The Vet Visits

I'm still contemplating how I feel about the new vet but here's the events of yesterday. I got there about an hour early, figured I'd groom and get the horses ready. Groomed Axel first since I planned to have Cody's work done first, I could turn Axel out alone and didn't think he'd work himself into a tizzy at all. They're both still shedding - when will it end? When I was done grooming Cody we hung out with Steele and his owner, eating grass in the yard. The barn owner came out and brought some beers so we stood around and chatted. The vet pulled up and turned out to be a pretty quietly demeanored man and a little scatter brained perhaps. He took care of Steele first since his owner had to leave right away. Cody was next. I explained he hadn't had his teeth done in 2 years and that was the first time in his life. I told him how he had wavemouth and caudal hooks and sores in his cheeks etc. Concern #1, vet said he didn't know what those things were (wavemouth and caudal hooks). So he said he'd feel around and see what he thought. Cody fought this a lot which I was mildly happy about because I figured that meant there wouldn't be any question that he'd get sedated for the floating. When the vet could finally get his hands in his mouth he said he didn't feel any sharp spots and his teeth were as dull as they could be. Concern #2, he also said when he floats teeth he just sticks the float in and files away, he doesn't do much feeling around. He mentioned he prefers to float in the fall and he would take a peek again at that time and maybe run the float around his mouth at that time. On the sheath cleaning front, he seemed to be of the opinion that if nothing is swollen then there's no reason to clean out their sheaths and that even if there's a bean up there it's not hurting anyone (?). He said he'd sedate and do it if I wanted but at that point I figured there's no reason to put Cody through sedation just for this sheath, I just thought since he'd be sedated for teeth why not get it all done. So in the end both horses just got their Rabies shots.

This leaves me with enough money to get the chiropractor to come out. I think if Cody doesn't put on some weight, and the chiropractor doesn't make him feel better, then I might see if I can get Brad out for a second opinion on the teeth later this year. I think this new vet is not an equine dentist and while I'm not willing to put my horses through a floating if they don't need it, I'm not certain he could really tell what was going on by just a quick feel that didn't involve getting all the way to the back. Perhaps next spring or this fall if one of the other boarders has a different vet out I'll meet them and see what I think. The guy was nice and gentle but he didn't seem overly thorough and maybe a little too laid back. Hey he could be right but can't hurt to have a second opinion.

Two Rides on a Windy Day

Of course yesterday when it was gorgeous outside I spent the evening in the movie theater. Tonight it was windy and threatening to storm so I went out to the barn. Go figure. It wasn't raining yet so I groomed Axel outside where the wind could blow away any hair. He's still shedding a bit but almost back to black again. A couple spots the hair came off in big chunks, slowly but surely he'll be back to his shiny self.

I decided to just put the western saddle on him, I seem to sit better/deeper, I think because the western saddle doesn't have the thick panels. I lunged him a bit, he did really well at the trot and even had what I'd consider a nice extended trot (for Axel at least). He was a bit full of himself and kept trying to buck instead of canter but he wasn't pulling, just kind of being generally humpy. The arena was pretty warm so he was good and warmed up. He still doesn't quite get the bending exercise. We rode at a nice walk for a while where he was actually moving out a bit. The trot to the right went well but to the left he wanted to either stop, canter, or buck. He does not like when I post on the left diagonal. That diagonal leaves me sitting when his left hind is on the ground and that's his sore foot. I should probably just post the wrong diagonal but I'm afraid of unbalancing him. When I got off he followed me around for a bit and when I went to try and get him to do some stretches he immediately thought we were doing the bowing trick. Actually he was looking for his snack that he gets sometimes when we do that trick. He did finally let me stretch his front legs a bit. We'll have to ease into the back legs but those are the ones he needs the most.

I so wish I would have had my video camera on me today. When Axel finally laid down to roll he did his usual routine. Got his left side all nice and dirty and then worked on rolling completely over. Somewhere in the middle of one of his attempts his back legs went straight up in the air and he proceeded to kick them up and down like a little baby for a good 5 seconds before finally making it over to the right side. It was truly one of the funniest things I've ever seen Axel do.

Cody seemed to do alright in the pasture by himself while Axel was in the arena. He has dropped quite a bit of weight though. It's been a while since I've put the weight tape on him but he measured at 952lbs which I think is too light for him. Axel coincidentally taped at 1172lbs and he's actually looking really nice these days. I groomed Cody outside as well, he's still shedding a bit but he's harder to groom since he's a little bonier and more sensitive. He stood calmly in the arena tied to the wall while I tacked him up. Another boarder came in to work with her horse so Cody was less than excited to be lunged, he wanted to watch the other horse but we worked it out. Cody remembered the bending exercise after some work on it.

