Feels like Spring

I wasn't feeling quite as ambitious last night as I thought so I didn't end up riding. Who really needs to ride more than 10 minutes a week anyway, right? I chatted with J for a bit, he was getting ready for the big tack sale this weekend that his saddle club puts on. We discussed the impending mud and the fact that Cody's girlfriends left today and everyone was running around and bucking.

J's mom wants him to save horse hair for the hummingbirds to use for their nests so I filled a bucket with Axel's hair when I was done grooming. Axel has been very mouthy lately, even before this swelling issue. At least back to the wood chewing and a bit before. He grabs onto the cross ties and bites down or tries to get the lead rope in his mouth. He doesn't appear to be wind sucking at all, just biting the ropes. He'll stand quiet for either a period of time or until I start grooming with the brush instead of the shedding blade, I haven't figured out if either of these is a trigger or what. The last 3 out of 4 times he's picked up his hind left foot when I asked instead of the other hind foot. The knee swelling seems to have gone down a bit. His sheath is still swollen and his belly is still swollen. There was a weird squishy tendon (or something) on his hind right but he wasn't standing square so it might have just been nothing (figured I should document it since it tends to come in handy).

I walked him down the road again. He made it almost all the way down past the neighbors before he started with the head tossing. And it definitely coincides with Cody calling for him. So I think he's just being naughty. He was a little more gimpy last night then the time before but he walks out pretty well on the road, it doesn't slow him down too much. When we went back in the barn I thought he'd maybe want to roll or something. I was cleaning up some manure when he came bolting across the arena, bucking and cantering. And the belly swelling and round bale induced fatness seems to go away when he gets all riled up like that. It's nice to see him looking a bit more fit once in a while. I'm looking forward to starting to work him after the vet confirms the arthritis and we discuss Adequan or something of the sort.

Cody is sad that his girl friends over the fence are gone. I think Dolly (or maybe Jesse, I can't tell the difference) is still in that pen but who knows for how long. If I make it out to the barn this weekend I want to clean out my grooming bag, try some DMSO on Axel's knee (it freezes at 65F so I haven't tried it yet, it won't be that warm but it should be worth a try), and maybe ride Cody down the road.

Now They're Both Shedding

Stop by on Friday on the way out of town to the farm. Axel's belly seemed a bit more swollen than normal.

Tonight my car said it was 45F so a trip to the barn was in order. After brushing off at least another horse's worth I took Axel for another walk down the road. He was being a little bit of a pill. I think he was hearing Cody calling or something but he'd toss his head, ended up hitting me once. Of course I'm paranoid so I'm thinking it's some sort of neurological issue. But I think he was just being Axel. Spring + no work all winter + horses calling = slightly misbehaving Axel. As soon as we get the x-rays or he starts feeling better then he's going to have to do a lot of ground work to get some manners back before riding. I'm hoping he just has some steam he hasn't had a chance to blow off yet.

Cody started shedding now too so when I removed a miniature horse's worth of hair from him I saddled him up to ride in the arena. We did some figure 8s, some corner circles, trotted a circle in the middle, and he offered some canter. I ended up only riding for about 10-15 minutes after lunging for 5-10 minutes but he was just starting to sweat so it was a good time to stop if I didn't want to stand around all night cooling him off. I thought maybe he'd roll but he wasn't interested. I did some leg stretches, neck stretches, and tail pulls with him before bringing him back outside.

Hair Everywhere

They are shedding. A lot. And it's still too cold/dark/covered in snow to groom outside. So I'm covered in hair and the barn aisle is covered in hair and the broom and all my brushes. Ug. Anyway Axel is about the same. Same swelling. Same knee. Thought he might roll in the arena due to the extreme itchiness of shedding hair but he decided against it.

Cody ran around the arena a bit with some encouraging. I need to take some video of him, he's looking good these days. I did end up getting on Cody bareback for a few minutes. We even trotted around for a while. I'm finding it hard to keep my body straight and still ask him for a bend AND not bounce off. One of those pat your head and rub your belly type issues. Cody spooked a super tiny almost nothing spook but I stayed on, yay me. Really it was nothing more than surging forward a stride but I'm a wimp and don't have a good seat so I was happy I was still on his back.

So that was about it for my quick visit. It's hard to find time and to get motivated again after pretty much doing nothing all winter due to Axel's winter long practical joke.

In sad news, Jeff's niece's Buckeye passed away yesterday (the dun in the photo above). From what they can tell he just laid down and that was the end. He was a pretty old guy but he had a really nice retirement and was a great first horse for her.

Out to get me

I swear Axel thinks this is some big joke. I brought him into the barn for his usual snack of MSM. I'm just about out of senior feed, I might have to pick up some more. He certainly doesn't need any additional sweet feed. I put him in the arena since he seemed a bit peppier than on Tuesday. He was a little less lame so I didn't think he needed any bute. He hasn't rolled in the arena since all this started though he's clearly laid down outside and sometimes had even went down on his knee evident by how dirty it was. Last night he sniffed around right away, looking for a spot to roll. He went down slowly, stopping midway through as his sore knee was half bent, almost trying to decide if it was worth the pain to lay down. He made it all the way down and rolled several times and then he just laid there staring at me. He hadn't tried to get up and he wasn't struggling, he rolled just fine. He laid there for quite a while before I started trying to encourage him to get up. He'd sit up slightly one or two times but never bent his legs under himself to get up. I was getting mildly scared, he wasn't struggling or thrashing but it just seemed weird that he'd lay down and not get up or even try. I started to walk toward the gate, I can't recall what I was going to do, but I turned around and Axel was standing. He must not have struggled nor grunted at all so the best I can tell he was trying to play a funny joke?

