Slacking

I'm slacking on updates lately. No photos from last week either. Tricia couldn't make it out and it was hotter than hot so we decided against any riding. And since we didn't have her truck to hook up to the trailer we couldn't work on trailer loading. Though in hindsight I wish I would have worked on just standing next to the trailer calmly with Cody. That would have a been a good lesson.

In any case we just gave everyone a bath. Kiko and Kalani's first bath in a long time. Kiko even got shampooed. Everyone else just got a nice hosing down. Axel enjoyed himself quite a bit. He was all crusty from dried sweat so it must have felt good to get that cleaned off. Of course the first thing all the horses did was roll. But at least they got their shower on a hot day.

It's too hot!

It was just too hot to work last night. We weighed the options of swimming, just riding, giving the horses baths, or working on trailer loading. We decided the trailer loading was our most needed lesson. Kiko was a champ, Kalani was a champ, Cody ... not so much. I got his front feet in no problem nearly every time. I got his whole body in once. After that he wanted nothing to do with it. I did some lunging and tried again. He still refused. Tricia did some lunging because he kept plowing people over, then she tried loading him. Finally after a long time of waiting and asking and waiting and asking, I got to the side of him and tapped him in the butt with a carrot stick (natural horsemanship tool like a whip but not). If he moved forward, I'd stop tapping. If he backed out, I'd tap. Nothing even close to painful, just annoying ... tap, tap, tap. Sure he was probably bored by now and just gave in. But he stayed calm and jumped right up into the trailer. We tested the process several times and each time he got in easier. So the tapping has won. We're going to try again next week instead of waiting so long between lessons.

We have a plan for the week after next, Tricia will bring Olly down and we'll load up two of our horses (probably Cody and Kiko) and make a dry run down at the state trail. Maybe we'll try Kalani the week after. I'm not sure what Cody's deal is with the trailer loading. Especially since he'll load once like a champ but then freak out in subsequent loading tries. He definitely needs a confident leader and it takes a lot of patience to gain his trust. I thought just maybe the trailer loading issue would go away now that his back seems to be feeling better, but I guess those were a little to high of hopes. Oh well, we'll work our way through it.

Next trailer lesson: getting Axel to back out, yikes!

Sticky Horses

It's been a while since I've been out to see the horses. No lesson this week, Tricia was away. So Steph and I went down the road with Kalani and Axel. Kiko's hooves are split so she won't be going on the road until we get her shod. Axel was his usual lazy slow self and Kalani wasn't much better. Well I stand corrected, Kalani isn't slow. He's sticky. He stops and will not go. When he does go he can really move out nicely but when he gets stuck it's for good. Steph finally added spurs and a crop to her person but I think he pretty much ignored the spurs. She was a little freaked out on what his reaction would be to the crop especially since we were on the road so she skipped trying that out.

It was super windy but Kalani did pretty well with that. I like riding in the wind, especially Axel. Since he goes so slow, the wind makes me feel like we're going really fast! Our future plans include some trailer loading and unloading lessons, a trip or two down to the state trail for some trial trail riding, and of course the We Can Ride trail ride fund raiser. All that and a wedding of course!

Time for a swim!

Considering it was 90F out and a billion percent humidity, when I got to the barn I thought better of doing an actual riding lesson with Axel. Steph and I decided to take Kiko, Kalani, and Axel down to the creek and go for a swim. Unfortunately Tricia had fallen asleep and forgot to show up ;) While we waited Steph got on Kalani bareback for the first time to see how he'd react. He was being quite stubborn and not wanting to move. So after she got him moving a bit she called that a lesson and moved onto Kiko. Since Tricia didn't show up we decided just to Axel and Kiko down ourselves.

I made a few feeble attempts to swing up on Axel by standing on a bit of a hill but it just didn't work. I was able to jump up on him but only after we went halfway down to the bridge and Axel stood in a big rut. Guess I have to practice that a bit more. He's a good horse to practice on, he just stands there like nothing's going on.