He was reluctant to walk out because it was in the direction away from the other horse. He finally gave in when I asked him to trot so we trotted in a circle for a bit. The other horse was working on ground tying so we trotted around as a bit of a temptation and Danny just stood there. Wish my horses would ground tie like that! I didn't want to do too much work with Cody. With his weight loss the saddle isn't fitting the greatest and I only had one pad to use. He was probably just distracted but almost seemed out of energy as well. We worked on the halt while I chatted with the other boarder for a while. It was probably the most patient Cody has been in a long time so after standing there for a while I got off. We stood there a little longer while the other boarder and horse left the arena. Cody even stood patiently for that. Of course as soon as we turned away from the gate to take off the saddle he got concerned and we fought for a while over that.

I tried a little bit of work with the whip to get him to stand patiently and look at me while crazy things were happening around him. He was pretty confused, started to understand, and then tuned out. We also worked a bit on some of the turns on the forehand and haunches, trying to get to a point where I don't have to actually push him around.

The vet is supposed to be out around 5 on Friday to do some of the horses shots. The plan is for him to do both Cody and Axel's teeth and sheaths and their rabies shots. From what I'm told the vet doesn't usually sedate for teeth but I don't imagine he's going to get too close to either end of Cody at least without sedation. Seems like a late appointment to do teeth but maybe he's just going to take a peek and set up a time in the future. Luckily I will be around on Friday to be there. Saturday Steph is going to come out and show me how to do injections and get their 5-way and Flu shots done and hopefully go for a ride.

More Work for Cody

Lots of action at the barn tonight, some of the other boarders had their farrier out doing shoes and whatnot and the barn owners were out working on the yard. I groomed Cody outside, he's just about done shedding just a few long hairs left. He stood fairly patiently and was watching the dogs and the barn owners in the yard instead of longing after the horses in the other pasture. I put him in the arena to tack up and as soon as I put the saddle on his back, before I even cinched it up, he started in with the yawning. I'm going to have to have Dr. Westman out to do some chiropractic work on him and see if that helps at all in addition to the dental work and having his sheath cleaned.

I lunged him for a bit at the walk and trot. He wasn't too keen on cantering on the lunge and I didn't have the whip. He remembered the bending exercise really well also so I mounted up and off we went. He was fairly distracted by all the goings on but he was listening pretty well. We did some circles in the corners of the arena at the walk and then we trotted a big circle for quite a while working on the bend and relaxing and then a little bit on making the circle wider.

We moved back onto the rail and when he was trotting calmly I asked for the canter. He actually picked up the first lead pretty well. The other direction took a few tries including one run off into the wall but the bending helped get his attention back where it belonged. It was warm in the arena and we had worked pretty hard. In fact we hadn't even worked on the halt at all because we hadn't stopped moving. Another boarder came in with her horse to do some groundwork so Cody and I worked on the halt at the far end of the arena. He seems to be getting better at it. And I've started asking him to back up when we stop. He's reluctant at first but after I ask-he fights-he gives in, then the next time he gets it right. Slowly but surely.

And just for the sake of it I started with a cue to get Cody to pick up his front foot to work on teaching him to bow as well. I've decided to start with the horses picking up their hoof, then holding their hoof up, then I'll move onto the bowing part. When all was said and done I went to put Cody's saddle down and get his lead rope, Danny was learning what hobbles were, and the other boarder grabbed a pitch fork. Something spooked Cody and he flew backwards, not sure what it was but he stopped and was fine. He backed out of the barn aisle like a champ (hey Axel, take a hint!).

Lots of Riding

Cody went first tonight. I groomed outside and I'm glad I did, the hair was flying. Luckily both horses are starting to get a bit shiny so maybe there is a light at the end of the tunnel. Cody and I started with some of the bending exercises from the previous day. It only took a few spins before he remembered what I wanted. We did a few circles as well and then I tacked up to ride. I was going to try some circling techniques from the Stacy Westfall demo. The point was to keep a bend using the inside rein, keep traveling in the circle, and then work on widening the circle with the outside rein. He's supposed to gain some balance in his movements and then we're supposed to work into a figure 8 where half the 8 is counter bent. We didn't make it to the figure 8 but he did pretty well with trotting in the circle. I worked on some of the bending from in the saddle as well and that took a few more spins than on the ground. I asked for some canter as well. He took several tries to get into the right lead canter and picked up the wrong lead a few times until I counter bent him in a corner. The left lead canter he picked up on the first try but wasn't terribly excited to maintain it for any length of time. We had a few good downward transitions from trot to halt or walk. We even had some fairly decent halts. I need to add more backing up to our halts but I did make sure I never asked him to move forward out of the halt, we only changed directions. He's definitely started to figure out that when I'm going to dismount I want him facing away from the gate in the opposite end of the arena and that I do not want him to try and turn around to look at the gate. The nice thing about Cody is that with consistent work a person can really see his improvements.