Anyway when he got up his knee was pretty sore so I thought maybe I would give him some bute just so he could get around a bit better for the next couple days. I mixed the unflavored bute with applesauce and sweet feed but he turned up his nose. I gave in and grabbed the paste bute which didn't seem frozen. Unfortunately it was colder than normal and I don't think a whole lot got in his mouth. Hopefully he got at least a gram.

I brought Cody in as well just to groom and let him move around the arena a bit. He wasn't ready to run but he wanted to walk around, I thought maybe he was going to roll too but he was just exploring. I grabbed the lunge whip and asked him to move a bit. I had him move around for a while and just stretch his legs. He let me stretch his front legs but he wasn't thrilled with standing still, he was just not into it. He's looking really good these days. I'm excited for him to shed out this spring. Axel is well on his way to shedding as well. It's almost spring!

Still Icy

Okay leave it to Axel to make me a liar. He was pretty sore last night when I went out to the barn. He ate his MSM with gusto but when I tried to give him some bute he turned his nose up at it. I added some slightly frozen applesauce but that did not inspire him. So he went without. Though it did seem like maybe the swelling on his knee was down a bit.

So I grabbed Cody and groomed him up. He must be laying down more often now because he looks a complete mess. He is also spending a lot of time visiting across the fence with his temporary neighbor girls. After I took the huge snowballs out of his feet and got him cleaned up we went into the arena. He seemed a little energetic so I just turned him loose but he wasn't in the mood to kick up his heels on his own so I got out the lunge whip and he free lunged for a while. He's really lifting up his back these days which is nice to see. After he stretched his legs a bit we did a few change of direction on the lead line. It took a few tries to get him to stand still at the mounting block again but I jumped on bareback for a while. We spent some time working on the rail and staying on the rail and going deep in the corners. Cody thinks he knows me and wanted to do corner circles but that was not my plan, silly boy. He picks up on repetitive things very quickly.

We played around with some leg yielding and still didn't get quite it. We had a few tries of turn on the forehand which went just okay. There was some decent rein-back, he's a lot more willing to do that when I'm just riding in the rope halter and no bridle. And overall we worked on seat and leg cues and neck reining. I even attempted some sitting trot for a little bit. We ended the night by standing next to the mounting block, getting a treat, and me getting off. I also did some of Cody's stretches and massaged his hips a bit. He's got these new weird indents on his hips which I assume is just from weight gain but they are odd.

I made the mistake of taking him out the side barn door since S had just come in with her boys and had the door open still. Cody just about pulled a Bambi and did the splits on the ice. He held it together but we won't be using that path again any time soon. I'm glad I didn't go that way with Axel, yikes.

Cody Pushes the Green Ball

Another sunny but cold day at the barn. It seemed a little chillier today than yesterday actually. Cody was nappping when I drove up so I took some photos of him and grabbed Axel first. B was in the arena playing with Diva and the green ball. Axel ate up his MSM as usual. He seemed very slightly less lame today so I brought him into the arena for a bit to move around. He's still much more lame in the arena footing than he is on the cement or even the ice in the drive way. But, we might be getting closer to the light at the end of the tunnel because I swear he seemed a little less lame.

I put him out side and Cody was up from his nap so I brought him in to ride a bit. I saddled him up this time in case he was feeling frisky with Diva in the arena or in case I wanted to trot or canter a bit. Diva was pushing around the green ball with her legs so Cody and I tried several times before we finally pushed the ball. We made a big fuss telling Cody he was a good boy when he pushed it. He's still not going to run in there and play with the ball by himself but at least he finally trusted me enough to do what I said.

B and I swapped horses for a few minutes and I got to try out Diva. She's got the big big big arab trot, that's for sure. She does have a WP trot but it's still got a lot of action and would be tough to sit for too long. We even cantered a bit but it took me a couple tries to get to it. She's so little, it's like my feet touch each other. B got Cody to trot and canter a bit as well, he was being pretty cooperative. It got cold pretty fast when we stopped working so I untacked Cody and took him back out side. I couldn't stand around too long without freezing so that was the end of hanging out at the barn. Can't wait til it's a bit warmer.

Cody get his hair dried

So here's a photo of Axel's knees from tonight. Pretty much exactly the same as the previous photos. With a bit of additional winter hair of course.

He was still pretty gimpy today and trying to walk across the ice rink to the barn didn't help of course. He loves his MSM though and I think he's much happier getting his treats now that they don't taste bad. He walked around the arena a bit but he didn't want to roll so we went back outside.

