Finally a nice day!

We finally had a nice day to go out and ride. Even after it snowed this weekend (can you believe that?). Axel is looking better, seems a bit tender still. I told the caretakers to cut down his bute a bit and then just give it to him as he becomes sore. We'll see how that works. He was feeling well enough to chase Poppy around and to sneak under a makeshift fence. I grabbed Cody and Kiko for today's ride. Steph was busy so Tricia came out to ride Kiko since Axel is on the bench. I really do promise I'll work with Cody on the standing still thing. He did really well with backing out of the barn so I expect if I put my mind to it I can get him to stand still. I also plan to do a bit more work with him this summer as far as schooling goes since Axel is resting. He's not totally willing to listen to me yet so maybe some time in the "arena" will help. I'll have to do some research on methods to teach him to stand to beef up my arsenal.

We had our usual mounting difficulties so we walked down to the first stretchy gate and mounted there. He made a few very weak attempts to convince me that riding on the trail wasn't in our best interest, but he gave in quickly and without a fight. Over all the ride was very calm. We still have issues with going down hills and wanting to go too fast or run. And when we came out of the woods into the clearing and tried to work on some circles he was a bit miffed. He hates turning to the left and will fight it with all his might. So serpentines will be in our future. And despite the minor fights, the first hill work of the year, and still having a partial winter coat, we came back up to the barn with very little sweat. So that's a good sign that he was relatively calm with the situation. Granted Kiko was along. I am hoping one of these days he will finally settle in with the new herd and be back to his post-chiropractic happy self.

Poor Axel

Well I got a call on Wednesday this past week that Axel was sore on his hind left foot again. The vet figured that after a round of antibiotics it wasn't an infection that was making him lame. He has a lot of calcification from the lower ringbone and the vet though he probably just fragmented some of that calcification. So the new diagnosis is just that and the treatment is bute for the pain and rest for a month. Sounds like rest just means keeping him at a walk if we ride and keeping him in a smaller paddock. I probably won't ride for a while just to give him a fighting chance to feel better. The herd will be in the upper paddock for a while yet so keeping him in a smaller area isn't a problem. He should be feeling better by the time we open another pasture. If the month of rest doesn't do the trick we have some options with steroid injections and whatnot and I'll be getting him some of the 4-in-1 HA supplement for his joints.


The goofy horse was eating the powdered antibiotics with applesauce and licking the bowl clean. So I figured for the ease of the caretakers I'd get the powdered bute which they could mix with the applesauce. Well apparently bute tastes much worse than antibiotics. I picked up the x-rays and the bute on my way over and put together his dinner for that night. He ate about half of his grain/bute/applesauce mixture and then went on a hunger strike. He just stood there nickering at me and lifted his sore foot. Poor Cody will not be terribly happy that Axel gets vacation and he is going to get ridden more often in the next month.

Lazy Sunday

The caretakers of the barn sent me this photo on Sunday (I think it was actually shot on Saturday though). All but two of the horses laying down taking a nice nap together. Axel and Daley were standing guard. Too bad it was so muddy and kind of yuck. I think they'd look super cute napping in a field of daisys! Heh.

Saturday at the barn

After a meeting at WCR on Saturday I made it out to the barn to see how Axel was doing. He was down to 1g of bute per day and Sunday would be his last day of antibiotics. He was walking on this foot, still the tiniest bit tender, but nearly sound for the most part. He didn't run away from me in the pasture so I guess he's done being mad that we locked him up when he was recovering. As usual he's got scratches and scrapes all over him, what that horse does when no one is around, I will never know. There's no sign of any new scabs or anything on his feet from the mud fever. Now that the mud is starting to dry up he'll hopefully make a full recovery with no relapses. I'm still waiting on the bill from the vet for all the x-rays (yikes).

I did do a bit of work with Cody. After a quick grooming I took him out to the side pasture to do some ground work. We're still not quite sure how to move away from the person lunging when he starts to cut in. But we'll keep working on that. Until we get that part I don't think we can do lateral movements. I took him to the opposite side of the trees so he couldn't see his friends and did some work there. He wasn't 100% on that side but was doing fair. He had no interest in the pedestal. So I guess he's not much of a trick horse. Though I didn't push him, I just wanted to see if he would be interested in it at all. Finally we went to the round pen where I knew he'd be more relaxed with his herd nearby. Did some basic lunging and direction changes. Worked on moving the forehand and the hindquarters. Then we tried some liberty work. He actually did really great that the liberty work. Slightly distracted at times but still changed directions on command, even into the circle as he was taught. All that of course happened after I shot this little video. It's hard to shoot a video of lunging without getting dizzy and falling over.

Update on Axel

Lessee ...

