Maybe the last ride at Pinto Creek

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

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

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

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

Just a Visit - A New Barn

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

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

Still on the Search

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

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

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

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

Nice Day and Nowhere to Ride

I finally get around to getting out to the barn after what seems like ages. It was super sunny, warm, and just a really nice day. Unfortunately everything was an ice skating rink. The road was icy, the yard to get to the road was icy, the pasture was icy, the side pasture was icy frozen snow as well as the round pen. Cody was walking very tender again but I'm pretty sure it's just the ice and not laminitis. He's always been very wobbly on the ice. Axel seemed to be walking fine but I guess he's been on bute again for the past few days. I foresee a lot of trips to the barn when I move them closer, when I have to do the bute myself.

Since I couldn't ride I just groomed. I tried to give some Christmas treats but all Cody and Axel wanted out of my mixture was the apples. They weren't fond of the peppermints, just spit them out. And the trail mix I added they just didn't eat at all. I did start ground driving Cody again. I've only tried once with him and didn't get very far. The plan is to start working on ground driving to build his confidence when he can't see me. He was a bit confused by what I was doing but seemed to get the hang of it after a while. I spent a lot of time a little off to his side instead of directly behind him. But since he was confused he needed me in that spot to push him forward. We'll work up to me being directly behind him. I'm not sure if I should work in verbal "gee" and "haw" type commands or just stick with the reins on that.

Axel just got a good grooming and some apples when he came inside. I thought maybe he'd have a nice roll in the dirt but he just wanted to explore and see if he could find more hay. Free choice hay is going to leave me with some fat fat horses I think. At least I will have a chance to ride more with an indoor arena. Though it's a shame to ride inside on such a nice day, I couldn't ride at all where they live now.

Southwind Stables

Saturday I went out to check out a barn called Southwind Stables. It's about 10 miles from our house towards Cannon Falls in a town called Hampton. Here's the jist of the visit:

Indoor Arena
Smallish Tack Room
Numerous Pastures
45 Head
Indoor Bathroom
Free Choice Hay
Grain 2x Day
Outdoor Arena
Round Pen
Choose your own vet
Choose your own farrier
Mostly adult trail riders, western, hunt seat

I want to check out a few more barns but for the price/amenities/locale Southwind might be the forerunner.

Boarding Woes

So there's a boarding barn maybe 6 miles from my house. I'm very interested in boarding there. I haven't visited the facility yet so I'm not totally decided but 6 miles away is hard to pass up. The pasture board is $100 more a month (total) than I'm paying right now. But I'd save gas. But it doesn't look like they feed grain to the pasture horses which makes it difficult for Axel to get his supplement.

I emailed them to find out about boarding my horses there but their pasture board isn't ready yet and won't be until spring. They can put me on a waiting list or set up a paddock for me. The paddock board is $200/month more than I pay now (total) but includes grain twice a day.

Oh but they have a multiple horse discount (which I'm finding most places do) but it's only $10 (which I'm finding is normal).

So I'm really going to have to figure this out and start touring some barns. Do I pay $200 extra per month for the super convenience and nice amenities? Or do I keep driving a ways to see the horses, not have quite as good amenities and pay what I'm paying now?

Figuring this out is going to suck and I only have about a month since I have to find a place and arrange for them to be moved on Feb. 1. Eep!

Updates from the Barn

I haven't been out to the barn in a week, it's been too snowy or cold or whatever to drive out there (can't wait until the horses are closer). Of course Saturday when it's gorgeous and nearly 40F I'm out in South Dakota. I did get an update from Patti:

"Must be a really nice afternoon - there have been pairs of horses playing with the ball or the tire, rearing, biting - and just now, Axel moving his way around and around the fenceline, in a beautiful, slow right lead canter."

Of course shortly after that email I got a phone call that said Axel was lame again and she had to give him some Bute. I guess he over did it on the playing. Way to go Axel.

In sadder news Koko has passed on. He had disappeared in the middle of November mysteriously. Tiggr found a new home this past weekend and shortly after he left Patti got a call from the neighbors saying they found Koko. He had fallen in their egress window and couldn't get out. So they brought him home but he seemed a bit under the weather and spent all day sleeping in the tack room. The plan was to bring him to the vet on Monday to get him checked out. Unfortunately he passed on that very night.