We decided there was no better way into the creek than where we got Axel in the other day so that's where we headed. Kiko was a little on edge having never walked around in that area before and only being her second time across the bridge mounted. We got to the edge of the creek and I decided to wade in myself to see where the best places were to stand since last time Axel took a nose dive in to a deep spot. We thought maybe I could find a better way in but I wasn't really able to find anything. Axel climbed down the bank without any issues. It took quite a while, however, to convince Kiko to climb down the bank. The water didn't scare her but instead she didn't want to take the big step down the bank. After wading around for a while Axel and I found a slightly better spot on the bank that was more of a slope than a step. After a few minutes of coaxing Kiko to step down in that stop she finally ended up in the water.

When we were done wading around we headed back up to the barn. I couldn't get back on Axel so I ended up walking up, getting my exercise at the same time. Swimming was definitely the best way to beat the heat.

Success!

I do hearby declare (and maybe regret it later) that Cody has been cured of his crankiness by one Dr. Westman, equine chiropractor and vet extraordinaire. I think I gave it enough time and testing with various variables to determine that Cody is now feeling much better than he was. He's back to his old happy self, easy to ride, and a great baby sitter. He's also very shiny. Though I didn't have many doubts I decided one more ride for he and I would be in order. Okay okay I haven't taken him out alone yet but even when he was cranky that wasn't any worse than riding him with another horse so I just haven't gotten around to testing him out like that. It was hot, and Tricia and I decided we just didn't want to think about working on the dressage yet so another trail ride was in order.

Tricia opted for bareback on Axel and I stick with the dressage saddle on Cody for our trail rides. The possible path to the creek was still a bit muddy though we tried it again. Turns out what Tricia had seen as a possible way into the creek was in fact a big cliff not something we could pass. So that was out. So it was back up the hill as usual only this time we ventured off the trail. Into the woods. Did I mention, no trail? Axel stomped over trees, Cody waited until Axel picked the worst possible route and then we'd go around a different way. Luckily I was wearing pants and had a saddle. Tricia, on the other hand, was not so lucky riding bareback with shorts and no shoes (hey she had her helmet on, we're a poster for safety these days). We ended up going nowhere and having to turn around and go back. Somehow we came out of the woods in a different place than we went in. Needless to say it was interesting. I think under normal circumstances Cody probably wouldn't have enjoyed our trek through the woods but stepping over all those trees and branches was probably scratching the bugs away quite nicely. Unfortunately the photos I took don't do the woods justice. It was a lot more crowded in there than it looks. The rest of the ride was just some meandering around as usual. No major work, just walking and sweating and staying on the trail. At the end of the ride it was thundering and the clouds started looking pretty ominous. We made it back to the barn, untacked, fed everyone, and got to the bar before it started hailing. We have great timing, I tell ya!

Test #3 for Cody

The bugs are getting bad again. Luckily this time I remembered to buy some fly spray. Who knows if it'll work. It's a good placebo at least. Steph was on her way to Colorado this week so it was just Tricia and I, a good time to test out Cody's attitude without Kiko or Kalani. I'll remind you that prior to the chiropractor visit, Cody would constantly try and turn around and go back to the barn when we rode him. It was a struggle just to keep him going in the right direction. The past two rides were great but we also had multiple variables. Kiko and Kalani were finally ready for the trail. Being near the top of the herd I couldn't confirm that it was the chiropractor that changed his attitude or if it was the fact he got to ride out with a couple more of his herd than usual (though we had issues when we'd ride with Corey).

So this week (we've moved our lessons to Wednesday so we can partake in Ladies' night at the bar afterwards) we headed back out to the trails. I picked up an English breast collar to try with Cody. You generally wouldn't put a breast collar on a dressage saddle but since we were trail riding and that saddle slips so bad on Cody I figured it was worth the $10 at the tack sale.

Cody was feeling a little slower than the past two rides. Granted it was over 80F. But even with his laziness/tiredness/slowness he never once tried to spin and run for home. At one point Tricia was trying to get Axel to canter and ended up cantering off to where Cody couldn't see, he just looked up for a second and went back to munching on grass. He even refrained from calling back to the herd when they called to him. He felt a little off so we didn't work him much. We did the usual trail through the woods. He still wants to canter down and up those little hills but I can keep him at a controlled trot now at least.