Axel only had some minor screaming bouts while we were in the arena. When I took Axel out of the pasture and groomed him at the rail, Cody ran around a bit and made fuss. I took Axel in the arena and we did some lunging before working on the bow. The bow work didn't go quite as well as yesterday but I think it's a slow process. I was huffing and puffing by the end of our session. I picked up his foot and lowered his head over and over again. Every once in a while I'd tempt him with a treat. One instance he bit my finger which still hurts, my own fault but dang. That will just help me not use treats very often for this trick. One time he touched his knee to the ground and I patted him and praised him. Another time he had his head all the way upside down nearly touching the ground so he got praise for that one as well. Of course I tried to video tape both the bow work and riding Cody but my aiming skills are less than stellar so it's back to the drawing board on that one. I'll see what I can piece together and add them later.

The lady that owns Danny came in right as we were finishing so I asked if she wanted to ride down the road. I tacked up and she and I went down the road and then up the next block. She thought the total trip was about 4 miles. The brown western saddle is a lot harder than my butt tends to like. Axel did pretty good and kept up with Danny and I don't think Danny was being held back at all. He didn't even try to kick him until the end of the ride but he was also stomping his foot spontaneously which we later found out was due to a stone stuck in his frog. Cody was having a minor fit when we left and one when we returned but I suppose he just kept up with the fit while we were gone we just couldn't hear him. I think he's at least changed his fits from pacing and screaming to just standing and screaming so he wasn't sweaty at all when we got back.

I will probably run out tomorrow again for a few minutes and just do some groundwork to give each horse a chance to get out of the pasture away from the other horse. I still hope that they will eventually figure out that it isn't the end of the world when one of them leaves.

Spinning in Circles

Axel was first tonight. I put a training surcingle and a bridle on him and got out my new ropes. They are little heavy and that in combination with Axel forgetting what long lining was about made for some awkward driving. I wanted to start with regular long lining/lunging with the long lines but Axel was mighty confused about the situation. We drove a little, he fought with the bit and the lines and assumed an extreme rollkur position with his head. I wasn't pulling on the reins he was doing it all to himself so I just let him work through it, the side effect was that he was still stepping pretty well under himself and stretching through his neck to the poll. So I guess in the end some good will come out of it. We were finally able to trot around in a circle to the right. He did not like going to the left and would cut the circle short and then face me and get confused as to where to go. We'll definitely have to work on that more. He broke in the canter a few times and then startled himself when he'd hit the end of the lines in his mouth. I had him lunge a few times around without the surcingle and bit and just a single line so he could stretch out a bit and get into a canter. After the pseudo collected work he went into the canter really easily comparatively.

The shining point was when I was about to be done I decided to see where we could get with learning how to bow. I had no treats but I figured I'd give it a go anyway. The best I can figure is that it has to be done in parts. I was able to get his head down just by a bit of pressure on the halter. He'd keep his head down (probably just smelling the ground) so I picked up his front foot. I asked him to keep his head down and I pulled back a bit on his front foot. After a few seconds of encouragement he leaned back just enough that his lifted leg touched the ground and I let him up and rewarded him with scratches and praise. We did the same process a second time with the same results so I stopped there. Hopefully if we go gradual like that when he really puts weight on that knee he won't freak himself out. I'm not certain he can really stretch down physically like that but it's worth a try. I should probably teach him on both sides, it's a good stretch.

Cody was freaking out in the pasture while I had Axel in the barn. The other boarder had Danny in the arena at this time so Cody was pretty happy to work in there. He was very unresponsive when asked to circle so when she took Danny out to groom and saddle I started some work I saw at the Stacy Westfall demo. I wanted to be able to bend Cody's neck around and have him stand still while I asked for the bend. When I asked for the bend he'd spin or more commonly he'd back up. So we spun and backed up and spun and backed up over and over again. Ran into the wall, moved back to where there was room, rinse and repeat. I was ready to give up, he just wasn't getting what I wanted and I didn't think he was going to get it. But just as I thought we were going to be done he started to pause his spinning when I bent. So I kept it up and finally he understood. Danny was in the arena now and I think that might have helped as he was a bit calmer with life but I kept it up and I was able to bend him in both directions without him moving his feet. I tried some turns on the forehand after that but he's a bit sticky with that now because of the bending so we'll have to work on both so he can tell the difference. We spent a little time standing still while I chatted with the other boarder and he did pretty good with that.