"Well, our happiness that Koko was found has turned to sadness, as he didn't live through the night. At least he didn't die out there, somewhere, alone and cold, but rather, back home where he was supposed to be, feeling warm and loved."

I am raising saddle broncs

Sorry another post without photos. It's really hard to take pictures this time of year when it's dark almost immediately. Also I'm spamming my own blog in my attempts to catch up on missed posts. Oh well.

Last night I met Steph at the barn as usual. Patti and Scott had just finished up feeding so when I went to get Axel he was more concerned with the hay feeders and did not want to be caught. Cody was standing still so unfortunately for him I brought him into the barn. I haven't ridden Cody in a while and Axel was kind of a jerk on Sunday so I thought maybe I was going to get off easy with Cody. Steph had given Kalani some bute at breakfast and was trying my AP saddle on him to see if that made any difference in his sudden girthiness. The trip down to the bridge was uneventful. Kalani does no better in an AP saddle when it comes to keeping the saddle on while mounting, he's just too darn round. Cody stood well and actually lead the ride down to the bridge. We made it up the hill and around the meadow and into the woods easily. Then it all went wrong. Kalani got a little fast going down the little dip in the woods, Cody spazzed, jumped straight in the air and bucked the whole way down and up the hill. Tiny little jackhammer speed bucks. He's never bucked for me before. Apparently I'm on a roll with horses and bucking these days. On the way back through that section I let Cody lead thinking at least he wouldn't have motivation to run to catch up. He walked down really well and then sped up and cantered up the hill followed by bucking around the next two turns. At least he didn't run me into a tree. When he gets going like that, he is not going to stop no matter what is on his face or in his mouth. So I don't think having the rope hack made him more misbehaved but we might still go back to a bit anyway. He pranced his way out of the woods back into the meadow. There, as usual, we did some circles and he was an angel again.

Not wanting to tempt fate and get a nice bronc ride down the big hill on the way home, we walked into the woods again (much to Cody's dismay). When he halted calmly I dismounted and led him the rest of the way home. As soon as I was leading and not riding he was calm and didn't care if Kalani got too far ahead of him. It was a good workout for me to walk up the last hill on the way home. And good practice for Cody to walk up that hill slowly. But I think we're going to be working on ground driving this winter so he can get used to not seeing me (ie on his back or behind him). I'm hoping that will transfer better to the saddle than plain ground work did.

Horses don't like electric water

Here's the story as it was relayed to me: over the weekend Patti and Scott were in the house and all of a sudden they'd hear all sorts of noise and banging. They'd go out and check on the horses and they had been kicking the wood around the water trough. Someone had even ripped a piece of wood off. They figured maybe someone had relieved themselves in the water and the other horses were mad. So they cleaned out the trough and put it back and fixed up the wood surrounding it. The next day, more banging and noise. Gunner was drinking the water but making horrible faces and acting really weird. They come to find out, the tank heater had been electrocuting all of the horses when they went to drink! Though it hadn't been enough to trip the GFI. They replaced the heater only to find out the new one sparked like mad as well. So now they are thinking maybe it's the cord or something. In the meantime they unplugged the heater. Some of the horses would then drink the water and drank the tank down to nothing in the first half day. Kiko will only drink from the exact spot that Gunner drinks and Cody is just pissed off about the whole deal.

Sunday I had noticed his one leg was a bit swollen, turns out it was probably from him kicking the water tank in anger. Now Cody is not one to trust anyone or anything without a lot of convincing. On top of that he is super afraid of the electric fence and won't go anywhere near it. Put those two things together with electric water and he's had enough. Patti got a few of the horses to drink from buckets and then moved the bucket to the water tank. But Cody will have none of it. He'll drink from the bucket but only if it's not any where near the tank. So now she's left to giving the horses buckets of water until they figure out the tank isn't electrified any more. I'm not sure how long that will take Cody. Poor ponies.

That goes along with the email I got a week or so ago. Apparently Axel shows his disgust with no food by going to each hay feeder, checking if there's hay and when there's none, he kicks the hay feeder and moves on to the next one. My horses are so picky!

