab they got smarter and sniffed from under the fence. They went back and forth several times, everything was pretty calm with the Arab but Axel was squealing and kicking at the geldings. I'm not sure if it was because they were geldings or because the fence kept zapping but Axel wasn't terribly happy with the other boys. I just hope he doesn't get caught up in the fence and take it down or anything.

We watched them run around for a little while, put out some hay to keep them busy and then took a little tour of the barn. Another boarder was riding in the arena, it was nice to see she was riding english so I won't be the odd man out. I think the boarders are pretty varied in disciplines so that's nice. The footing in the arena is nice, it's sand and rubber and it doesn't freeze. They've got a radio in there as well. They showed me which stalls weren't getting used so I could put the boys in a stall when I need or to get them used to it. I could have hung out all day watching the boys goof around or whatever but we were getting hungry and Tricia probably needed to get the trailer back sooner than later. We parked the trailer at our house, piled into Jeff's truck, and got some lunch at Gossips.

I'm doing my best to refrain from going out there at the crack of dawn. I think I'll head out around noon. The barn owners have to go pick up another horse and will be gone for a while, I kind of just want to hang out and check things out on my own for a bit. Another boarder that I've been talking to online might swing out as well, I have to give her a call a bit later. I'm hoping to bring them both in the arena and a stall too see what they think. Whether or not I can do this one horse at a time will remain to be seen. Once they settle in they'll be with Danny and Vinny so taking one horse away won't be too much of an issue. Right now it might be quite the event. Stay tuned!

Maybe the last ride at Pinto Creek

This might have been my last ride at Pinto Creek Ranch! Yesterday I picked up Steph and we went out to go for a ride. It was finally positive temperatures after 3-4 days of -30F. 25F felt like spring. Of course as soon as I get there it starts snowing, but we didn't let that stop us. Naturally our first order of business was to turn the horses out in the side pasture and watch them run. There were no foot prints out there so I figured they hadn't been out there in a while. This time I lucked out and everyone went for a spin in the snow, running and playing, and having a grand ole time. I made a few goofy videos of them running which you can check out here:

Don't mind the soundtracks, I was trying to cover up the talking on some of the videos and it's hard to find 18 second music.

When everyone was done with their romp in the snow Axel and Kalani came in the barn to get groomed to go for a ride. I attempted to give Axel some bute, who knows if he ate it all or not. After all that running and then a ride down the road I thought he might just be sore the next day. He was feeling pretty good at the time though. Our ride down the road was fairly uneventful. Kalani was a little speed demon but can you blame them after standing still for a week due to ice and cold? Axel was lagging behind as usual but seemed pretty comfortable with it. The road wasn't too slippery but we did our best to keep it at a walk just in case. Axel and I are going to have to work on lateral movement, right now when I put one leg on to move him out of the ditch he thinks that means speed up, and since he's been a little cranky about "speed up" lately he flings his head and pretends he's going to buck. So the walk down the road was okay. The walk back was quite a bit faster. The sad thing is that we don't get that walk out of Axel very often so when it happens I really want to encourage it, but on the snow and ice and Axel's not so coordination I wasn't really comfortable letting him move out like that. He offered the trot a few times and was difficult to slow down. Luckily those times Kalani was right in front of us so we didn't go for an out of control buck/canter down the slippery road.

After we made it back safely we un tacked, cleaned out hooves, and gathered more of my junk to bring home. I grabbed two of my saddles and left the AP saddle since Steph has been using it for Kalani. I'll get the two synthetic western saddles after Kiko and Kalani sell. I think all that is left to grab when we haul horses is the grooming box and first aid kit. I have to say I am looking forward to having an indoor arena and not having to slow Axel down when he's feeling frisky.

Just a Visit - A New Barn

Went out to the barn today to visit the boys. It was warm-ish and I thought maybe I'd ride. But when I got out there it just wasn't going to happen. So I just groomed both boys and cleaned the ice out of their hooves. Everyone was pretty mellow, standing in the pasture just chillin' out. The wind was coming up and it was starting to rain a bit and there was snow predicted so I didn't stay too long.

Yesterday I went out to see the barn that I found on Craigslist. I've decided to board Cody and Axel there. In the grand scheme of things it doesn't have all the fancy amenities that some of the other barns had but most of the amenities are things I probably wouldn't utilize too often. It's 2 miles from our house and it has an indoor arena. They feed hay and grain twice a day and they'll feed Axel his supplement. They have 5 or so pastures and they have the horses divided into small groups with a total of 8 horses right now. They have enough stalls for all the horses so if it gets really cold they bring in everyone even if they are on pasture board. It's pretty much just a private residence so very similar to what I'm used to right now with some added bonuses. I think it'll be an easier transition than going to a big full fledged boarding barn with 40 horses. And did I mention it's 2 miles from our house? So needless to say I'm excited to get the boys moved and be able to see them more often and ride a lot more. Poor boys, they don't know what they are getting into.

Still on the Search

I missed another gorgeous day that would have been great at the barn.  New Year's day was warm, sunny, and nice.  But laziness got the best of me and I stayed home.  It's harder and harder to motivate myself to drive 30 miles to see the horses when I may or may not be able to do anything when I get there.  This is definitely the time of year when "indoor arena" is creeping higher and higher on my priority list for new barns.

Wednesday I had the day off of work and I went and checked out another barn.  The barn owner for this particular barn wanted to interview me for her open spots.  I'm not sure when I'll hear back from her but I might be leaning away from that barn the longer I think about it.  The location is perfect, 4 miles from work.  And it has the amenities and price that I'm looking for.  Unfortunately they have a waiting list for tack room space and the barn owner has a lot of rules and tends to be quite possessive of the boarded horses (self-proclaimed).

I found a Craigslist ad last night for a barn 2 miles from our house.  For some strange reason the ad was flagged shortly after I found it.  Luckily I had the information and the number so I was able to call and set up a meeting for tonight.  Like I said, it's 2 miles down the road, has a small indoor arena, has some good reviews from some folks, is reportedly clean, and is a smaller barn/less horses.  I really want to like this place (of course I really wanted to like the last place as well) so hopefully it'll work out.  It is a tiny bit more expensive than the last two barns I looked at but depending on if they charge for feeding supplements or not it could be about the same.  I don't think there will be on-site trails but I think it's on a dirt road.  I think with the location it might mean more frequent short trips and just riding in the arena or on the road instead of less frequent long trips and riding on the trails.  Plus if I'm riding alone I'd rather do it in the arena anyway.

One thing is for sure, Jeff will be happy when I pick a barn because perhaps then he will get to stop hearing about all of this constantly.  At least that's what he thinks!