Monday: Got the call that Axel was lame, had a friend check him out she confirmed I should call the vet, had the vet take a look at him, he was kind of stumped so he took some x-rays to be sure, short of broken bones we decided it was infection from mud fever, he stayed in the barn all day and that night.

Tuesday: Axel was feeling no pain after a few rounds of Bute so we decided to cut him down a bit so we could actually see if he was improving or not, he was moved out to the round pen so he could see his buddies and get some fresh air, he was actually walking fine. Report from Vet said no broken bones. We spent our usual Tuesday night at the barn grooming, feeding antibiotics, giving vaccines, and cleaning hooves.

Wednesday: Reported from the caretakers, after less Bute he was putting weight on his sore leg but not confidently so he stayed in the round pen for the day and night again.

Today: Reported from the caretakers, he trotted away from them this morning, tried to rear, refused to be haltered and went on a hungry strike. He's now turned out with the herd for the day.

Silly horse. I won't see him again til Saturday, maybe tomorrow if I get an itch. He'll be on the antibiotics until Sunday for sure and cutting down to even less Bute between now and then. It sounds like he's feeling better but we'll see how he feels after being turned out all day. If it's just the infection there's not really any worry that he'll hurt himself worse and the mud is drying up and he's on antibiotics, so I think he'll be fine turned out. More likely than not, he'll spend the day standing in one place like usual.

Happy Monday

Nothing like a call from the caretakers of a person's barn at 7 am on a Monday morning to brighten your day. Turns out Axel was lame. And over the phone, they said he wouldn't even walk up to his bucket for breakfast. It didn't sound like anyone really knew what to do and I didn't think I should run out there if it was just some lameness. So I called Steph to have her run up on her way to work and see if she thought I should call the vet or what. My thought was that it was just the mud fever acting up. All the mud out there for the past few weeks certainly doesn't do anyone any good. Steph determined he was quite lame, 3 legged lame in fact. They managed to get him in the barn and she thought I should probably call the vet. So around 1:30 Brad arrived out at the barn and Jeff and I met him there. We drove up at the same time so I hadn't seen him yet.

He greeted us in the barn with a nice knicker. Brad had me try and walk him to see what was the deal. He was dead lame, hopping on 3 feet lame. The vet did some testing to see if it was any joints that were bothering him - no reaction. He did some pressure testing on his hoof - no reaction. He looked like he had an abscess but that would have shown up with the hoof tester and it didn't. He was sore when he pressed on some of the lumps and bumps from the mud fever but that was the only reaction we could get out of him. And the mud fever wasn't all that bad externally at least. The vet decided that he seemed just too lame and he better xray his foot to make sure. I guess he was walking like a horse that broken it's coffin bone. Though that kind of break usually results from the horse kicking something really hard and Axel isn't really a kicker.

So until we see the xrays he said to give him some antibiotics and bute in case it is just the mud fever and it went deeper and caused the lameness. If that's the case we should see some improvement in a few days. The vet hasn't called about the xrays so I should hear from him in the morning. So keep your fingers crossed that it's just the infection. We'll be heading out there tomorrow evening as usual so I hope he's showing some improvement. Scott called earlier and asked if he could put Axel in the round pen tomorrow during the day. I guess he's not totally content in the barn by himself. At least in the round pen he can see the other horses better and be out in the sun. Hopefully he takes his bute in the morning and doesn't give them a hard time.

As usual I'm behind in posts

Last Saturday I ran out and met Tricia at the CSDEA tack sale to see what kind of good deals we could come up with. I actually didn't do too bad. Traded places with Tricia who found all the deals last year. I ended up with some new bell boots, a Cavallo memory foam pad, a Ultra Soft Gel pad, and a white dressage pad all for $40. Still haven't found a good deal on a saddle cover that will fit my dressage saddle so I might be destined to just buy a new one, they aren't actually that expensive.

After hitting the tack sale we went out to Tricia's in-law's farm to ride Oly and Cinder. Cinder is getting much better at letting people put his bridle over his ears. I guess Tricia's niece has been working with him a lot on that and it's showing. We took a trip down the dirt road across the highway. Met up with some dogs that thought we were scary monsters and had full mohawks to go along with their barking. Both horses were just fine with the situation. Oly had some issues throughout the ride, wanting to ride in the ditch and not the road. Makes me feel better that it's just not my horses that have "issues."

After riding there we went over to the ranch to ride my horses for a while. I rode Cody and Tricia jumped on Axel bareback for a trip down the road. Cody was pretty good most of the ride but he gets so worked up on the way back he just won't pay attention. We are having some serious issues turning left lately. Even just weaving to the left he gets really angry. The closer he gets back to the barn the better he is of course. At least this ride Tricia didn't have to dismount to hold Cody while cars went by. He and I are going to be doing a lot of work soon.