When we came back down the main hill we ventured off to another trail we hadn't been on yet this year. I'm on a quest to find a way into the creek and Tricia thought she saw one. Unfortunately it was swamp on the way there. Axel froze, and Cody tried to high tail it out of there (he doesn't care for mud too much). So that plan was foiled. We did find a short drop off on the opposite side of the bridge that Tricia managed to get Axel in. Cody didn't really want any part in that adventure so we sat and watched. Our little creek gets a lot deeper than anyone though. Axel ended up to his belly at one point. In an attempt to turn around and come back and avoid the deep spot they ended up going for a bit of a swim. Axel's front end went off a ledge and he dunked himself head first into the creek, butt in the air. He didn't look entirely pleased with it and Tricia managed to contain herself until he was back to ankle deep water. Then we burst out laughing, I wish I would have gotten that on film. Poor Axel, his forelock was all wet and he looked pretty pathetic. But I bet the cool water felt good. He just didn't appreciate getting water in his ears. I had a video of him all wet getting out of the creek but that's another video that keeps failing when I try and upload it for whatever reason.

So all we're left with is a video of Axel trotting around with Tricia. Unfortunately YouTube compresses the heck out of the video and it ends up looking pretty bad. I should see if they look any better on other services or if I can just put them on my own server.


The final consensus is that Cody is feeling better thanks to the Chiropractor and his attitude has improved significantly making him much more fun to ride. I'll have the chiropractor out again in a couple weeks and see how he's doing and have a follow up adjustment.

Cody's Second Test

I didn't want to get too excited last week when I rode Cody along with Jeff on Axel and Steph on Kiko. I was optimistic that the chiropractic adjustment would help Cody feel better and would change his attitude, but with Kiko along it was hard to tell which factored into his mood. He was really great but I didn't want to jinx it. So this week Steph decided it was time to try and take Kalani on the trail. Tricia came along and rode Axel and I rode Cody. I'm still hesitant to say Cody's attitude change is just from the Chiropractor, but dang! He did so well once again - and no Kiko this time!

Kalani was quite a bit more hesitant than Kiko had been on her first ride. He was pretty sticky too. He'd stop and then refuse to move any more. But we made it through the meadow and through the woods and back without any major drama. Cody was an angel, I rode on a loose rein (proof in the photo) and he even almost walked down his favorite hill to run on. He seemed a little annoyed at Kalani if he got too close but I know they're buddies so I wasn't too concerned. He was probably just demonstrating his authority since Kalani hadn't been on the trail before.

So after a couple laps on top the hill we did a lap in the bottom of the hill pasture. Trotted over the log a few times. Cody did it once and then decided we had teased him long enough and it was time to go home. But he was still pretty well behaved. Axel tried his hand at jumping the log as well. I made a little video, but once again I will have to upload it later. Our next test will be just Cody and Axel on the trail, and perhaps just Cody on the trail. I should probably ride Cody a time or two more in lessons before switching back to Axel, just to build a better understanding of what Cody is looking for from me and what I'm trying to tell him.

Okay for some reason this particular video keeps failing when I try and upload it.

Kiko's First Trail Ride

We didn't have a lesson this week on Tuesday because we were getting ready for our tack sale at WCR. So last night I convinced Jeff to come out to the barn with me and go for a ride. Steph decided to head out there as well and work with Kiko and Kalani since she had missed Tuesday also. Jeff likes to go out to the pasture and find Axel and just get on him, bareback with no reins or anything. That usually doesn't go real well but he managed to stay on until Axel went for a skinny path between the electric fence and the round pen, so Jeff bailed. Stephanie got Kalani ready pretty quick and went out to make up for his last lesson where he was a total spazz. Jeff and I stayed back to groom Cody, Axel, and Kiko. We convinced Steph it was time to take Kiko on the trail. Meanwhile she and Kalani had a pretty good lesson. His first lesson with the hackamore last week did not go well. It was too windy and he was just freaking out. Luckily this week it was nice and calm and he did just fine in the hack (yay I get my D-ring bit back). He was kind of sore (probably from their farrier visit on Wednesday) so she ended the lesson early and on a good note.

We finished getting the other horses ready and covered in fly spray. I picked a wood tick off Axel's sheath, not exactly the best place to have a tick I would think. Both my horses were pretty beat up from bugs, hopefully the Wipe will last a few days. I've gotta pick up some actual fly spray this weekend. Any recommendations?

