Mud Everywhere!

Where to even start? As usual we did our best to meet at the barn and get everything loaded up on time if not early and I think we actually succeeded this time. However it was raining and so we probably stood around a bit longer hoping it would stop. When it didn't really, we hooked up the trailer and loaded horses and were on the road about 10 minutes after we planned to actually be at the park. For this trip we went with Cody and Axel in the front and Kiko and Kalani in the back. Cody got in with a little help from the tapping stick, no big deal. Axel is always a champ and jumps right in. Kiko and Kalani had a bit of trouble but nothing major. I just managed to get stepped on by Kalani as he decided to exit prematurely. Ended up with a bruise on my thigh that you can't actually see.

At some point the rain let up, the horses were tied to the trailer at the park happily munching away at some hay. We were all getting our paperwork turned in and having some lunch when it started raining for real. And it rained and rained and didn't show any signs of letting up. Though once we finally gave in and went to tack horses it did let up for a while. We managed to make most of the ride either under the trees out of the rain or with just minor sprinkling. We didn't, however, miss out on any of the mud. At one point we came to a spot in the trail that was mud all the way across. A really wide part of the trail too. Anne and Cinder tried to make a new trail through the trees but ended up in some low area and Cinder went up to his chest in mud, Anne bailed and they both decided that was not the place to cross. We finally managed to get everyone across the mud on the opposite side. The trip back Kiko decided to jump over the mud which was an interesting feat to say the least.

Overall the ride went well. Cody managed to walk most of the trail with only a few minor bouts of needing to trot in place, and it was the first time Andrea rode him in the rope hack and the first time he was ridden in the rope hack with all sorts of unknown horses around. Axel found his soul mate when it comes to trail rides, Alissa's horse Pacman is just Axel's speed. Darrel might have been pushing Axel a bit to walk up but I think if he was given a choice Axel would have hung back with Pacman all day. Kiko was her normal sane self and didn't even bat an eye when other mares joined our group. Kalani had a few issues just with the new horses and not knowing them and wanting to check everyone out. Other than that everyone survived (and there was not spastic cantering for me yipee). It would have been nice if the weather was better and perhaps more people would have made it out but we did raise over our targeted amount for We Can Ride so that was great! And we found a nice new leg of the trail. We usually head East on that trail so this time we opted for West. From that particular parking lot to the end of the trail to the West is about 3.5 miles. So it was a nice short little round trip (7 miles total). The East leg of the trail from the main parking/camping area to the highway is about 6.5 miles so that's a lot longer and, as we found out, a lot sandier. The West leg is wide grassy trail which is a nice change of pace. Had it not been raining there would have been a lot of nice spots for trotting or cantering.

So when all was said and done we packed all our stuff back up and decided to put Cody and Kalani in the front this time. We thought Kalani was just too long for the back of the trailer. Turns out Axel is also too long for the back of the trailer but he did fine and it was a short trip. Another discovery was that Cody is quite calm when asked to back out of the trailer "lead rope over his back" style. In fact he backed halfway through the trailer by himself and then stopped and looked around for a person to guide him the rest of the way out. Axel still insists on turning around to get out. That one might take a while to get figured out.

Axel's not so evil twin

It was cloudy and raining and not so great on Tuesday so I decided not to go to the barn, no one else was going to make it out anyways. So I made it out on Wednesday instead, and alone this time as well. The mecate reins I ordered had arrives so I wanted to try them out on Cody's rope halter ala "natural hackamore" style. Bosal's are pretty spendy and I'm not sure what size to get for Cody yet so I figured I'd try out the rope halter as a hack. The reins I bought are really inexpensive and really stiff. They might just have to be that way for a while, I was thinking of washing them to soften them up but since they are nylon I'm afraid they will actually get stiffer or just icky to touch. Guess that's what I get for going the cheap route! If this works out well for Cody I might upgrade to a sampson rope mecate if I can find one that doesn't cost an arm and a leg.

So I hopped on Cody bareback and we just went for a quick spin around the side pasture. He was great. Very sensitive to leg and rein cues as well as each individually. He seemed pretty happy with the lack of bit as well. Despite his obvious want to go hang out at the gate with his friends he followed my instructions willingly. So I called the experiment a success and hopped off.

I gathered Axel and got him ready for some schooling work as well. As I was about to mount up Andrea and Patti arrived and sat on the step of the house chatting while I rode. We did some really nice free walk and a bit of trotting on a loose rein trying to get him moving freely. He has such a hard time finding where to put his feet, he's very unsure of himself and trips a lot. It might be time to start trotting over poles. When we had done some good trotting and worked on some collecting and figure 8s I started asking for a canter just going in a big loop around the pasture. Nothing too serious, no sharp turns or anything that should make things more difficult for him. He tried and was slightly annoyed mostly when passing the gate to the barn. I switched directions and got the same sort of annoyed response. Usually followed by 1 maybe 2 strides of canter. Finally I think on our third time in the original direction I got at least 4 nice canter strides, asked him to stop, and nearly jumped off him as a reward. We'll have to keep working on it, I think he just isn't sure of himself but who knows. At least there was no bucking or throwing his head down (sadly it might have to do with the fact he didn't have to catch up to anyone).