Riding a Fresian

Monday I had a vacation day to recoop after Thanksgiving and get ready for a Pampered Chef party at my house. I also ran out to We Can Ride to ride Noah, the Fresian. He's going to retire this year and find a new home and I wanted to get a chance to ride him before he left. It's not often you are given a chance to ride a horse like that. He has some ringbone (like Axel) in his front leg and has been less than sound since he came to WCR. He works well at the walk and that's all he was usually asked to do for Therapy classes. But in this economy it's hard to justify keeping a horse that isn't quite sound for a therapy program that needs good strong sound horses. With the ringbone Noah will be sound one day and he's actually been getting quite good lately. When I first rode him the winter he arrived he was okay at the trot but mostly lazy. During his therapy career I had ridden him and he was sooooo sooo lazy and sore on top of that. Now that the ringbone is starting to fuse, he's been on good joint supplements, and is now barefoot he's been feeling better and been trotting and even cantering. Because he spent most of his life before WCR as a cart horse he's not quite the big scopey Fresian you expect. But when he engaged his hind end in the canter you could tell there was something there. Unfortunately we were inside where there isn't much space or I would have really felt the power behind that canter.

He's going to make a fabulous horse for someone, he's still fairly young, he super friendly and curious. He really likes to check out what's going on around him. How impressive would it be to show up to a trail ride with a big black Fresian! And he paints! I think he has a potential job offer as a companion for a blind horse. His interview for that is later this week. If I wasn't boarding horses right now Jeff would have taken him home in an instant. He would be a great husband horse that's for sure.

Winter trail ride

Sunday I picked up Steph on the way to the barn. Laurie was coming out to ride Kalani to help her decide if she was going to buy him or not. We went out a little early and I thought we'd get some photos of the horses running around in the pasture but I guess the side pasture isn't as exciting yet. I opened the gate and they all just walked out and looked for grass. Not exactly the usual crazy running around excitement. I guess I have to wait until the dead of winter when they've been cooped up in the paddock for too long.

So when Laurie arrived we groomed and tacked up Kiko, Kalani, and Axel and went out on the trail.

We don't often use the trail in the winter due to the hills and thinking it'll be too slippery but it had only just snowed so it seemed like it would probably be okay. Kalani had some issues at first, once he figured Laurie out and stopped putting his tongue over the bit then he settled right into the ride. Axel was just okay. We kept it at a walk and everyone was happy. Axel brought up the rear as usual, Kalani gets annoyed when Axel is in front and he has to walk too slow. We took the last loop and Axel stopped to relieve himself leaving the other two horses to get further in front of us. That led Axel to trot to catch up. Unfortunately that meant trotting towards the big hill on the way home. I got him into a walk right before the hill but he was pretty wound up. Very occasionally he gets worked up about the group of horses leaving him and this was apparently one of those occasions.

He could see the horses, they were only 30 feet in front of us on the way down the hill. He proceeded to start trotting down the hill, not something I tend to enjoy doing so I tried to slow him down. That just lead to bucking. Bucking down the hill on the upside of the trail in the trees. So I close my eyes as to not loose one of them on a branch, and try my darnedest to get Axel to stop. I can't really use a pulley rein, his balance isn't so great and going down hill all I could see in my head was us tumbling head over heals. I couldn't push him through the bucking as I would normally do because we were headed down hill. So instead I yelled "here we come, I'm sorry, watch out!" Luckily we caught up to the other two quickly and stopped the shenanigans.

So overall it was quite the adventure and I'm pretty sure I pulled a muscle in my butt in the process. Laurie isn't sure about Kalani yet and she has another horse to look at that is a mare in foal and her husband wants a baby. So Kalani might still be in the market for a new home.

Another bareback ride

Steph and I met out at the barn and just did some bareback riding in the round pen and the pasture. Kalani has been kind of a crankypants lately so she wanted to feel him out and see what his deal was. I figured it was too cold to get on a saddle. So while she worked on Kalani in the round pen, Axel and I hung out in the pasture. Axel was not happy about Gunner who kept following us around. At one point Axel had his ears pinned back so far and was about to kick him. We didn't really work on much, Axel and I. I asked for some trotting and was met with some head tossing. I'm pretty sure his deal now is just a combination of sore leg from the ringbone, hard ground, and out of shape. But I think when I get my tax refund in the spring it'll be another round of chiropractor and dentist visits before we really get working on getting back into shape.