For some reason this week, Axel was just pissed about his skid boots. Jumped around like a fool, untied himself, and ran off up to the overhang of the barn. Then when Jeff went to lead him to the gate he was just angry and planted his feet. I'm not sure he'll ever get used to those boots, but I guess him being pissed off is better than him kicking himself bloody. So we mounted up on the other side of the gate from the rest of the horses and headed off in to the sunset. Okay well just headed off down the hill. This was Kiko's first trail ride, and probably her first time carrying a rider up and down hills. I don't want to put all the credit on the chiropractor because I'm sure Kiko's presence helped, but Cody was absolutely awesome. Calm, forward, and happy. I'm sure feeling better after the adjustment played a large role in that. We'll see next time we ride without Kiko.

We made it across the bridge and up the hill, through the woods, and out into the meadow. We even had a little trot and Kiko was a saint. I think she startled twice, but her version of startling includes planting her feet, that's the kind of spooking we'll take. We stopped for a photo since I made Jeff carry his new camera and then we went back down the hill. This time Kiko went across the bridge while being ridden, Cody had to lead though. And when Cody and Axel made their way around some trees and Kiko couldn't see them, she didn't mind one bit.

I'd call her first trail ride a success. Sheesh, I totally forgot to post this video, just another of the horses running up the hill. You get to see a little bit of Cody cantering, which he rarely did before the chiropractor (coincidence or not). They just had their feet done so everyone is a bit off.

Tack Sale Fundraiser

I'm just trying to get the word out about our fundraiser. We Can Ride is having a tack sale fundraiser on Saturday, June 9, at 10a.m. in Eden Prairie. We have all sorts of tack from western and english saddles, to breeches, chaps, boots, and horse blankets. You name it, we probably have it! We have great prices and it's for a great cause! Help raise money for therapeutic riding! If you want more information you can email me or go to the We Can Ride website at: www.wecanride.org

Chiropractor for Cody

Cody had his first visit from the Chiropractor on Thursday. Yes, you read that right, the horse chiropractor. In general Cody seems quite unhappy under saddle (spins in circles, herd bound, doesn't stand still, evades the bit). Before I start trying to teach him to tolerate me riding, I figured I better get him all fixed up to make sure none of his behavior is related to pain. His teeth were pretty bad so now that those are all fixed the next step was to make sure his back was feeling okay. Tricia had noticed he tenses up when saddled which is a sign of discomfort.

I snuck out of work a few minutes early and headed out to the barn. It had been raining all day and was raining most of my way there. But as I pulled into Chaska things started clearing up and even showed some blue sky and sun. This was a relief because Cody doesn't do well locked in the barn by himself. I can only imagine how hard it would be to adjust a horse while he's pacing and pawing. I opened up the barn and Beau was there to greet me. He was left in the barn to hide from the rain and hopefully avoid making his rain rot any worse. Tom had opened the bottom pasture so no one else was to be found. I ended up opening up the whole barn and using the stretchy gates to block the entrances. It was pretty muddy in the paddock so I thought we might have to resort to working in the barn. Maybe with the doors wide open Cody would feel better if he could see his herd.

I headed for the pasture to find the horses. I can't whistle so I just started yelling for them. Amazingly enough I saw a few heads pop up from the bottom of the hill. A few seconds later there was a herd of horses standing half way up the hill wondering what all the noise was. With a little more coaxing the stampede started. I managed to get a little video of the running (which I'll post when I get it uploaded). I shut the gate to the pasture once everyone was up by the barn and fetched up Cody.

He wasn't too dirty because he refrains from rolling in the mud, so grooming him was a quick job. He was fine for the most part while in the barn because everyone else was looking through the door at the stretchy gate. But as they got bored and moved off, Cody got more agitated so I turned him out into the paddock with Axel.

When the Chiropractor arrived we decided to work in the paddock under the overhang where it wasn't muddy and was almost level. Cody stood fairly patiently, always keeping his eye on the herd, and only having to turn around once when the horses moved to the other side of the paddock. Axel stayed out of the way most of the time but did drop in a few times to visit and get in the way. I was surprised how well Cody tolerated the adjustments. He's not overly cuddly and I figured being poked and prodded like that might not be his cup of tea. After several adjustments he started licking and relaxing a bit. He even got a little bit of acupuncture. The whole thing took maybe 45 minutes or so. The Dr. said that most horses have 1, maybe 2 ribs out. Cody had 2 on one side (I think), and 4 on the other side. His withers were out, and he did a lot of adjustments on his back as well. He checked out Cody's sore shoulder and discovered it was quite stiff so he stretched that out a bit as well - another surprising sight to see Cody tolerate having his leg swung all around.