When I was done Andrea and Patti went to get Cody and Daley and were on their way for a little bareback ride on the trail. From the sounds of it Cody stood by quite patiently while Andrea experimented with methods for mounting bareback. I guess he was a very good boy.

Cody the Wonderhorse

From Cody's rider:
"That boy just keeps getting better and better, I can’t help but brag to you about it all :>"

"So, yesterday was a good day for Cody. After work, I set up some ground poles in the round pen, groomed up Cody, and took him in there for some practice. He tends not to use the entire round pen anyway (likes to cut corners, and the un-impressive length of a carriage whip doesn’t help), so the poles were easy to avoid at first. It took some coaxing, some discouraging, and some urging, but after a few attempts, he was willingly going over them at the walk and trot, in both directions! He’s very smart, and figured out what he was being asked only after one or two growls from me :)"

"We then went out on the trail for a while, and again, only one sad whinny a few paces in, otherwise he made no protest. Walked the trails, cantered a bit, trotted some, and then creeked-it for a while. He walked right in! I think that tree that we squished by the first time has moved in further, so we couldn’t get past it, but we did head down the other way for a while and managed to get pretty deep in the water (like, my feet were dipped in!). Cody was a pro, though, and calmly navigated everything."

"Best of all: no prancing going back home. Fast walking, yes, but no prancing."

Cody gets more gold stars

Andrea had Cody out on Monday night riding in the dry lot area. I guess he did really well again but he keeps putting his tongue over the bit. So we're playing musical bits right now to find one that he will tolerate and not fight. If he was more consistent with his behavior I would consider switching to a bosal. Maybe it's worth a try anyway if I can find one and some mecate reins for inexpensive.

So last night Tricia and I went out and met Andrea at the barn for a ride. Tricia rode Kiko, I rode Axel, and Andrea rode Cody. We tried Corey's old bridle this time, it's a heavier bit, medium port, slightly longer shanks. Over all it went fine with that particular bit but it'll take a few more rides to really evaluate it. Axel was decent, still wants to eat constantly. Kiko was a bit on edge and I guess kind of jumpy. It didn't really show with Tricia riding but that's the report I got. We rode around the back hill as usual and in the creek a bit. Axel managed a nice walk the second time we went through the little dip in the woods. He once again made some feeble attempts to buck running up the one hill. Cody walked up and down all the hills like a gentleman. We tried some cantering in the meadow area and I got a sort of buck sort of canter. Trotted on the circle and asked for a canter there and was just met with attitude. I have yet to try a gallop or canter on the trail this year with Axel and I probably won't (we'll see). It's not the end of the world if he doesn't canter but it would be nice to make sure we had both our leads. We might need some lunge line work.

We messed around in the creek again on our way back. Kiko actually got in while mounted this time. We managed to get a bit further than normal. The water was super low so it wasn't much of a swim. And it's still really less than ideal with all the rocks. On the way back Cody only had to be asked to circle once and walked the rest of the way. When we got back to the barn we gave the three a shower with the hose which they followed up with a nice roll in the dirt.

The Cody Report

Cody's rider is house sitting at the ranch so she'll be seeing him daily for two weeks. Her report from Sunday:

"CODY! We went for a ride this afternoon for quite some time. Through the woods, in the creek, down hills, up hills--and he was great! There was only one sad whinny looking for everyone else, otherwise he started out really well. When we first went into the woods, he tried to wheel around and go back, but was coaxed otherwise. Other than that, he pranced a bit at the end, of which several "re-do's" eventually cured (although I think he was more dizzy and annoyed with me than convinced to stop and walk). He was great, really. I'm excited to be able to spend more time out here and work with him. I'll be watching for any soreness, will know more tomorrow during the aftermath, but so far, so good! We were gone for about an hour, so I felt pretty awesome about that."

From Cody's Rider

I haven't gotten the full report yet but until then here's what I know about Cody's ride on Thursday: He was good last night only did his weird pace thing at the end of the trail ride. They went out with other horses he even behaved without Kiko. They took Papillon, Gunner, Daley and Cody. I guess he stayed in the back of the pack and was perfectly happy about it.

From Cody's Rider

Now that Cody seems to be feeling good in his fancy boots, his rider decided to take him out to ease him back into riding. Here's what she had to say about it:

"Your pony is moving well! I went out to ride today, and Cody looks very good. I think those boots are really helping him move out. Herd-bound, he is, however--we walked up from the pasture by the creek, and suddenly a shrill whinny pierced my eardrum and the entire thundering herd came a-runnin' up the hill at full-tilt. I did coax him away and took him out on a short-ish ride that he wasn't entirely happy about when he found out he was the only one going. There was a point when he went in reverse, hard, despite any ideas I may have had about what we were going to be doing. But, we worked in the "mowed circle" for quite sometime, walking, trying to get him to bend and flex a bit, and convince him that I had better ideas of what to do than he did. There was the predictable prancing at the end, but for the most part, I think it was pretty constructive. I think he'll really start to calm down with more practice. Did not bute, he came back to the barn sound and relieved to have re-joined the party :-) I hope to get out this weekend sometime, so more updates to come."