Cody was waiting his turn when I brought Axel out. He was a bit more snowy so I groomed him up pretty good. He had some nice platform snow shoes on his front feet so I bet he was glad to have them picked out. I free lunged him for a while at the trot and canter, not too much so he didn't get sweaty. We worked on some ground work after that. I think I need a refersher course on some of the ground work stuff I feel like we're stuck and not quite getting to where we want to be with moving parts of Cody's body and eventually lateral movements. He still wants to always look at the gate when we're in there.

When we were done playing in the arena I put Cody back in the aisle to see how he'd react to the hair dryer. He was actually still a little wet from the snow so I figured it was a good time to try. He wasn't too sure of the whole deal. He behaved really well but he was pretty concerned with what was going on. I managed to dry a spot on his withers but the hair dryer on low seemed really cool. When I tried it at home the high setting seemed really hot but now low seems too low. Who knows, it did dry him off in that spot pretty well. I'll keep working with him on that so when we really need it he isn't surprised.

Axel is Pregnant

Okay not really but he sure looks it. Between the hay belly and the edema he looks like he's ready to have a baby any day now. I brought him into the barn to get him cleaned up and work a bit. He was surprisingly dry so it must not have rained much since I was out yesterday. I put him in the arena for a while and got him moving a bit. He cantered quite a bit and looked pretty good. Some stints of trot were a little off but that was expected. He was moving pretty good so I threw a bridle on and went to get on. Took me 4 tries to jump on him and he kept walking away before I could get all the way up. Of course as soon as I get on and walk a bit he starts limping. I thought maybe he'd work through it but the more we walked the more he limped. So my inexperienced diagnosis of arthritis might not be correct. Now I'm thinking something like bursitis from an injury to his knee. Maybe he wacked it rolling or something. If it was arthritis I think he would have worked through it and not gotten worse.

Riley was in getting lunged and Vinnie was in working on some stuff. Axel had gotten a bit sweaty just from walking, maybe from the pain. He looked like he wanted to roll but there was so much going on he never did go down. So we ended up staying in the arena and watching and walking a bit and chatting with everyone. I ended up giving him some MSM and some bute. I'll be able to get out to the barn a bit more the next few weeks so I'll keep giving him the MSM just incase it's arthritis plus he likes it and eats it well. He did actually finish all his bute too so that was nice. I'll probably keep the bute to a minimum and see how he does. If he doesn't start getting a little better it might be time to have the vet out (again) and do some x-rays. I wanted to get some films of his back legs anyway might as well throw in his fronts. If he is predisposed to arthritis it'd be good to have some films of where he's at.

The swelling still hasn't gone down even with the warmer weather and reports of him moving around a lot more in the pasture. I'm still wondering if it's an allergic reaction to the round bales but they haven't been getting their bales from the same place. Who knows. I think I say that a lot lately. Dallas came in today with a big blister looking thing on his back leg. It wasn't there yesterday when L&S had him in riding. I guess gimpy horse syndrom is going around these days.

Back in the Saddle ... again

Axel is still puffy and his knee is still kind of stiff/tender. But I figured he at least needed to come in out of the rain for a little while. He actually rolled in the arena and that dried him off almost completely. I chased him around a bit to get him moving, he was pretty gimpy but willing to move. More willing to canter than trot but I suppose the canter puts less weight on his front legs than a trot does. Between the hay belly and his swelling he looks pregnant, poor boy. I'm not sure why the swelling isn't really going away but it doesn't seem to be bothering him so ... who knows.

I had put Cody in a stall while I putzed around with Axel for a bit but he was not happy even with all the stuff going on. I figured Axel wasn't going to be happy in stall so I put him back outside by himself. Vinnie, Dallas, and Riley were all in the barn to ride so I tacked up Cody. First time he's had a saddle on since November. He wasn't excited but it fits really well now with his new found weight. It's funny to feel how wide he is now. Everyone tried to get their horses to push around the big green ball but Vinnie was really the only one that wanted to push it. We spent most of the time just sitting in the middle of the arena and chatting but I had Cody canter both leads and he went right into it without speed trotting so that was nice.

When we were done riding we decided to let Cody, Dallas, and Riley loose in the arena. We figured there wouldn't be too many fireworks and maybe they'd roll or play with the ball. Dallas rolled, then Riley rolled, then Cody rolled but they all kept their own space and didn't mingle. I finally shooed Cody away from the gate and he went over to meet the other horses. There was some sniffing and Cody did some squealing but Riley didn't back down and was nibbling on Cody a bit. Cody finally established his leadership and chased both horses away but it was all very civil as far as horse hierarchy goes. I figure if Cody meets all the other horses he'll be a little calmer riding with them in the arena or on the trail. He had been a little worked up at first but he did settle in while we rode, it has been nearly two months so I can't really blame him.

Axel's turn today ...

Someone is feeling better - Tuesday at least

After giving Axel his next to last dose of antibiotics last night I put him in the arena with the intention to lunge him. I even put his bell boots on so I could make him move without worrying about him kicking himself. So I put him in the arena and unsnap his lead line so I can grab the lunge line and ... he's off. Running and bucking and snorting and blowing. The kind of thing you expect to see a horse do after standing around in a pasture in the snow for weeks. I would click at him and then run away and he'd hop up on his hind legs almost like a rear and then take off running and bucking. He must have been in a playful mood.