I have to go over my notes a bit more and make sure I'm keeping up with what needs to be done to teach him to whoa and mean it. I did make sure that after I asked for a whoa I didn't move him forward but turned him instead. Axel screamed a little bit while we were in the barn but he quieted down a lot quicker than Cody did. I really should keep going out there as much as I can even if it's just to walk each horse into the barn for a few minutes while the other one learns that he won't be alone forever.

2009 Horse Expo

The MN Horse Expo was this weekend and I spent Friday, Saturday, and Sunday from open to nearly close at the fairgrounds. I set up and opened the We Can Ride booth on all three days and on Friday and Saturday closed down the booth for the evening. Hit the rodeo on Friday with Steph and her dad, sidewalked for the demo on Saturday, and walked around with Tricia and her dad on Sunday. In between I attended all of the Stacy Westfall presentations and was very impressed. I have quite a few notes on some of the stuff she went over. She had a session on "Teaching Whoa" so I paid close attention to that one since I can't seem to get Cody to stand still for more than a second after I ask for a whoa. She showed some patterns she likes to use while riding and even went over a bit on how to teach the horse to spin. There was another presenter that I watched a few times and got some different riding pattern ideas from him but by far Stacy Westfall's presentations were the most useful. Now of course I just have to go out and get them to work for my horses! Watch out boys, I have new tools in my tool box!

So on top of all the good information I picked up I also did a bit of shopping. Came home with some $175 boots used for $25, two 23' lead ropes to use for lunging as well as long lining and ground driving, this year's vaccinations, and a lint brush. So as far as I'm concerned it was a successful expo!

Movie Star

Keep Trying

It was a better day than yesterday but I still think Cody and Axel should be with a herd. In any case both horses were standing randomly in the pasture snoozing. I grabbed Axel first and groomed at the hitching rail. My thought was that we'd sort of be out of Cody's line of sight but he could see us if he needed to. I thought that would ease him into us being in the arena. He wasn't terribly concerned with our absence. He called a few times but it seemed to be directed towards the other horses and not Axel. Axel was being kind of a pain while tied, he kept chewing on the rope and I couldn't figure out if he was just chewing or if he was actually cribbing. I'm hoping he was just trying to untie himself.

We went into the barn and I tacked him in the crossties where he stood fairly decent. Seems like he starts flinging his head when I put the saddle on him. I just put the western saddle on out of laziness. We did the basic walk and trot. His trot was just okay. He wanted to stop a lot so I tried to just keep him moving. He greatly dislikes me posting on the left diagonal and almost always stops. We had a few rounds with him in a long and low position which was nice. He was shuffling quite a bit for most of our trotting, I couldn't quite get him to pick up his feet. When I asked for more go he'd try to canter for a stride and then back to his trot. I did ask for the canter a few times but only got a few lazy strides, no bucking tonight though. We tried a few turn on the forehand which I think went better than the first time, it felt like he was swinging his rear end around at least for a step. I hadn't set up the camera so I'll just have to keep working until I can see what he's really doing.

When I dismounted I let him roll in the arena and then I put down the fake bridge so he could work on backing off a step. He stepped up easily and even stood there with all four feet waiting for the next request. I asked him to back off and he did what he usual does, took one step off and hopped right back up. I kept urging him on until he finally stepped all the way off. We worked on that a few times. One attempt he had just the tip of his back toes on the bridge balancing there while I did my best to encourage him to step down. He did alright overall but he seems pretty hesitant to step off going backwards. We'll keep working on it. It's almost as if he doesn't bend his knees to get off the bridge both forwards and backwards. He just kind of falls off instead of stepping.

Cody seemed almost okay with being left alone. I heard him calling a few times but he didn't seem as frantic as Axel was the day prior, but it was windy and the radio was on so I couldn't completely hear while in the arena. I tied Cody in the arena and brushed him quickly and tacked him up. He's the only horse I know that can pace while tied to a wall. I was lazy and just used the rope halter instead of a bridle. After this ride we'll be switching to the bit. He was preoccupied with the entrance as usual. We did some circles in the corners in both directions. I like riding Cody at the walk he actually moves. We trotted a bit. Cody speeds up quite a bit when I post. I asked for a canter as well, it took quite a bit of encouraging to get him into it and he pretty much ran into it. Things were kind of getting a little out of control. He wanted to run to the gate and wasn't listening at all so we went back to trotting in circles until he started listening again. I dismounted, untacked in the furthest corner, and lead him back to the gate without a leadline practicing some halts and backing in the process. We spent a few minutes on turn on the forehand and haunches and some sidepassing before backing out of the barn and going back to the pasture. Axel seemed like he was a little calmer than the day before but he was a little concerned. When I put Cody back I took him to the furthest corner to let him go. Today he actually stood there while I walked away from him instead of running off. Of course he started pacing after I left the pasture. They'll both get some time off as I'm booked the rest of the week and the horse expo is all weekend.