He definitely didn't lean into it and savor the adjusting like some horses do, but he stood very nicely considering he was separated from the group. Dr's orders are to not ride for a few days while he recuperates and to have him adjusted again in a month.

Musical Horses

Tuesday Tricia came down with pink eye so she thought it would be better if she didn't come over to teach my riding lesson. Earlier I had taken some volunteer time from work and helped Stephanie clear the trails at the home school. She was going to work with Kiko and Kalani as usual so I decided to ride Cody again. Cody was still kind of ornery with me and he definitely didn't listen to me as good as he did when Tricia was there. I chalk that up to me not doing things properly with out being observed. He kept cutting corners to follow Kiko and really got in her way while we cantered. A crazy counter-canter, which made it impossible for him to make a sharp left instead of barreling up towards the barn. The good news is that we were able to do some bending at the halt better than we had done before. But the ride was kind of a bust overall.

When Steph switched to work with Kalani I decided to ride Corey for a while. The wind was pretty crazy and Kalani didn't know what to do with himself so that ride was a bit trying as well. Top that off with Steph trying to ride the horses in hacks for the first time. Kiko was brilliant in the hack. Kalani, not so much. Corey enjoyed himself, just wandering around in circles watching Kalani freak out at the wind. I tried to trot him around a barrel, he's supposedly a barrel horse, but it didn't go very well. I'm no expert on neck reining and I think I was confusing him. Steph got up when she was done fighting with Kalani and cantered him a bit and tried a barrel at a slow lope but he lost his footing and nearly ended up on his nose. So I guess it's back to basics for Mr. Corey. He was pretty cute though, lots of suspension and a super cute little Arab canter.

Saturday Afternoon

It was supposed to storm today so I sat around the house until 1pm. It just didn't drop an ounce of rain so I went out to the barn. Things were pretty mellow. I was surprised to find everyone up in the paddock just hanging out. I figured they'd all be grazing in the pasture. I groomed Cody and Axel a bit, mostly just to scratch all those itches the stable flies have caused. I decided not to ride but instead take Corey out for a walk. He's maybe going to be a therapy horse this fall so he needs a little practice. Some people walk their dogs down the road, I walked a horse. Corey did really well, he was excited to look around and see all the sights but he didn't spook at all. And he followed directions pretty well. Walk on, walk up, trot, easy, and whoa. He's got a pretty vertical trot so that will be interesting to lead. Shouldn't be anything different than Ruger already at WCR.

After our walk I picked up the tack room. One of the saddle racks fell off the wall again. So I put that stuff away and then I just hung out for a while. I didn't take too many photos, just a couple including this one of Axel. His winter coat is almost gone and he's getting black again. Who knows how long that'll last though.

I've got an appointment for the chiropractor to come out on Thursday and see Cody. He says it'll just take a half hour so hopefully I can get up to WCR in time. I just hope Cody does well with the adjustment. I'm going to have to make sure the rest of the herd is up in the paddock so he doesn't get all worked up. That won't help anything. I hope the adjustment helps him out too, he still tenses up when I saddle him along with his left shoulder being sore.

Cody's First Dressage Lesson

I really need to get the camera or video camera out to the barn soon. This week was Cody's first "dressage" lesson. I suppose technically it wasn't a dressage lesson, it was just a lesson. But the same could go for Axel. We're just trying to teach them to carry themselves correctly and in the end I'd like to do a Dressage Show with Axel. In any case, I decided for the next few weeks I would ride Cody because so far we haven't had much luck together. I had Tricia ride Axel during the lesson so he doesn't get out of shape.

First things first, I could just pay Tricia to ride Axel and watch. He looked so good I could not believe it. He looked like a pro! It was awesome!

Item number two: I am way too timid/wishy-washy. After being told under no certain circumstances (which was still probably too wishy-washy) was he to act like an idiot, Cody shaped up really nicely.