I'm not going to say he's back to 100% but he must have felt better enough to blow off some steam. And it was good to see. He's getting so fat. His sheath is still swollen and he's a little stiff/gimpy. But if he's willing to move like this then maybe we can work off some of the swelling. Unfortunately I won't be around this weekend at all. So hopefully the warm weather will inspire some movement in the pasture. J thought his right knee did look a little bigger than the left. It's hard to tell, he's so lumpy and big anyway. There's one spot where I can kind of see it but it's not hot or tender to the touch. But I have plenty of bute if he ever needs it!

I ended up jumping on him bareback for a while. Which had it been any other horse but Axel (or Cody for that matter) I wouldn't have done. He hasn't been ridden in a month and a half. He had just gotten done tearing around the arena. I didn't have my helmet or a bridle. But it's Axel so I got on and we walked around. He's a little gimpy with a rider but I figured a little bit of a workout was the best thing for him. Not that walking in a circle for 2 minutes is much of a work out. But I should ease him back into it. Luckily his leg stretching in the arena did not get him sweaty so he was able to go back outside right away. J had just ridden Amigo for a while and he was confined to his stall with a cooler on and he was not happy about it.

Since I'm gone this weekend I brought Cody in for a once-over and a romp. He wasn't as willing to kick up his heels but with a lunge while and some clicking he took off and even threw in a few bucks. He's fun to get wound up in the arena like that because as soon as you drop the whip he stops and stands and looks at you, always at a respectful distance, wondering what's next.

The ladies at the barn are getting fed up with me. I keep saying we should play with the big green ball but then I go to the farm on the weekend. We were planning on being in town this weekend but something came up so we're going to the farm instead. And it's supposed to be warm out. They think I should leave them the green ball to play with. Maybe I should leave them the ball if they promise to bring Axel in and let him play for a bit. Good way to give him a chance to move around while I'm gone.

Back to Work

Brought Axel into the arena to clean out his feet and see if he wanted to move around. No such luck. He's still looking pretty sad. This time when I picked out his front right and put it down he was lame on it. Seemed like it was his knee. I'm wondering if he's just all over achey from the swelling and not moving around and the billion below zero temperatures. Haven't heard from the vet on the bloodwork yet. I hope it comes back soon so we can get started on some sort of treatment. It's sad seeing Axel so down.

Note to self: work horse in arena first, then bring in other horse while first horse is cooling out. Sure would have saved some time.

So I brought Cody in and cleaned out his hooves and let him loose in the arena. He wasn't going to run around on his own so I started to free lunge him a bit. He hopped and skipped and kicked up his heals quite a bit. I put him on the lunge line to get a little more controlled work out of him. His preferred gait of the evening was canter. It was a lot of work to get him down to a trot and a collected trot was not going to happen. It took even more work to get him down to a walk. In all he probably ran around for 10 minutes at the most. And he was sweaty and wet. Not soaked to the bone but wet enough and steaming that I didn't want to turn him out right away. So for about a half hour we walked, wore a wool blanket, groomed, and waited. He finally stopped steaming and was cool to the touch but he was still a bit damp. I rubbed him down the best I could (which he does not appreciate) and brought him back outside. Luckily there wasn't much wind so I think he'll be okay.

So this would be the reason I haven't ridden since the beginning of December. Only a few minutes of work and we have to spend half the night waiting to dry off. Maybe I can find an old hair dryer. Not sure that Cody would enjoy that any more than being rubbed down. Time to throw some more blankets in the car. I wonder if riding with a quarter sheet would help at all, on second thought Cody was sweaty on his neck and chest so a quarter sheet wouldn't really help for that.

Round Bales

We made it back from the farm with the intention of going to a film festival. Unfortunately Jeff thought it started at 5 and in reality it started at 3. So when that went out the window I went out to the barn to check on the horses. It has been -5F in Canby so the 16F at the barn felt like a heat wave, for a few minutes at least.

The three amigos were still in their pasture together. Cody and Vinnie were hanging out by the round bale and Axel was standing off by himself. That's right, a round bale. Apparently the horses were all eating their hay so fast and then standing around being bored so J decided they needed some round bales. A had suggested getting a round bale to deter the wood chewing but J said they had already spent a bunch of money on all the small squares for winter and didn't want to get more. But in the end the small squares aren't going anywhere and now they'll be there for next spring when hay is harder to find. Cody is looking pretty good and the free choice hay will really help him.

Axel, on the other hand, is going to be a fat fat horse. But like I said, he was off standing by himself not eating, I thought maybe his foot was hurting. I grabbed his halter and went out to get him. Luckily he wasn't lame, just lazy. Very very lazy. I just put him in the arena and left him loose while I groomed. He didn't even want to run around at all. He walked a bit and sniffed at various things on the ground but that was about it. I lunged him for a quick few minutes just to get him moving a bit. Just a bit of trotting and no bucking. I tried to give him some carrots while doing some tricks but he always gets my fingers. I guess I don't learn my lesson very well.

When I was done with Axel I grabbed Cody and brought him in the arena as well. He seems to be filling out a bit finally. You can just feel his ribs if you look for them. He was a little more willing to lunge than Axel was and even gave a few feisty hops when asked to change directions. We even managed some sidepassing at the wall in one direction.

Snow!