I have decided that when it's chilly bareback is the only way to go. Unfortunately when the snow comes riding bareback for me means lots of walking. Axel's trot gets pretty vertical when he has to pick up his feet for snow. I'll have to try riding Cody in the snow, he's usually really smooth, I wonder how his snow gait is! And of course now we're getting into the time when we can't work too hard or the horse will get sweaty and then I have to blanket them and hang out til they're dry. I should put a waterproof blanket on my Xmas list. That way I could throw the cooler on with the blanket over top and Patti can just take them off in the morning. Anyone have a suggestion for a good blanket to wear over top of a cooler?

(I apologize for the short post, I waited way too long to update and now I have four blog posts to make and can't remember back that far!)

32 Degrees isn't so bad when you ride without a saddle!

Thinking that Wednesday was going to be warmer and being that I was a bit under the weather at the beginning of the week I didn't go out to the barn until last night. The horses were in the side pasture and they all came up to the fence to see what kind of fabulous treats the yellow car might have in store. It was almost dark already and windy and gloomy and I was all on my own. I had thought maybe I'd go on the trail but without orange clothing or the blinky light I had planned to dig out of my bike bag I decided to stay up in the yard.

I grabbed both Cody and Axel and groomed them while Axel ate his bute. I decided I would work with both horses but it's too dusty in the barn so it was out to the round pen. Axel can easily occupy himself alone in the barn so Cody got to go first. We did a few rounds of the circle game and switching directions. He was a little wound up about that. His switching directions looked more like rearing but he responded instantaneously when asked so at least he was paying attention. He worked a bit at liberty as I tried to get him to use the whole round pen. We only worked at the trot and canter a very small amount. He doesn't seem to like to canter and he often disunites so we'll have to keep working on that. I wanted to jump on bareback and to spare myself the embarrassment and Cody the pain of my literally jumping, I tried to get him near the fence. That didn't work. So I tried for the barrel. He'd stand there. Then as I moved to get on he'd back up. I could get him to move back forward in place very easily but as soon as I stepped behind his eye he'd back up. So it's back to the drawing board on that one. I did eventually get on and we walked around a bit, had a wee trot, and just kind of worked on leg aids and neck reining with just the halter and lead rope. He was his usual clingy self after that work and just stood there looking at me after I took his halter off and tried to turn him out. He ended up following me back into the barn and going out the dutch doors instead where he stood with his head in the window watching.

I haven't done a lot of work with Axel and lunging so I thought we'd work on that a little. The Parelli rope is too short and I have yet to pick up the 22' rope that I want. I got on Axel bareback first with just the halter and lead and rode around a bit. Mostly at the walk. Asked for a few trots and got some cranky head toss and pinned ears and only a few strides. As I'm not an expert rider I didn't feel the need to push him until he bucked and left me on the ground. We tried to ease into some lateral work with some spirals around the barrel but bending requires a lot of warm up which we didn't have. We did make some nice figure 8s with very little rein work. When I got off I had the lunge whip out so I sent Axel out on the circle at liberty and he did amazingly well. He actually stays on the rail fairly decently. And he's not too shabby at voice cues. Surprisingly he even responded to the whip when I asked him to canter. He didn't quite get a canter out but he tried. He worked pretty well at liberty until he was bored and then he just stopped, looked at me, and came to stand next to me in the center.

So that was about it for me, it was much warmer on the horse than on the ground but without a nice fluffy layer of snow on the ground to make me feel a bit safer about falling I didn't do much riding. I passed out my pile of apples and sent everyone back out into the dark, and it was only a little after 5.

Time to find a new barn

Sooner than later my barn owner is going to be putting his place on the market which means I am going to be needing a new barn for my horses. In a perfect world I'd find a place in Farmington so I could ride more often. But I will probably have to expand my search area to include anything in the south metro area (Lakeville, Rosemount, Prior Lake, etc). There's a few places that are almost on my way home from work but so far they seem to be kind of spendy.