We had our first discussion right out of the gate when he didn't want to go down to the end of the pasture where we intended to ride. But after we got over that he was really well behaved. Stephanie was using my extra D-Ring on Kiko and Kalani so I found a big O-Ring with a curved mouth piece and some small copper inlays. That seemed to work out well for Cody so we might stick with that one for a while. We did the basic walk and trot stuff. Trying to stay on the rail and bend around my leg. Cody's a bit more responsive than Axel but he still needed quite a bit of leg to figure out what it was I wanted him to do. Things were a little more difficult on his left side since his shoulder is sore. I've got to get my fiances in order and see if I have enough to get the chiropractor out for him next month. Unlike Axel in the beginning, Cody will trot around the "arena" almost as many times as you want without having to be prodded to keep going. His trot is a lot smoother and easier to sit though it does pick up a bit when he gets going. We had one very minor issue in the middle of the lesson when he wanted to head back to the barn but it was very minor and we worked through it. The rest of the time he was darn well behaved. I think riding him for several weeks in a row is really going to help. Mostly I think it'll just help me figure out what cues I need to be giving Cody to keep him paying attention. It won't hurt him to get a little exercise and face time with me either.

Saturday Ride

This photo is from several weeks ago but it kind of goes with today anyways.

It was a gorgeous morning so I made my way out to the barn. Tricia was going to meet me there after she finished doing some ground work with her crazy horse. While I waited I groomed Beau for a while and gave him a Betadine bath. He doesn't roll so he was still full of winter hair. I used the shedding blade on him as much as I could and the hair just came off in carpets. He still looks a bit worse for wear even after the bath, but he's better than before. He wasn't terribly excited with the hose, I suppose it was still a bit chilly. But he did keep himself occupied by eating the dandelions out of the yard. In the meantime Tom turned he herd out into the top half of the back pasture. There was a bit of bucking and running by Kalani. Cody trotted along behind and Axel brought up the rear and stopped as soon as he found a blade of grass. In hindsight we should have waited to turn them out until after our trail ride but what was done was done.

Tricia arrived and we went to retrieve Cody and Axel. Cody was all worked up having to be tied in the paddock while the rest of the herd was out grazing. Nothing I wasn't expecting of course. Then he got Axel worked up though, so they were both pawing and pacing and acting like general fools. It made Tricia feel better about her crazy horse though ;) We managed to groom and tack them up and walk them down past the first gate. I switched Cody back to a regular D ring snaffle. I just can't neck rein and if he's not going to listen to me in the first place I want to be able to direct rein and get some action in his mouth with both sides of the snaffle. At least that's the plan. After some discussion on which side of the hill Cody was going to stand on so I could mount, I ended up mounting on the off side just to make everyone's life easier. After we made it up the hill it looked like his saddle had slipped back pretty far, however, it was just at the edge of his shoulders. I reasoned that Cody doesn't even seem to notice that I'm riding him enough to notice his saddle wasn't quite right. Though any further up and it would have probably interfered with his shoulders so who knows, just an observation I made.

We made our way through the woods and managed to walk down the hills (using Axel's rear end as a wall). We did gallop up the one hill to the lookout point. One thing Cody is good at, walk to gallop transition. After a minor discussion on our way out of the woods we made our way back around the meadow at a nice canter. Well nice canter for Tricia and Axel, kind of an uncollected canter for me and Cody. On our way back around it started thundering and then raining. It wouldn't have been such a big deal but Tricia had left her trunk open with her computer and camera in it. We walked across the bridge and shut the gate. Normally we'd make sure to walk back up to the barn but we threw caution to the wind and "let'er buck" as it were. Cody quickly passed up Axel and galloped up the first part of the hill, topping it off with a few little bucks. He evened out and galloped the rest of the way with Axel behind. The next gate was shut so that was the end of our little run.

We dismounted and walked the rest of the way back to the barn being followed quickly by the rest of the herd. We untacked in the barn and gave the boys a couple apples. And by the time we were done with all that the rain had stopped. Tom had shut Tricia's trunk so we didn't have to rush back after all. Oh well. Any longer of a ride and Cody would have been beside him self with anxiety. I'm hoping that riding him for the next several weeks we'll work out a few issues. That will remain to be seen. It'll be fun seeing someone else ride Axel though, he looks so pretty these days.