Two Herd Bound Horses

I get to the barn tonight and Cody and Axel are in the front pasture by themselves. They're grazing a bit and are pretty calm and not concerned with the other horses in the back pasture. I was early enough that no one else was around, I had forgotten that the hunter girls ride on Monday. I was going to see if I could at least get some grooming done before they got there so Cody and I went into the barn. Cody slipped on the aisle floor because his feet were muddy and that scared him. I was going to crosstie him but he was pretty worked up so I just tied him to one while I grabbed my grooming bag. Actually by that time he had calmed down but I decided to go into the arena with him to do a little groundwork before grooming. While we were in there I could here some really weird noises coming from outside. At first I thought it was from the mares next to the arena but I realized it was Axel. I let Cody go so I could check and make sure Axel wasn't going to knock down a fence or anything. He was in the pasture running around as fast as he could. Unfortunately my video taping did not work out how I had planned so I only ended up with one sort of usable video.

So now I'm thinking "great they move my horses and now I have to deal with two herd bound horses." I brought Cody outside, luckily Axel had taken a break from his heart attack so I wasn't rewarding his behavior. I put Cody on the hitching rail and groomed him out there.

The hunter girls arrived and took their horses out of the pastures. The horses that had been in the front pasture were now in with the grays and Danny. When the girl took her mare out those horses started having a fit. Then Diva the arab mare was having a fit because her pasture mate was in the arena as well. Then Axel was having a fit. And Cody was calling. It was really great, I was getting quite frustrated. When I was done grooming Cody I started walking him back and forth within sight and out of sight of Axel to try and bore Axel of the whole ordeal. The barn owner came out and mentioned that Cody was doing so well. I pointed out that I now had two herd bound horse. Her response was that "they'll get over it." I agree, they will get over it, I want them to get over it so I can have my horses back and maybe have them a little more able to go out alone or stay alone in the pasture. But I wish the "they'll get over it" attitude applied when my horses were having issues in the herd. Instead they just pulled them out of that herd and put them alone to leave me to deal with not being able to handle either of my horses due to herd bound-ness. Ug. Anyway I'll give them the benefit of the doubt for now because all the horses were worked up, it was cold, the wind was blowing like mad, and everyone was running around. We'll reassess when things calm down in general.

Axel had started to calm down quite a bit so I put Cody back in the pasture and took Axel out. At least Axel is calm when he's with even just another person. Cody isn't. Axel stood at the hitching rail while I groomed. He's started shedding again so I was covered in hair by the time I was done. Since it was so windy I cleaned out my grooming bag as well, it was full of hair. I put Axel back and sort of hoped they'd all run around again but they just went on their way grazing.

TGIF

Friday I went out to the barn for a quick check on the boys since I was out of town all weekend. They were still separated (and I assume they'll stay that way :( ) but it seemed like Cody was starting to calm down about the situation. Though it's hard to tell since the other group of horses was up by the feeder. The barn owner thought he had stopped pacing but we'll see.

I grabbed Cody and we went into the arena to work for a little while before I had to head out. We did some circling and backing and worked on some of the turn on the haunches and forehand and even some sidepassing. He wasn't totally understanding the sidepassing but that was because he was a lot calmer and didn't have quite as much "forward" as he had this past week when he was sidepassing up a storm. But I'm glad we started working on it because I think he retain a little of what I want and we'll just keep working. I'm wondering how to transfer that to under saddle. We didn't work for too long because he was doing so good and was so calm. I let him (I think - that was three days ago) off lead for a while and asked him to canter a bit in both directions. He was disuniting for a while but worked out of it.

When we were finished we stood outside for a few minutes chatting with the barn owner and Cody was very patient standing there. I didn't take him down to the same corner of the paddock since I wasn't wearing my boots but we still went to the opposite corner and I let him go there. This time he stood pretty well for me to take off his halter, he did promptly go to see who was at the fence but didn't completely blow me off like he usually does. We'll see how he's doing this week.

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