I took a couple really crappy phone pictures last night and I don't think I'm even going to bother uploading them. By the time I got out to the barn it was dark, the wind was blowing, and there was snow everywhere. Axel is now back in with Cody and Vinnie and from what I can tell in the dark there isn't any new chewing. It's hard to tell though.

Cody and I trampled through the snow into the barn. All the horses had their custy layer of ice and snow on their backs and I didn't want to scrape it off. Supposedly it creates some insulation to keep them warm. I just let him run around a bit in the arena. He bucked a lot and kicked up his heels. It was pretty windy so I think he was just a bit on edge. I thought maybe he'd want to roll but he just wanted to go back outside. So we only spent a few minutes in the arena.

Sometimes I get to see Axel as a real horse and it's always dependent on his height when I pull him out of the pasture. Last night he was pretty tall. I put him in the arena and he cantered around *not* on the forehand. He was light and fluid and looked like a real horse. He too didn't want to roll and wanted to get back out to the great weather as soon as possible. So back outside he went to stand in the snow and the wind.

Poor Vinnie is apparently not allowed in the shelter so he stands on the side where he can be blocked from the wind. Though all the horses had a layer of crust on them so even Cody and Axel had spent a fair amount of time outside of the shelter during the storm. I distributed carrots in everyones' feed bunks and headed for home. Then it snowed 6 more inches. Maybe the snow will keep Axel occupied for a while so he forgets about chewing on things. Of course now they won't be able to find their toys under the snow. The race car tire was still in the shelter so they can play with that if they get bored.

Getting Colder

It's really sad but I'm kind of bored of riding in the arena already. I'm going to have to really start working on some specific things so I don't pull my hair out. It's only December!

So the good news is, Axel hadn't chewed his way out of the pasture. Wednesday I noted he had found a new spot to chew. While that was a good sign the stuff we were using was working, it still meant he was chewing. So we stopped after work to get more "stuff" but didn't make it out to the barn until Saturday due to cold and laziness. So armed with the spray container I went to the barn. Low and behold, the new spot Axel had chewed on was exactly the same as it had been on Friday. Plus I don't think anyone had put anything new on it to deter him. So either the supplement is working or it took him a quarter of a post to realize it tasted bad. Either way, I resprayed that spot and a few others just to make sure.

Because of my laziness or boredom I just groomed Axel quickly and turned him out in the arena and let him cruise around a bit. There wasn't a lot of bucking and horsing around but when we first got in the arena I could tell he wanted to move. The ground is now frozen so it's a little hard to get around in the pasture so some leg stretching was in order. No worries I'm putting his boots on for these little romps no matter what. I'm hoping that'll keep him sound and let him work of some steam at the same time.

I'm rethinking my feeding him treats by hand while trying to teach him tricks. Holy wow is he mouthy. Someone's going to loose a finger if I don't stop. So we did a few little ground work things and he'd get his carrot from the mounting block.

I didn't want Cody to feel left out so I brought him into the barn as well. If anything I like to make sure I check on both horses at least once a week to make sure there isn't anything going on that wouldn't get noticed during daily feedings. He was a little slow in the pasture but it was just from the frozen lumpy ground. Once we got in the barn he was fine. Luckily with the frozen ground the horses are easier to groom, no mud!

Cody was feeling okay as well and did some leg stretching in the arena. He even threw out a few bucks and head tosses while he trotted around. The old man still has a little spunk left in him. And if there was any doubt that Cody and Vinnie were getting along, it's definitely gone. I put out some extra food for Cody and he just stood there while Vinnie ate some of it. Silly horse.

I Knew It

And I was right not to think this issue with Axel was over. Went out last night and he had started chewing again. Though this time he's chewing in a different spot. I'm wondering if the stuff we put on the posts soaked in good to the already chewed spots but maybe didn't soak into the fresh smooth wood well enough. We might pick up some more stuff from Fleet Farm tonight as I'm still waiting for the Bitterlicks to arrive (or for them to even answer my email about when it'll ship).

Cody was looking pretty good so I didn't give him any extra food I just brought him in the barn to scrape some mud off and get out of the wind for a while. I hadn't really planned to ride but decided at the last minute to jump on bareback for a while. This of course was not as easy as it sounds. Cody decided standing by the mounting block was not in his plan for the evening so it took a lot of adjusting to get there. We mostly walked around, a bit of trotting, and then worked on some of the side-passing exercises. Cody isn't quite getting the point of moving his hind quarters when I ask so we worked in the corners of the arena for a while. Near the end of the ride I tried the forward into the wall and then sideways thing and Cody kind of got it. I don't think he got it enough to do it all on his own but he was getting somewhere so that was good. I might have to grab a carrot stick and practice having him move parts of his body with a tap. Kind of get back to basics.

I finally remembered to bring some carrots so Cody did some stretches for his. I put a few in their bunk so Vinnie could have some as well. And I passed Axel some through the fence. I was too lazy to open all the gates to get to him.

Not Relieved Quite Yet

I'm still holding my breath but so far, as of Sunday's concoction and Monday's concoction, no one has chewed on the wood. We're going to give it at least a week, due to the supplement, but I'm hoping this is working. I should be able to make it out there tonight to check on things and groom Cody. And I should have numerous chances to get out there Thursday-Sunday as we're staying in town this weekend.