So last night Steph and Tricia and I meet out at the barn. Steph is still recovering from her pulmonary embolus so she opted to ride Axel. She's on blood thinners and can't fall down. Axel, while kind of goofy, is a stable bombproof horse so he's the best bet for not falling. Though sometimes I wonder why he doesn't fall down himself. I groomed him, and then fetched Cody and Kiko from the sea of mud and we worked on grooming them. Axel is almost done shedding but Cody still has a ways to go. He was a bit more calm in the barn with Kiko there but someone, I think Papillon, was outside calling up a storm. We still really have to work on standing still with Cody. He'll halt when asked and back and all that but he won't halt for more than a second before pacing. So it was an uneventful ride down the road. Tricia rode Kiko out for the first time in a long time and she was actually sane. Cody was a little more feisty on the way back to the barn. I didn't want to fight too much so we didn't attempt a left turn away from the barn, but I did try and work on serpentines which he still won't do to the left. He thinks I'm trying to steer him away from the barn. The closer we get to the barn the better he bends. So next time we ride I'm going to work him really hard near the barn, take a few steps away from the barn and rest and get off. And we'll keep doing that until he realizes the barn means work. Or until he gets over his need to keep track of his herd at all times. Of course it didn't help that Kiko was in season and he kept trying to get her attention. Boys!

If you missed the CSDEA tack sale or the big Farmington 4H tack sale this year, make sure you check out the We Can Ride Tack Sale this coming weekend. We have all sorts of tack at great prices since we don't do consignment. I, unfortunately, won't be there to help out as I have my NARHA Instructor Certification this weekend.

My Methods Aren't Perfect

Okay so my methods are far from perfect. I'm working on it and I have two good friends overseeing my feeble attempts (and probably snickering along the way). On Saturday after the WCR barn clean up I ran over to see the boys. I was much too lazy to ride so I thought I'd take Cody out on the road and do some ground work in a place he wasn't quite as comfortable. I was right about his lack of comfort. He lead really well but once we started heading away from the barn he kept trying to look back. I sent him out on a circle several times but they were always really spastic and frantic. He just wouldn't relax. We ended that adventure by stopping facing away from the barn for a few moments.

As soon as we start approaching the barn where he can see everyone, then he slows down and relaxes, so I think the next step is to work on the road where he's comfortable and then push his comfort level a tiny bit each time by stepping further away. I might ride him out there as well, at least if he's relaxed we can get some work done.

When that adventure was over I measured his hooves one more time. I'm still wary on what size boot to buy as he's right on the very edge of two sizes. My next plan of attack was to deworm the four horses. I wanted to start with Cody and get it over with because he can become a bit of a pill. Unfortunately I haven't quite gotten the hang of it and I took too much time and the head tossing began. So I resorted to putting it in his feed bucket with an apple and some feed. This worked for both my horses the last time I tried. This time, not so much. Cody ended up eating most of his, spit out a little. I was too lazy then to try deworming everyone the right way so everyone got theirs in a bucket. Kiko ate all of hers. Kalani managed to spit just the dewormer out. And Axel, you know - the horse that eats anything, staged a hunger strike. I haven't heard how the next day went as we left his dewormer in the bucket to try again in the morning. So it's back to the drawing board on that one. Steph doesn't have an issue deworming my horses so it's just a matter of practice and techinque. At least I have two months before the next time.

Not Quite Spring

Well it's still not quite Spring. I think it was near 40 degrees last night but windy so it was a chilly ride after all. We're still faithfully scraping hair off the horses. Axel looks pretty horrible, dirty and hairy. Cody usually avoids the mud so he isn't quite as bad. Axel's feet are still scabby but I don't think there's any new scabs so hopefully we'll avoid some of the major mud fever this year. Apparently the Farrier was out this morning as well. I had to tell the caretakers to make sure the farrier trimmed both my horses frogs. Not sure why he doesn't do that regularly anyways. So now I'm ready to measure one more time and order some boots for Cody. I did measure last night just to see the growth and he only changes 1/4 of an inch in length from the last time I measured, and that measurement isn't quite as accurate. I might not have measured from the exact same spot each time. Once again we fed from in the barn. I was able to hook Cody's bucket up to a fence insulator that was on the post in the barn but I think we should pick up a few clips to use for feeding inside. Maybe just some cheap carabiners would work, I might actually have some in my saddle bag.