I've been trying to figure out what kind of barn I am interested in. Money is a big factor of course, having two horses limits my choices on what I can afford. It seems like several places have multi horse discounts so I'll have to keep my eyes open for something like that. It would cool to board them somewhere that also gave riding lessons. I'd love an indoor arena so I can ride in the winter and actually see what I'm doing. And having some non arena riding adjacent is really nice. Since I've only ever boarded at a private residence I'm not sure if I'll like boarding at a busier facility. There's obviously things about a small barn that are annoying and I imagine there are just as many annoyances at a large barn. I also need to find a barn that has pasture board but also feeds grain. I want to keep Axel on his supplement and maybe start giving Cody the same supplement in the future.

I will definitely have to tour a bunch of barns before I decide. I made the mistake once when I first started riding and didn't look at the barn/lessons ahead of time and that was a disaster. Timing will be an interesting factor, I'm not sure when the current property will sell or when it does how long I'll have to move out. There's not really anything that would stop me from moving the horses out early if I find a nice place that's closer. But you know, change is hard.

So if anyone has any barn suggestions I am open to them!

Mud and snow and darkness

Well it is quite evident after a few recent rides that Axel has settled nicely into his life as an invalid. I've only tried to school in a few times since his big ringbone lameness issue and I don't think he's too jazzed about it. Per my new regimen I grabbed Axel from the muddy paddock and gave him his snack of an apple, bute, and a bit of grain. I groomed him and then since Cody was waiting at the door I let him in and groomed him. I didn't want to waste too much time but I was partly waiting for Steph and partly waiting for the bute to kick in. I turned Cody back out after inspecting his shoes and tacked up Axel.

The road was pretty wet so that's where we went to ride. Really it's the only place left to ride this time of year. The fields are a muddy mess and the trail requires traversing a bunch of hills which don't fair well when there's snow or wet. So down the road it was. After a little warm up at the walk we went for a trot. I just wanted Axel to get out and move a bit. I think he wanted to nap. I got a decent trot but when I asked for more I got some head tossing. We did some walking between trotting since he's not been worked all summer really. When we got to the wide grassy ditch I asked for a trot, asked for a right lead canter, trot again, then left lead canter. Yay Axel! I would have gotten off there as a reward but then I would have had to walk back to the barn. So we kept going down the road. I asked for a bit more trot, tried to get more canter but only got one really heavy right lead canter on the road. We turned around and trotted some more but I think the road is really hard on his legs or else he's just a wimp. We had a few more right lead canters in the grassy ditch and then I asked for more cantering on the road. That time I ended up with something that probably resembled a Capriole. Think: leap then buck. By this time it was starting to get pretty dark. Steph had texted that she was on her way and we'd get some dinner. She came up the road and had she not known I was out there she said she would have been really confused as to what we were, it was really hard to see the black horse at dusk. Guess I better get my blinky red light and maybe some nice orange accents if I'm going to ride on the road.

Ride with Jeff

Jeff came out to the barn with me tonight to go for a little ride. Kalani has potentially found a new home so Jeff wanted to go for a ride before he left. We fetched the horses and groomed and tacked them up. Axel got his bute and a snack and we were off. Kalani wasn't in too great a mood and didn't want to stand for mounting. Not to mention he's pretty round so the saddle doesn't stay on him too well. Jeff finally got mounted and we headed up the back hill. Axel was behaving very well and Kalani was apparently picking up the slack. He was a little full of himself and wouldn't slow down. We ended up putting a bridle on him because I couldn't find the hack. That was probably a good thing in the end. We did a lap in the meadow area and then through the woods.

I of course brought the camera but didn't have a memory card in it so that was a waste. On one hand all the leaves were gone so there wasn't pretty colors to photograph. Jeff did take a photo of me with his phone. :> When we got back to the barn both horses were a little sweaty. It was over 70F today and everyone is already getting into their winter fuzz so they were a bit warm. Cody came up to visit and everyone got their official Thomson Reuters apples. The horses had the farrier out last week and Cody's still in shoes. The next visit is December 18 and I think that time I'll have him pull the shoes and see how things go.

Time for the Bean Field!

They've finally taken the beans out of the field near the ranch. I am pretty sure that as I was leaving last week they had the combine out and ready to go. Just bad timing on my part. Anyway we were finally able to ride in the field. First we started by testing Kalani with some scary items in the round pen. He's potentially going to go to one of the We Can Ride barns to be a trail horse for the owner as well as a therapy horse. We've done a lot of desensitizing type work with all the horses but it had been a while so we thought we better check it out and make sure he's sense was still intact. He did pretty good. His reaction to anything scary is to freeze. Which is a much better reaction for a therapy horse than to bolt. But he wasn't really scared of too much. We had hula hoops, pool noodles, balls, and the big blue tarp.