After checking the posts quickly I grabbed muddy Axel and brought him into the barn to get ready to ride. Axel has apparently found the mud as well and my new favorite grooming tool is the metal cattle curry. A had some obstacles set up in the arena so we set to work. It's not really work for Axel, not a lot scares him, but I think it might have been interesting enough. He's been chewing on his bit a lot when we ride but he kept it to a minimum last night. And I don't mean working the bit - down right chewing on it. Probably another sign that we should get a second opinion on his teeth. So we weaved some cones, walked over a tarp, went over some ground poles, and squeezed between some barrels and the wall. If it weren't for 1. Axel beating up on other horses even under saddle and 2. his ringbone, Axel would have made an excellent mounted posse horse.

A showed me a method of working on sidepassing so we made some attempts there. Axel is still quite confused on what I want but he'll get it if I keep working on it. We go forward toward a wall and then the idea is that the wall will stop us but we still have forward so our only option is to go sideways. Well Axel goes forward into the wall, and keeps going into the wall. So yeah, we'll keep working on that one.

A had both Vinnie and Danny in the barn so with me taking Axel, Cody was left all by himself. I only heard him call out once though. When I brought Axel into the arena Vinnie was already there and knickered at him. If the horses were people I'd say Vinnie is the younger brother looking up to the trouble maker older brother, Axel. Even though Axel picks on Vinnie, he stands next to him at the fence and knickers to him when he comes into the room. It's kind of cute.

Post Thanksgiving Ride

More on Axel's little addiction in the next post. The day after Thanksgiving the whole family, well Jeff and his sister and niece and nephew and I, went to the barn to visit the horses. We cleaned off the mud, saddled them up, and rode around the arena for a while. Jeff, his sister, and nephew left Amanda and I in the arena to ride while they went home to play video games. Amanda cruised around on Cody and practiced doing turns while trotting. Something she said is hard to do on her horse, Silver, because he's got a much bumpier trot than Cody. Axel and I plodded along at the walk and the occasional trot and even a bit of a canter. I set up the cones to do some weaving. Cody and Amanda made it through the course at the trot.

When we were done we passed out some carrots and broccoli. The horses weren't quite sure what to think of the broccoli but in the end they ate it. They much prefer the baby carrots though. We practiced bowing with the carrots which leave my fingers a little more intact than with the small treats.

Axel is on The List Part 2

So after Saturday's visit and discovery of Axel's new obsession I went out to the barn to make him work. Maybe he's bored since he's had quite a bit of time off due to the ringbone. So I was going to attempt to get his brain working. He actually stood in the cross ties like a statue. Which is a little unusual for him but one of the new boarders' horses was in the ties behind him so perhaps he was just paying attention to that horse.

We did some circling. This time no was not an option when I asked for a change of direction. He "hopped to" pretty well. I did a little bit of groundwork with turns but nothing mind blowing. I setup a row of cones to work on weaving as well. Axel was a little bit tender it seemed so I didn't really do much trotting. We weaved between the cones quite a bit at the walk which I think Axel enjoys but I don't think it was enough to get his brain going, so back to the drawing board on that one. Nothing was majorly off with Axel, I think most of it was me.

I am increasingly frustrated and embarrassed with him destroying his pasture. Between Friday and Saturday he ate complete through two of the posts. I didn't even go to the barn yesterday so who knows how much more he's ruined. I'm willing to pay for new fence posts but it's still a pain and they'll have to be put in and all that. Ug. It doesn't help that I'm kind of an obsessive to begin with.

Axel is on The List Part 1

I have Fridays off for the rest of the year to use up some vacation time so I don't loose it. So of course I'm going to spend it at the barn. Is that really any surprise? It was really nice out so I spent a little time wandering around the pasture taking some photos of the ponies. Vinnie and Axel were standing pretty near each other and there were no fireworks. So that's always nice to see. Since I had ridden Axel last it was Cody's turn. And he needed to be groomed pretty badly. Somehow my horse that doesn't like walking through mud has decided rolling in it is just fine.

So Cody and I worked on weaving some cones in the arena and we did some circles and serpentines. He speeds up on the wall opposite the gate going away from the gate. And then he slows down going toward the gate. Seems a little opposite of what you'd expect but I think he's nervous facing away from the gate and calm when he can see it. When I get some long lines I think we'll be doing a lot of ground driving and long lining this winter. I'd like to convince Jeff to ride while I lunge Cody but we'll see if that happens.

So as I'm turning Cody out I noticed the fence posts that J said Axel was chewing. I thought maybe he was chewing the tops. Oh no, he's doing a pretty mean beaver imitation. And now I am horribly frustrated, stressed out, and embarrassed by all this.

Axel Prefers Guns

So apparently the key to Axel's success is shooting guns. J was target shooting or sighting in or something when I got to the barn last night. Axel and Cody and Vinnie were hanging out in the corner. Three of the horses in the other pasture were hiding in their far corner. Axel was a little more alert than he normally is walking up to the barn. He didn't want to stand in the cross ties to be groomed so instead of fighting I put him in the arena. Where he trotted, and trotted, and trotted. He would barely stand still for me to put his boots on even after he had trotted around for 15 minutes. I ran around with him for a little while and even set up a tiny little jump for him which he followed me over at a trot. When he started to come up to me and stand for a while I finished grooming and tacked him up. I didn't expect to have any explosive episodes but one never knows.