So we groomed and tacked and made sure all the doors and locks and fences and everything was latched appropriately before setting off on the road. Cody was very manageable on the road but wasn't really paying attention to me so we worked on some serpentines. Once again on the way back a car came up behind us. Cody caught the sight of the car in the corner of his eye and decided he wasn't sticking around to find out what it was. It didn't help that it was super windy so we didn't even hear the car ourselves. So that minor spook gave Cody a reason to act like an idiot and try to get back to the barn. Once again Tricia got off Axel to try and hold Cody since he wouldn't move out of the road. Actually right as I was about to just get off myself he started to calm down, but then she dismounted and led him away. The remainder of the trip had no traffic so that was good. He was still a bit uptight but calmed down a lot. I wonder had no cars passed if he would have been better the whole ride.

Axel is still uneven but I'm wondering if he's never been really straight anyway. He tripped numerous times one of which almost landed him on his knee. He must have bent his sore knee too far, after that trip he had several tentative steps. I'm going to have to add some lineament to my shopping list and see if that helps any. When we returned from our ride we tried again to back Axel out of the barn, this time through the big door. Boy was he not interested in backing up. After much fighting he finally started catching on to the whole backing thing so we'll just have to keep it up. I don't think he's going to get it quite as fast as Cody. I also lunged him a tiny bit but he's not quite into the change of direction yet. And I had the swinging end of the rope too long and clocked myself in the head with it - after Cody peed on it of course.

I think this Saturday after barn cleanup for We Can Ride I will stop out at the barn and do more ground work with both horses. I think I want to start lateral work with Cody and basic ground work with Axel. And I might take Cody out on the road to do the ground work so we have more room and less dust.

Escape Artists Strike Again

So last week I really wanted to take a little video of Axel trotting along in his new goofy lopsided trot but Cody was acting the fool so it didn't happen. Steph wasn't feeling well so she stayed home and I met Tricia at the barn. I borrowed Steph's cordless clippers to take care of Axel's ankles before it got too muddy. I really should get the vet to take a look at his legs one of these days and probably add some oil to his diet. He's got these super dry flakey scabs all over his coronary band and whatever that part is above the coronary band (don't mind me, I can never remember horse parts). It's probably just chronic mud fever but it's kind of gross. Luckily for me Axel is a good boy and lets us pick all his scabs off without a fight, if only the Betadine wasn't still frozen. We had both Cody and Axel in the barn for some much needed grooming when it was time to feed. Everyone else was fed in their usual spots at the fence and we just fed the boys in the barn where they were. We might need to get some clips to hang the buckets inside if feeding time is always when we're out there to ride. Anyway, Cody was almost calm with the exception of digging himself a big hole to stand in. Someone on the other side of the barn door didn't help by kicking at it.

When everyone was done eating and were saddled up we went out the big barn door for our ride. The little door was closed so we left the big door open as we mounted in the barn aisle for lack of a better place. It's a major mud pit in the pasture and there's still snow on the back hill so it's a lot of road riding for us for a while. Cody was a little reluctant but not too bad. Axel decided on a new gait: left hind lifted up much higher than other feet with each step he took. I don't know if his boots were bothering him or what, but it was pretty funny looking. He even kept it up at the trot. I think by the time we got to the end of the road and turned around he had finally started to walk normal. Of course as soon as we turned around Cody went bezerk. Back to his old self, cantering sideways and all that drama. Of course he chose the day that everyone and their brother decided to drive down our road. At one point he wouldn't move out of the middle of the road as a truck and trailer were coming, Tricia had to dismount and lead him to the side of the road. He was beside himself and pissed off. Because we're gluttens for punishment we decided to not go back to the barn just yet and made them turn on the side road. Surprisingly enough it only took a minor amount of leg to get Cody to turn and he was pretty calm (compareatively) for the rest of the ride. He wasn't too happy about the dog on the other side of the street that kept yelping at him. But nothing major. We manged to keep most of our feet on the ground for the rest of the ride.

As we were coming back to the barn we couldn't see any other horses. They should have been out eating hay at that point and they were no where to be seen. We did, however, seed the neighbor in the driveway talking to the caretaker. Then we saw the horses, running through the nieghbor's yard. Cody flipped out. He was sure he should be running like an idiot with the rest of the escaped horses. I dismounted at the first safe moment I could find and Tricia took Cody and Axel back to the paddock where they proceeded to pace and call to the rest of the herd. I unhooked the fence and opened the gate by the driveway thinking that was the only way we'd be able to herd them in. It really didn't take a whole lot to get them back where they belonged. A little calling on our part, Cody and Axel's calling, and a bucket of grain and everyone was back in the paddock sweaty as ever.

It was a bit of excitement I don't think the caretakers were too happy about. But overall everyone was fine and within eyesight the whole time. The best we can figure is that the little barn door didn't get latched all the way so since we left the big door open they found their way out. Usually we had the stretchy gate across that door but with the 4 wheeler parked in that spot we haven't been putting the gate up. Perhaps I'll restart that habit. The caretakers can move the 4 wheeler.