When that was all said and done we tacked up Axel and Kalani and went out to work in the bean field. I buted Axel again before we went, I think that will be habit as long as his foot is so swelled up. He was perfectly sound but there's no reason I shouldn't do everything in my power to keep him that way. We started the ride in the field with some serpentines. I still tend to exaggerate my seat cues but it's good to see how just those seat cues cause Axel to pay attention and switch the direction he's bending. Then we went for a canter on a straight line. Axel had a really nice vertical right lead canter. Not collected but very light which is rare for the big lazy guy. No bucking or flinging his head down to the ground.

Kalani was quite riled up though after not having been schooled in so long. Axel wasn't terribly happy with any ideas to trot much. We did a little but going to the left he was quite unhappy about. Partly sore I'm sure and partly just cranky that he hasn't had to work in so long and now he's out of shape. Bending to the left is not our strong suit and I couldn't get a big enough circle to make him happy he just wanted to veer off and canter home. I even got a few pretty impressive bucks out of him when asking for a trot. Several times he offered up a canter but we were going left and he likes the right lead so that never works out too well. Near the end of our schooling we went for a trot on a straight line which he was perfectly willing and happy to do. Then a canter in which I asked for the left lead, got the left lead quite easily, then got a bit of the head diving but was able to pull that up (should have squeezed him through it a bit more but Kalani was behind us thinking we were leaving and having a bit of a fit). So overall I rated it 1.5 good canters for the evening. Really the fact that he picked up that left lead on a straight line is pretty impressive for Axel. He's no dummy when it comes to cues and what they mean, he would just prefer to go about his own business.

Cody lucked out and didn't have to do any work but I think Andrea rode this past weekend. The weird part is that I can tell when he gets ridden. When he hasn't been ridden in a while he'll walk away from me when I go out to see or get him. When he's been ridden he comes up to me to say hi and visit.

A ride and a little round pen work

Tuesday I made another trip to the barn by myself. I was happy to see everyone inside the fence when I arrived. I watched for a few minutes as Axel got chased around and then chased some other horses around, looking quite sound the whole time. So I grabbed his halter and went to fetch him. I wanted to see if the other side of the paddock/pasture was dry enough to ride in so we walked around a bit down there. As soon as Axel got a whiff of my plans to do some schooling type work he decided he was slightly lame again. I noted his mellow dramatic act and went to groom and tack him up anyway. I threw a gram of bute in a bucket with a scoop of feed and grabbed an apple. I figured even if he's faking it some bute will do him some good after the ride. He actually ate the powdered bute like a champ and licked his bucket clean. I decided instead to ride down the road again. The beans are still not out of the nearby fields so we were stuck on the gravel. We only took a short trip and had one little spot of trotting. He was sound the whole time of course. It was quite a big trot on Axel's standards I was surprised he had so much energy for once.

When I returned I decided that Cody needed some work in the round pen. I ended up starting at liberty with a whip to try and work in keeping him on the outside of the circle and not cutting in. He does pretty well without a lunge line but likes to forget that he needs to turn to the inside and not the outside. We worked a little on the canter as he's been disuniting a lot. I made some feeble attempts at lateral work but I just haven't found something to click with on that task. Cody's shining moment was lunging at liberty, I asked him to halt and then back up, all of which he did on the rail with me in the center and only giving him verbal cues. He really is a smart cookie I just have to figure out how to tap into that.

Back in the saddle!

So Axel is back to his antics again: escaping the pasture. The past two weeks I've gotten reports that when the caretakers arrive home from work Axel is standing in the front yard waiting for them. The real kicker is that some of these times (I think) he's somehow gotten out of an electrified pasture.