Ick, Stable Flies, and Dressage Lesson #33

The new fencer did the trick and Axel is safe and sound in the pasture he belongs in. When I drove up last night everyone was standing in the paddock near the barn. The gate to the side pasture was open and no one was grazing. I should have known something was up. "What was up?" you might ask. Stable Flies. That is what was up. And on, and under, and all over the place. Axel was covered in them. Granted flies and gnats are annoying but mostly they just buzz around and mind their own business. Stable flies bite and suck blood. Like giant mosquitoes. And they don't scare easily. You pretty much have to pick them off to get rid of them. Cody's nose was speckled with bloody dots from being bitten. Axel had them on his neck, face, sheath, rear, legs, and girth area. The other horses had them as well. Everyone seemed pretty miserable with it all. I wiped Axel down with the wipe on fly spray I have. I think that did help in the end. Cody had run off and wouldn't stand still so he didn't get the full treatment. Unfortunately after riding Axel had probably sweated most of the fly spray off.

Despite the annoying flies the lesson actually went fairly well. It was a lot warmer than I expected and I tired out easily. My position didn't fall apart nearly as much as it had in the previous lesson. Axel bent around my leg more often and even made it full circles of our "arena" in a fairly proper manner. I managed to not yank the heck of his face and I didn't even have to carry my whip. At the end of the lesson we attempted to get a canter. Naturally this scares me, I can hardly keep him on the circle in the trot, how the heck am I going to hold him in place at the canter! Hurdle number 1 was two-point position in a dressage saddle - not an easy feat. I gave up and just posted and intended to post the canter if it came down to it. We made several attempts to get a canter and most just got confusion and attempts on the wrong lead. At least we think they were attempts, either that or they were really wimpy bucks. We switched sides a few times to try and find his favorite direction but both ways he wanted to pick up the wrong lead. Finally, tracking left, we got a half hearted, wrong lead canter so we stopped him and that was the end of the lesson. Hopefully he'll chew on that and remember that was what we were looking for, well the canter part, not the wrong lead part. Just to round out the lesson, I walked Axel by hand and somehow he stepped on the reins and broke them. Granted they were only like $15 at fleet farm and I do have another set. I'm going to have to be more careful when/if I ever get my dressage bridle!

Latest Adventures

So rumor has it (okay, Tom actually told me) that Axel went on some sight seeing adventures last week. Wednesday night he found Axel across the road, I assume in the ditch of the Nursery, grazing away. Thursday morning Axel was in the yard. Upon further inspection Tom discovered that the fencer wasn't working. Axel must have also made this discovery and made a break for greener pastures. Or well, any pasture as they're still in the "dry" lot. Poor Axel had to be locked in the paddock until he could get a new fencer. Sounds like he got one on Friday and everything has been hunky dory since.

Lesson with Cody

Tricia was busy this week so instead of a dressage lesson I decided it was time to start working with Cody. Stephanie was out working with Kiko and Kalani so I got Cody ready and we went out to follow them around. I haven't figured Cody out yet. One moment he's freaking out, trying to get back to the barn even though we're only 50 feet away from it and his girl friend is right in front of us working. The next minute he's making serpentines at the request of a light neck rein. It kind of went like that for the whole 2 hours. Freak out, behave, freak out, behave. We practiced standing still for a bit while Steph switched out horses. Cody's not the best at just standing when asked, he inches forward. He never really gave into me, would never bend while standing. He was quite responsive to neck rein and leg pressure when he wanted to be. Eventually it seemed as if he almost just gave up and he'd plod along behind Kalani. His left shoulder seemed off and he spent the last several minutes limping around at the trot. It's hard to judge just how well that lesson went, part of it was really good, part of it was really bad. I really need more time to ride him on a regular basis. Maybe I should think about paying Tricia to ride Axel while I follow with Cody for a few lessons. Axel doesn't really need time off and I can't really come up with more than one day a week right now to go out there and riding Cody alone usually just frustrates me.

First Trail Ride

My weekend was booked with Horse Expo and bridesmaid dress shopping but I still wante to get out to the barn. It was supposed to be super nice all weekend and I didn't want to miss out on it. After work on Friday I braved the traffic and went out to the barn for a quick ride. Axel and I decided to head up the back hill and check out the trail and make sure no trees had fallen. The first trail ride in the spring is always quite a bit faster than subsequent ones. Axel was quite excited and clipped along at a nice working walk. I had already opened all the gates so we didn't have to stop for any of that. We cruised through the woods and back out only running into a few small trees, nearly branches, that had fallen on the path. Nothing we couldn't step over.