We're going to go out to ride again tonight and I'll be interested to see if Cody's antics were because he knew the herd got out or if he was just an idiot to be an idiot. I think the farrier is due out tomorrow so I'll take a final measurement of Cody's feet tonight and then after the farrier and order some boots. If the de-wormer is thawed we'll probably have to de-worm as well.

Almost Spring

I was a bit afraid it'd be too cold to run out to the barn but at 32F it was pretty nice so I was glad I went for it. Cody, escorted by Kiko and followed by Papillon, came up to the paddock to see what kind of nonsense I was up to when I arrived. Since it had been so warm the past weekend and then froze up again, everything had a nice crust of ice on it, so riding was out for the evening. But no worries because we're far from not needing more ground work. Cody wasn't terribly pleased that I brought him into the barn without his buddies but he was very manageable. He's shedding pretty good already so the shedding blade will be my choice of grooming tool for a while. He still fidgets while tied in the barn but it was pretty mellow fidgeting at least. I set up 3 barrels in the corner of the barn with the plan to lunge him into the tight space (squeeze game if you will). Cody has really picked up the lunging and will turn when I ask and mostly stop when I ask. He's not quite as good as going from trot to walk, he'd rather trot most of the time but he knows what I'm asking. He's still not too great at just standing. I ask for a halt and he creeps. So I back him up. Then he creeps forward. Rinse and repeat. This time I backed him into the space between the barrels and barn wall and then continued to get him to turn 90 degrees while going backward. He was a little unsure of my request and bumped his butt on the wall but remained calm and figured out what I was asking. This is a really great lesson for him, that even if he bumps something I'm not leading him into a den of lions or anything. He is looking pretty good with his weight as well. Hard to completely tell with the fuzzy winter coat still but it looks like he's been packing on a few pounds. It will be nice to see him all rounded out when he sheds this spring. As usual he backed out of the barn door like a champ and was rewarded with dinner.

I waited for everyone to be fed before I worked Axel. He was not happy with me when I removed his nylon halter to put on the rope halter instead of letting him go eat hay with his herd mates. But once we got over that fight he followed me into the barn happily. The goal for Axel last night was to teach him to lunge. He's been ground driven and long lined but we've never really just lunged him like we do with Cody. He doesn't quite pick up on things as fast as Cody and he's never going to be the obedient "yes man" that Cody is turning out to be. But he did start to catch on to the lunging after a few minutes. I used a whip with him to keep him moving as I didn't think swinging the rope end would really faze him, a tap was a bit more effective. He was very unhappy to trot on the lunge and started off pretty lame and flung his head and tried to buck. I think his pain is manageable with more exercise and slower warm up periods. Unfortunately as I was lunging him I noticed he had a massive lump on his belly on the left side. My initial reaction was that was the reason he was so cranky at the trot. But in reality I think he just got kicked in the pasture and it was just a big bruise. I pressed on it a bit and he didn't really react, I didn't feel like getting kicked myself so I didn't press my luck (no pun intended). I probably shouldn't have stopped working him but he had done better than I expected up to that point so it probably wasn't a bad place to stop anyway. I did end with backing him up just in the barn on the flat ground. He backed pretty quickly even. We're going to move up to backing between the barrels, then the big barn door with decreasing width, then finally through the little barn door. Axel doesn't back out of the trailer so this is a good lesson for him but after last week when he would not back out of the little door we had to rethink our strategy.

Since daylight saving time ends earlier this year (or starts, I always forget), next week it'll be lighter even later so now we'll be able to get back to more riding and schooling type stuff as long as the ice melts! You can't even open the round pen gate right now, the snow drifted over it and then froze so it's hard as a rock. I'm looking forward to some trail rides this spring.

Second day in a row!

Sunday Steph and I made the trek back out to the barn to ride. This time I thought we'd go with Cody and Kiko and see if Cody was happier with that situation. He was pretty good about it, no groundwork ahead of time either. Kiko was having some usual issues about not really wanting to be out riding. Cody was actually really good in retrospect. We only had a few really minor Rolkur impressions. He likes to drop his jaw and chin and open his mouth in an attempt to evade the bit. It makes him look like he's doing rolkur. Ironically we ride him with a really loose rein, he just does it on his own. The new horses were quite concerned that we took Kiko away. Apparently she has made a few extra boyfriends.