Andrea Rides Cody

Last Thursday (7/3) before Cody's lameness Andrea went out for the first time to ride Cody since our little trail ride. Here's her report:

"Went riding on Thursday with Patti and Dal, and Cody was practically angelic. We didn't go into the woods for fear of the gnats, but we rode around in the field-y part for a good 45 minutes or so, Cody lead the group, Cody was the last horse, and Cody was in the middle--very well behaved at all points.

Only when we turned for home (going up that final hill to the stretchy gate) did he decide he was annoyed. Some prancing was involved, then sidepassing, and when I tried to straighten him out a bit, there was a tiny little jumpy-buck-like motion, but nothing too serious. We then circled a tree and tried it again at a walk, and it was much improved. He walked very civilly into the barn :-)"

Now if only he could stay sound then this more than once a week riding is really going to be great for him. Leave to the "children" to go lame right as company is arriving.

She went out again this Wednesday and he wasn't really looking any better:

"So, I went out to Pinto Creek to ride tonight--though opted not to ride Cody due to his apparent soreness. His stance was even looking kind of sad, with his left front leg positioned further infront of him than his right. I took him around at a walk for a while on the ground with his long leadrope, just trying to see if it loosened up with some movement on level ground, but I just didn't think he looked sound enough to have a very happy or productive ride. I also didn't give him any bute, although Patti and Scott said that if you wanted to give it to him for the next couple days, they'd be willing to administer whatever dosage you'd like, just let them know. Again, I was just being cautious and not wanting to push him through pain, because it really did look like walking was painful for him today."

I'm slightly worried despite the assurances that if he really was foundering to the point of rotation and having to stand the way he's standing, I would have felt a lot of heat in his hooves. We're still thinking it's his shoulders right now. I told Patti to give him some bute last night but I guess that didn't go so well:

"You know the look on a person's face when they were SO ready for dinner, but the food was disappointing? That's totally the look Cody had, applesauce notwithstanding. He was not going to eat it, not more than two bites, anyway. How about molasses? Good for two more bites. Dumped that out and tried just sprinkling plain ol' bute on it and that was good for about two bites....then he was totally done and annoyed. I don't think he got much of the bute, sorry."

Kids, I tell ya! I'm starting to think I'm going to have to put Cody on that same supplement that Axel is on. Cody is getting up there at 18, but he really should still be in the prime of things as he has a pretty easy life.

Cody's new rider

I've asked one of the We Can Ride staff if she'd be interested in riding Cody whenever she's out at Pinto Creek. She goes and rides with Patti sometimes so I thought it would be fairly convenient for her. So Tuesday she came out to witness the chaos that is Tuesdays at the ranch. Tricia brought Meaghan to have a riding lesson on Poppy. So while Steph taught her lesson we hung out and scratched horses. Axel was feeling a little off on his front left but we figured it was probably just the arthritis. When everyone was tacked and ready to go we ended up with 5 horses and riders. Andrea on Cody, me on Axel, Tricia on Kiko, Steph on Kalani, and Meaghan on Poppy. Axel worked out of his soreness quite easily. He wasn't quite up to his feisty self that he had been a couple weeks prior but he was moving out a little more than normal. He also progressed from fairly well behaved to obnoxious by the end of the ride. Constantly trying to eat grass, flinging his head due to bugs, and just being a regular space cadet. Evidence would be the scratches on my arm and lip from running into numerous tree branches. I actually had a hard time getting him to walk up the hill on the way home.

Cody wasn't an angel but he also wasn't totally horrible either. He gave Andrea a taste of his annoyance at having to ride, the huffing and puffing, sweating, and bit avoidance. But he was comparatively calm and she had him walking down hills pretty well. So hopefully she'll have some time to go ride him once every or every other week.

I guess Kiko was being a little bit of a handful herself. Poppy started out pretty quick but realized she couldn't keep up with the big horses and calmed down a bit. Kalani must have been just fine as I didn't hear too much from his direction. I ended up using Axel's new bell boots finally, I haven't had a chance to clean his old ones yet. Kiko has moved into the blue bell boots so she doesn't remove her shoes. And I donated Axel's combo boots to Dirt (Lexi's new horse) as he's wearing bar shoes right now and Tricia likes to have him in SMBs when she trail rides him. I'm too lazy so far to take the white saddle pad off the dressage saddle so we've been trail riding in style. I've gotta dig out the ear nets one of these days as well.

Next week we have no Tricia so I think we are going to take some photos of Kiko and Kalani for their sale ads. I thought I had another idea of what we could work on but it's not there. I think Steph wants to work on Kalani's canter more so maybe we'll just do some schooling.