I wanted to do some cantering in the meadow area and some nice trotting. We set off in a canter but it was quite bumpy. Axel must have been using his rear end for once. After the first canter he was a little worked up and ready to head back to the barn. I wanted some nice trotting, Axel decided bucking was a better idea. We made a few more passes and tried to work on some trotting in a circle but it wasn't happening quite as I had planned. We ended up doing some serpentines at the walk which were very bendy and nice. After such good bending I got off and let him graze a bit while I took a few photos.

We headed back down the hill and made our un-graceful attempt to close the bridge gate without dismounting. We did it, it wasn't pretty, but we managed. I decided to take a walk down by the swampy area and try to jump over the old log that's down there. We trotted over it the first time. Cantered, bucked, and nearly ended up in the fence the second time. And finally just walked over it the third time. In the end I think I picked 4 wood ticks out of Axel's boots when we were done. Must have been the tall grass in the meadow area.

Dressage Lesson #32

Axel has learned his stuff pretty well. He knows how to use his rear end and bend around my leg. Unfortunately for me, he will only do it if I am riding in the utmost perfect way. Something I am not prone to do more times than not. So I fight and fight to try and get in the right place and put my leg in the right position and hold the reins correctly just to get him to start moving around correctly, and then I instantly loose it. It's been two days since my last lesson and my inner thighs are still killing me.

We tried his new boots this time. He hates them, just like he hated the other support boots we tried. I'm not sure if he'll get used to them or not. Unlike the bell boots or polo wraps which he clomps around in for a while lifting his feet up pretty high, in the combo/skid boots he raised his one back leg all the way up to his belly and then hopped around on the other back leg. The last trim didn't actually help his habit of kicking himself, he did plenty of that this week. Every time we'd stop he try and kick the boots off. I think we'll give them a few more tries before switching back to the bell boots though. I attempted to wear spurs this week as well. I didn't really notice any big difference, maybe if I get the hang of it so I know more when I'm using them and when I'm not. At this point I'm a little worried about our schooling show in August but that could all change. I think we need a few rides where we just stretch out and get a really bit trot, get our riding legs back or something. We'll have to take a ride up the back hill and trot around for a while. Maybe if I can find some time this weekend.

April Showers, Finally

Poor Axel, standing out in the rain.

It wasn't raining when I left the house but the trouble with living 45 minutes from where the horses are, is that the weather can change by the time I get there. I did know it was supposed to rain but I thought maybe it would hold off. Tom opened up the side pasture so all the horses were out grazing on what little grass there is all while getting rained on. I hung around for a while and Beau came up to visit me so I let him in the barn. The last thing he needs is to stand out in the rain and get more rain rot. Axel made his way up to barn so I groomed him a bit, as much as one can while he's soaking wet. Cody hung around for a while as well and let me brush him a bit before wandering back out to the pasture. The rain finally let up so I decided to work with Axel a bit in the round pen. I'd like to teach him how to lunge so we can work a bit on impulsion from the ground. He wasn't quite getting it at the walk, he just kept spinning around. We worked a bit on walk-halt-walk-trot on the lead and he did really well. I actually got him to trot on the lead which doesn't usually happen. And of course Axel's best gait is "whoa." At one point we did get a trot in a real lunge circle but of course at that point it started pouring again.

I let Axel go and ran back to the barn where all the other horses were standing under the overhang. Axel followed be, but of course he didn't go under the overhang. He's so darn timid, I dunno if he thought there wasn't enough room or if he thought the other horses were going to chase him away. I stood there for a while trying to convince him to join the rest of the herd but he wouldn't budge so I got a rope and led him under the overhang. Luckily none of the other horses chased him away and he actually stood there, so I don't think he wanted to stand out in the rain alone. Maybe he went back out there after I left but he was still there before then.

Saturday Tricia and I ran out to the CSDEA tack sale. I picked up a pair of skid/combo boots for Axel and another pair of bell boots. I also got a pair of English style spurs with tiny rowels. We'll give them a try and see if that gets any more energy out of Axel. Hopefully I can use the properly. As of right now it looks like it's supposed to rain again on Tuesday so another day of riding might be postponed.