The gun shots had actually stopped by this time but Axel was still walking around on his toes. He had already trotted for quite some time and he seemed a little gimpy so I just had him walk. He was moving out so I did my best to not nag him and just let him go. I don't think I rode for very long. I asked for a whoa and a back up and Axel was "on." He stopped on a dime and backed up with barely a cue and tucked his butt under and put his head down in the process. So we tried that one more time and got the same result. So that's when I got off. He was just too good to not reward. This is why people prefer forward horses to sticky ones.

New Saddle Racks

I made it back from my scrapbooking retreat in time to get out to the barn for a while in the nice weather. Really I'm not sure why it matters if the weather is nice or not when I end up just riding in the arena anyway. Oh well. When I arrived I noticed the tack boxes were outside in the driveway. I thought maybe they were new ones to be added or spring cleaning or something. But it turns out J&J picked up a couple racks from the sale they went to over the weekend so they cleaned out everyone's boxes and reorganized the tack room.

It's quite swank thought it means I had to cut down on the crap I had shoved in my box. Something I planned to do eventually anyway. Right now I'm down to my saddle and pads on the rack, my cooler got hung up with the other coolers in the aisle, bridles and halters and lunge line on the hooks, grooming tote on the shelf, and my orange bucket with bute, treats, boots, and my dressage whip. I was thinking of getting a bin or something instead but the bucket might work just fine. We'll see.

So I cleaned up Axel while Steele was in the aisle getting ready as well. His rain rot doesn't seem to be getting any worse and I was able to scrape off almost all of the remaining scabs with the metal curry. I'm not sure if it's from the rain rot or just dirt in general but that metal curry really brings some crap to the top. Guess I should use that more often. The mud has finally disappeared more or less so cleaning legs and hooves wasn't a chore either. We didn't spend a lot of time in the arena riding. We usually end up chatting more. When J and Steele were done we did a bit of trotting. Axel was pretty sound actually. I asked for a canter but just got the usual hop, skip, jump, and stop. I have a hard time deciding just how hard to push him or not. Will he be sore the next day? Will the exercise be better for him than just standing around? Does it matter if we ease into it or not? Ug.

I cleaned up Cody when I was done with Axel. His scabs weren't coming off as easily so I thought I'd wait til after we rode and maybe he'd be warmer and they'd be easier to remove. I gave him a bit of his extra food but saved the rest for after our ride. He's got a little cut on the left side of his lower lip. He wouldn't really let me look at it but it didn't seem to be bothering him and it wasn't in a spot to interfere with a bit. So we rode around the arena for a while. He wasn't as excitable as he has been in the arena but he wasn't a complete bump on a log either. We trotted and I asked for the canter. Still having issues with that left lead. I'm starting to feel okay enough to keep asking him to keep the canter going even if he speeds off. I think I want to work on maintaining the gait and when we have that down we'll work on relaxing more and not zooming around. We did make it around maybe one and a half times without stopping. We followed it up with some roll backs on the rail. He's not quite rocking back on his hind quarters but he picks up the canter and stops on a dime. It's really nice knowing he'll go really fast but stop when you ask. So when we were done he got the rest of his food and I ended up getting most of his scabs off while he grazed in the yard.

The real news of the day was that Vinnie and Axel have come to some sort of truce. When I was haltering Axel, Vinnie walked right up to us, not afraid or hesitant at all. Axel didn't even put an ear back and normally something like me haltering him would not have stopped him from chasing another horse, he's not very respectful in that way. So apparently Axel is warming up to little Vinnie. When I brought Cody back out from the arena Axel and Vinnie were standing next to each other. I wish I would have gotten a photo. J says to keep an eye out to make sure Vinnie's not eating their tails but I don't think they are that good of friends yet. I'll be surprised if they ever get to that point.

Axel's Bumps

So Tuesday I made it out to the barn on one of the two gorgeous days this week. But I feel a little guilty about not riding down the road or something. I stayed in the arena. Axel was every so slightly off, like really hard to tell but still. I spent a bit of time grooming him and trying to figure out what all the bumps are on his back. They are scabs but big pointy scabs. J thought it was a fungus but it's not patchy like rain rot. They weren't itchy but they were a little tender when I pulled off some of the spots. Axel's newest habit is grabbing the cross tie and trying to get the whole thing in his mouth. I have no idea what that's about, some sort of nervous reaction I suppose. I measured his back pasterns so I can try and make him some wraps. He's around 9.5" at the top and 12" at the bottom (circumference) on his bumpy leg.