It was such a nice day and our ride was pretty short since we only really have the road to ride on right now, we decided to get Kalani and Axel out for a second trip around. Axel was a bit slow as usual but nothing terrible. Well behaved for the most part as well. When we went for a bit of a trot he decided to kick out and start cantering. He wasn't trying too hard to get me off and we broke down to a trot just fine. Steph wanted a canter so she went ahead of me and gave it a try. I decided since I didn't know if Axel's protesting was from pain or attitude I'd just let him trot if he wanted. We were pretty far behind and I very lightly squeezed, I mean really lightly, just to see if he had any interest in catching up. Boy did he! Off he went, kicking, bucking, cantering. I pushed him forward to which his response was to drop back into a trot and then walk. I decided since his bucking is fairly straight and predictable I'd ask for another canter. I got more bucking, I tried to push him through, he cantered a few strides and then back down to the trot.

I'm not certain why he's been protesting so much. He isn't visibly lame nor is he visibly in pain. When he is trotting he's even. So either there's some pain somewhere I don't know about, he's got spring fever or just an attitude, or he's still not balanced enough to know how to canter properly. Of course it's probably a combination of all of that. My vote is on the majority of it being attitude. I'll get Tricia or Steph to ride him and see what they think. He did walkout much nicer when I rode on the buckle. Maybe we'll have to have a peek in his mouth. It'll be about a year now since he's had his teeth done (let's hope he doesn't need that done again, so expensive).

Since we've been backing Cody out of the barn door, he's been doing so well, we decided to try and back Axel. Cody's issue is flying backwards out of the trailer. Axel's issue is not backing out at all, insisting on turning around and going out forward. So I can get Axel to back on a flat surface in the barn or wherever, but as soon as he got about a foot from the barn door he wouldn't budge. And being the stoic bombproof horse he is, no amount of flailing, tapping, pushing, anything would get him moving. So after some rewards for taking a step or even just shifting his weight we ended that lesson. I'll have to start him through the other barn door that I can adjust the width and also there's no step. Then we'll move on to the small barn door that Cody has conquered. Goofy horses, if it's not one thing, it's another.

I remeasured Cody's feet for boots and I come up with 5" wide and 5.25" long. Not exactly the 3.5" long that the farrier reported. Of course I will triple measure in March after their next farrier visit to be sure before I order any boots. Hopefully by then my tax refund will be on it's way. Axel's feet ended up being 5" long and 6" wide. Though the farrier did square them off in front for more break over to help his sore knee. I don't think I'll be getting him any boots anyway though.

It's finally warm!

After getting up early to go into work, having to work later than I planned, getting stuck behind a train, and waiting in a long check out line at the store I finally made it out to the barn. Later than I had hoped but it was still light out and warm. I brought Axel in to groom him. He's already starting to shed and he's gotten himself some really nice scabs on the inside of his one back foot. My guess is he kicked himself, as usual, and since his skin is so horribly dry it doesn't heal the best and ends up being a nasty gross scab. I couldn't find the TriCare and the betadine was frozen so he had to go sans first aid. He didn't seem to care.

I left Axel tied and brought Cody in to groom. He wasn't thrilled with the idea but wasn't totally belligerent either. I groomed him, also starting to shed, and waited for Tricia to arrive. I was ready before she got there so I did some groundwork with Cody. He was a little concerned with what was happening outside but still minded my requests. I tried a bit of lunging outside in the yard as well. He was still a bit worked up about being away from his herd but we managed. Tricia still hadn't arrived so I gave her a call to find out where she was at. She decided she would ride Cody but in a saddle just in case he was crazy horse. So I tacked up both horses before she got there. From Tricia's report, Cody was a little stubborn, required a lot of leg to get moving away from the barn. But he wasn't terrible. Axel wasn't terribly fast himself. He kicked out a few times when asked to trot but nothing major. They both ended up a little sweaty but they're still in nearly full winter coats and it was 40F.

Cody proved himself to be quite the obedient horse when he backed out of the barn perfectly. I keep crossing my fingers that he'll load and unload in the trailer now.

New Farrier

Here's the update from Patti since I wasn't able to be at the barn when the new farrier came. She had him measure Cody so I can buy some hoof boots for him so he's more comfortable on the trails this year:

"Farrier (farriers - he brought his long-time assistant, Jesse) have come and gone. It's snowing out here now and it's so pretty. Anyway, everyone behaved well."

Here's the report:

Cody
- trim, not too short. He was very well mannered.
- for boots: angle 50; length 3-1/2; width 4-7/8
Axel
- trim, toes squared a bit in the front to ease his arthritic knees. The farrier was very careful with his left front - that was the only time Axel leaned a bit, when that leg was out front for filing.

I might have to remeasure his hooves as the hoof boots I am looking at don't have a 3.5" length boot and I don't think Cody has tiny little pony feet, he's a 15.2hh Paint. Maybe the length and width measures got swapped.