When I arrived last night I called for the horses and was greeted by the usual stampede. Everyone except Gunner and Axel. I wasn't too concerned since Gunner never joins the stampede and I figured if Axel was still sore he would just take his time. Pretty soon Gunner came running and still no Axel. The horses were confined to the south side of the hill pasture so I walked down the hill through the woods to look for the missing horse. No luck so I started calling for Axel. Pretty soon I see him trotting up from the north side of the hill pasture to greet me at the new stretchy gate on the wrong side of the fence. Now I'm not too concerned at his escaping in this instance as the fence isn't hot down there and the portion of the fence next to the gate seemed awfully loose. Probably quite easy for a grazing horse to not notice it or for an easy escape if someone was chasing him. Though I might have to start seriously thinking about a microchip, quick release halter, and an ID tag for my horse that thinks he's a dog.

The good part of all this was that Axel was sound and trotting and not on Bute. So I haltered him and we walked up to the barn. I decided we'd just do a nice walk down the road, nothing spectacular just a nice fall ride. Axel was a bit preoccupied with trying to aim for the ditch. I let him choose his path for a while but the ditch is so full of gopher holes I didn't want him stepping in one and hurting himself even more. He's pretty amusing if you let him just wander where he chooses, he gets distracted very easily and starts wandering in whatever direction the next interesting thing is in even when heading back to the barn.

When we returned to the barn Patti was getting Daley ready for a ride and asked if I wanted to join them. So I grabbed Cody, who apparently has found himself a skunk friend and is quite smelly now. We tacked up and then went down to the back hill. He was his usual slow self not wanting to lead going away from the barn, but once we got moving and up on the top of the hill he was resolved that the ride was happening and was fine leading. I think he's finally realized that he can eat a lot easier in the rope hackamore than he can in a bit. I spent a lot of time trying to get his head out of the grass and it was quite annoying. Despite the slowness and eating grass he was much better than the last ride. We still didn't quite walk down and up the little hill in the woods (our arch nemesis) but he didn't totally spaz over it so I let it go. We even cantered up the really big hill with no bucking (how any horse has the energy to buck up that hill I don't know but Axel seems to do it every time lately).

On the way back I had to grab Jeff's archery target which was a lot heavier than I had remembered it to be. Luckily it had a handle and I was able to carry it while riding Cody even as awkward as it was Cody did fine. I think it might have weighed him down a bit because he wasn't eager to bolt up the last hill to the barn and walked with very little convincing.

With Axel back in riding condition (knock on wood) I should see if Tricia wants to go for a ride this weekend. Of course it's always a pain to come down my way when the cool trails are up where she lives and without an attachment for Jeff's truck and the trailer lights I don't think I'm ready for my first foray into trailer driving. Perhaps I will ride one of her horses or convince her we should go south somewhere. We shall see.

Too good to not repost

A letter from your horse ...original version and the real story ...

When you are tense, let me teach you to relax.
When you are short tempered, let me teach you to be patient.
When you are short sighted, let me teach you to see.
When you are quick to react, let me teach you to be thoughtful.
When you are angry, let me teach you to be serene.
When you feel superior, let me teach you to be respectful.
When you are self absorbed, let me teach you to think of greater things.
When you are arrogant, let me teach you humility.
When you are lonely, let me be your companion.
When you are tired, let me carry the load.
When you need to learn, let me teach you. After all, I am your horse.

And now, the REAL story.....

When you are tense, let me teach you that there are lions in them thar woods, and we need to leave NOW!
When you are short tempered, let me teach you to slog around the pasture for an hour before you can catch me.
When you are short sighted, let me teach you to figure out where, exactly, in the 40 acres I am hiding.
When you are quick to react, let me teach you that herbivores kick much faster (harder) than omnivores.
When you are angry, let me teach you how well I can stand on my hind feet because I don't feel like cantering on my right lead today.
When you are worried, let me entertain you with my mystery lameness.
When you feel superior, let me teach you that, mostly, you are the maid service.
When you are self absorbed, let me teach you to PAY ATTENTION. Remember? I told you about those lions in them thar woods?
When you are arrogant, let me teach you what 1200 lbs. Of "YAHOO LETS GO!" can do when suitably inspired.
When you are lonely, let me be your companion. Let's do lunch. Also, breakfast and dinner.
When you are tired, don't forget the 600lbs. Of grain that needs to be unloaded.
When you are feeling financially secure, let me teach you the meaning of "Veterinary Services".
When you need to learn, hang around, bud. I'll learn ya.