Axel Tries Skijoring Again

First visit out to the barn since the new horses moved in and it was a busy one. We went out on Friday a little earlier than normal. Tricia worked Cody a bit in the barn and then out in the pasture while we got Axel and Kiko ready. I guess he was a little worked up about it all. We took Kiko and Axel on the road and mounted there past all of the ice. Tricia joined us with a plastic sled for Axel to pull. He did really well on the stretch heading away from the barn. Kiko was a little concerned with the sound the sled was making but nothing too major. She was too busy fussy as she hadn't been ridden in quite a while. When we turned to head back and took the side road Axel decided he was done with our games and started a little hissy fit. Just a bit of bucking with a bit more energy than he usually is willing to give up. We got up to the bean field we stopped pulling the sled and I rode him around a bit to see if he was just pissed about pulling or if it was general barn sour crankiness. It appeared to be mostly barn sour crankiness. At this point we met up with Patti, Scott, and Andrea who came out for a ride as well. Tricia was horseless and didn't want to walk back so Scott and Gunner pulled her home. Axel actually led the pack on the way home. So much for my slow lazy horse! We'll see how long this'll last.

By the time we got back Cody had paced himself into a full sweat. It was only about 20F so we threw a wool blanket and a fleece cooler on him while we fed. Patti has a new system set up with clips and straps for each horse and they feed in the small buckets so no buckets stay outside now and you don't have to tie, you just clip them in. Since Cody was still wet we left the blanket and went to the bar for a while and came back on the way home and pulled them off since I don't have a waterproof sheet to leave on over night. Here's hoping for Cody to regain his sanity soon.

Axel has been ridden 5 times since his chiropractic adjustment, the last of which was his first attempt at Skijoring.

Updates from the barn

I haven't had a chance to get out and visit the horses since the big move on Saturday. It might have something to do with the -45F wind chill, you never know! But I have gotten a couple of updates on how things are going from the new caretakers.

From Tuesday, January 29
"They're good! They are staying in their herds of four and five. Red is more of a loner, and he hasn't been any trouble, at all. Kalani will stand with Red at times, but if Kiko comes over, Red will leave. Cody's gotten over his need to protect Kiko. Kalani, and sometimes Axel, feel the need to chase Gunner, but that thrill seems to be waning."

"Tom's/Elise's are in charge, so ours will move out of the way as they swarm over, but even so, there hasn't been any biting or serious kicking. They pretty much kept ours in the space behind the round pen on the first day! But now they are all quiet when tied up and waiting for dinner; however, we do have to tie "them" up before we tie "ours"; and we have to let ours go before we let theirs go. We've replaced all the lead ropes and hanging buckets with ties and bucket clips, so it's much cleaner looking. Not to mention, so much easier to feed."

"There was a possum, about the size of Koko [the cat], on the table with him last night! Koko was *so not* disturbed by that fact, that I'm expecting it's not an uncommon occurrence. The possum is no more, but Scott will be buying a gun tomorrow because - yuck, otherwise!"

"So, maybe more than you wanted to know, but every thing's good. We did harrow out there and it looks MUCH better. It's created safer traction, little clumps instead of frozen giant mounds."

And from today
"I can't believe how well this is going. The herds are starting to mingle - primarily it's Kalani, hanging out with Gunner and Poppy. Papillon and Kiko have been keeping company, too. But there's no more real chasing - and yesterday, when Axel pinned his ears back and shook his head at Daley, Daley didn't even pick up his head from the hay! (However, I did notice a bite on Daley's side - that's the only one of those I've seen on anybody so far.) They are settling down nicely."

"Yesterday, Poppy smelled like evergreen and right now, I can see Gunner scratching his behind on a tree - must feel good. Having prepped feed buckets yesterday, feeding this morning only took 20 minutes. I was surprised to find Poppy, Red, and Gunner under the overhang, waiting; Axel is always waiting at his tie. The horses are doing well and everyone's just fine."

"We should also mention that the horses are drinking a LOT more water. We put a second power strip in the tack room so we could hook up a better tank heater. It was freezing over pretty hard with the old one. They almost emptied the tank yesterday."

So that's the latest and greatest from the ever increasing herd at Pinto Creek Ranch. I plan to make a trip out there on Saturday to see how things are going, maybe do a little riding down the road, and some more ground work with Cody to see what his attitude is like.

New Horses

We lucked out with the weather today and had temperatures above zero for once. I got to the barn before everyone else arrived so I did some chores while I waited. Trailers pulled up pretty quickly after I started cleaning out the barn. They actually ended having to take 2 trips to get all 5 horses moved over. We kept the two herds separate for a while at first to see how things would go. Everything was fairly calm at first. There was the usual squealing but lots of happy and interested ears. Unfortunately Kiko decided she liked the new boys and went into season instantly. This did not make Cody happy and that's when he started getting really possessive about Kiko. He started to charge at Red through the fence and Cody is one to stay yards away from a fence whether it's hot or not, so he meant business.

When things calmed down a bit we turned out Kalani with the new herd. He was really calm about everything so we thought he'd be a good one to start with. He went straight for red and they stood and ate hay together nose to nose. We turned Axel out next and he just found a hay pile to eat by himself. Not much was happening and Cody finally stopped getting himself worked up into a sweat so we opened the gate so they could all meet if they wanted. It took a while for Cody and Kiko to figure out the gate was open. Things were a little hairy at first but everyone was able to keep their distance appropriately.

Cody made it his job to place himself between Kiko and any other horse at all costs. Kiko was very fond of Red and kept trying to hang out with him but Cody would come running and chase Red off. Red never made any attempts to get to Kiko so it was all her trying to visit the new horses. Cody doesn't seem really interested in randomly beating up new horses, he just wanted to make sure Kiko didn't leave him so we figured they would be fine all together right away. We waited around a while to see if anything would happen. The two herds kept themselves pretty separated and occasionally would switch positions in the pastures. It will be interesting to see how things play out in the next few weeks. Patti is going to have her hands full feeding 9 horses twice a day. I think I am going to have my hands full working with Cody. We might have taken several steps back in our manners. I predict Cody being quite unhappy when I try to work him in the barn away from his herd and especially his woman. Stay tuned.

New Tack Room

Sunday despite the negative temperatures, Jeff and I ventured out to the barn to work on the tack room. With 5 new horses arriving this next weekend, and at least 3 people's worth of tack we thought it might be nice to beef up the saddle racks so they stay on the walls. In the process we decided to totally remodel the room, much to Jeff's delight (not). But since he's such a nice husband he went along with it. We moved all the saddle racks to one wall and all the bridle hooks to the other wall so everything is easier to get at. I'm not convinced I liked the arrangement of the shelves for the grooming boxes but with a tiny room there is only so much you can do.

I emptied almost everything out of the room and Jeff put up some big 12x12x2s to anchor the racks to. I ended up parsing down a lot of our tack and putting a bunch of it up on top of the tack room in storage. Jeff put a few saddle racks up there for me as well. Cody and Axel's old saddles went up there until I find out what Ardy wants me to do with them. I'd like to consign them and buy a new western saddle for Axel and some nice saddle pads for both of them. But I'm not sure if he wants them back or not. There were 4 other saddles in the tack room that no one used so those went up above as well as some random tack, extra saddle blankets, and extra buckets. I swept the whole room and the only thing I didn't go through was the first aid cabinet. That will have to wait for a warmer day I think.

It wasn't too bad in the barn as far as cold, there wasn't any wind at least, but I don't think there was any wind outside either. It was actually really sunny out. But my soda froze just from sitting out and by 5pm I was frozen to the core and sick of breathing dust. In addition to all the tack we moved up above the tack room, we also hauled lawn chairs, lattice boxes, and other extra random stuff that was in the barn. And we stacked all the hay so there would be room for the next load. It was quite the undertaking.

I'm skipping on going out there during the week this week. Patti had mentioned that she thought Cody was a little gimpy out on the ice so I brought him in to see if anything was up. He lunged at the walk alright so I think he was just walking funny because of the hard ground and ice everywhere. He does have some arthritis in his one shoulder so that probably doesn't help. With Patti feeding twice a day we might start to see some changes in Cody and Axel as she'll be putting some senior flex in with their meals, hopefully that helps their joints a bit. When the senior flex is gone I want to switch to a 4-in-1 pelleted supplement that's supposed to be really good. I just have to save up the money for it first.

Watch out for a post this weekend after the new horses arrive. I'm going to drag my nice camera out there and try and take some shots of all the horses looking tall and impressive when the new kids arrive.

Barn Cleanup

Steph met me out at the barn this week. I brought Cody into the barn to do some ground work with him while Steph ended up raking the manure up that was inside the barn. Cody kept tripping over the frozen horse apples so she thought we better get them out of the way. We worked on the usual lunging and did some trotting over a pole. I also added a second pole but I'm having a hard time getting the spacing right so he can trot over both of them. After some of that ground work Steph showed me how to use her rope bitting rig. She wants some of the therapy horses to be lunged in it so she wanted to show me how to use it properly and what to look for if a horse is planning on flipping himself backward. We started just by walking Cody around so he could get used to it. It didn't seem to faze him so we went onto lunging at the walk and then the trot. We had to open the barn door to help get rid of some of the dust so Cody decided he'd rather pay attention to the open door. After I removed the bitting rig we did some more quick direction changes to get him to start paying attention before backing out of the barn twice. He's getting pretty calm at the backing but we'll keep at it until he's an expert. Next I want to hang a tarp from the rafters to create a narrow space to back him into and out of to simulate a trailer. That should be an interesting undertaking.