I had him do some circles in the arena on the lunge line to see where he was at. He stuck to a walk this time and was a tiny bit tender but not too bad. I actually didn't have quite as hard a time getting him to go left like I usually do. Perhaps he's figured out that if I only ask for a walk that's all he needs to give me. I did ask for a little bit of trot which was okay but lazy. I decided to forgo the saddle and just grabbed his bridle and jumped on bareback. We spent a lot of time walking around the arena while J lunged and rode Amigo. Axel still pins his ears at the other horse but didn't try and kick. I was trying to get him to bend a little, I figured it was pretty much the one thing we could work on without hurting his leg. But he wasn't really hearing me. I tried some seat aids to get him to bend around my leg and support the other side with his back, tried to do a bit of shoulder-in, and even tried some turns on the forehand. Nothing really worked 100%. Axel spent the time grinding his teeth which I'm thinking is him not relaxing. He tends to take on a headset even when he's not collected, bit evasion I suppose. I couldn't quite get to a point where he'd stop grinding, maybe had he understood all my goofy aids he would have stopped grinding and started thinking.

When I was done riding I sprayed some betadine on Axel's back just in case the bumps are actually a fungus. He's too hairy for a real bath, he won't dry anytime soon and I didn't have all night. So if it's bugs they should be dead with all the cold and if it's fungus, well I hope it goes away.

Consistency?

I just really like this photo of Cody from this summer. I haven't been great with the camera lately, especially when there's so many people around at the barn. I'll have to make up for that this winter and maybe even bring my big camera out of hiding.

Yesterday was farrier day so I went out to the barn pretty early to fetch up the horses and be there when everyone arrived. Axel was a bit of a pill and jumped around when the farrier had his back left. And he tried to kick Diva several times when she passed by. Cody was pretty much as normal. He just wanted to see every direction at once.

I set up some cones in the arena to work on some trotting, kind of the NSEW exercise. It went sort of okay. Then we worked on some circles since the outside of the NSEW pattern makes a nice circle. We're having consistency issues. We go slow around a couple corners then speed up or almost canter around another corner. We have a hard time turning away from the gate and then the opposite corner of the gate he cuts in and speeds up (maybe cuz that's the first time he sees the gate again?). So there was a lot of "trot-easy-trot-easy" going on. We worked a bit on cantering with the same issues getting around that corner by the gate. J was watching and telling me to put my outside leg on. Our other issue is lack of bending and lack of understanding what I'm asking. I try and ask for a bend with my inside leg on the girth but he thinks that means speed up or canter. And trying to get him to move off that inside leg to keep the circle wide gets the same result. I'm not sure what we should work on in respect too all those issues. Do we work on maintaining a constant speed first and then add the bend? Or vice versa? I will have to think on that a bit.

We spent a few minutes working on turn on the forehand in the corner of the arena. The wall helps block forward movement but the turn on the haunches is another story. I tried to back into the corner to work on that but we weren't as successful. And our backing up issue is still there. I've changed to verbal-wiggle reins-more rein-smack on shoulder. I'm hoping if I keep that up consistently we'll get down to only needing verbal or the rein wiggle. The smack on the shoulder right now gets his attention and he'll back a few steps quite lively. We might have to spend a day only working on that, once he gets it I think we'll be fine.

Cantering Cody

Groomed Cody and gave him his extra food. This time I put some water in it to see if that would make it easier for him to keep it all in his mouth. Instead it just made a sloppier mess. Back to the drawing board I guess. It has nothing to do with his ability to chew but rather his ability to keep his mouth shut while doing it. I think the next attempt should be a wide shallow pan where the food has to be spread out. I hate grooming this time of year, everything is staticy. I should probably put some dryer sheets in my grooming back to rub on the horse before brushing so I'm not zapping them all the time!

So I lunged Cody a few times with the shorter rope just to get his attention. A had brought out a couple barrels to the arena so I set those up on either end to do some figure 8s and maybe get slightly more circular circles. Cody was pretty amped when I got on. If I didn't know better I'd have thought he was a barrel horse and the sight of the barrels got him worked up. We walked for a while and trotted quite a bit. I had to make constant adjustments as Cody kept "surging" forward and speeding up his trot. Which in the end is a nice change from the past few months of him only moving if I was carrying a whip. He was very willing to canter so we managed to make it around the arena at a canter about a time and a half before breaking stride going to the right. To the left there were some issues getting that lead but that's been our MO lately.

I kind of threw away the circles and figure 8s and worked more on the cantering just because it was more fun and he was so willing to keep moving. I attempted some rollbacks on the rail and then moved into rollbacks and cantering half the arena, rinse, repeat. It wasn't great, Cody wasn't sitting down or turning on his haunches, but he was moving out so I decided our lesson was more on doing what I asked. Speed up when asked, calm down and slow or stop when asked. He was doing really well even when he got worked up. We ended the lesson with some calm trotting and then worked on some backing up both mounted and unmounted. He doesn't get a great grade for the rein back but we'll keep working. I did some stretches when we were done. He stands really well for the front leg stretches so I can only assume he doesn't mind doing them. I noticed he's full of little scabs everywhere. They're mostly grown out but the bugs must have kicked in at the end of summer or something.

A came in and worked with Vinnie jumping over the barrels while I groomed Axel. He's been kind of a pill lately, grabbing at everything and chewing on stuff. He puts the cross tie in his mouth and pulls on it. He's not wind sucking that I can tell but the chewing on stuff is getting to be a really annoying habit. A finished up with Vinnie as I was ready to go back in the arena. I just wanted to let Axel move a bit since it had been pretty muddy all week. So I just sent him off without a lunge line and he trotted and cantered and really didn't buck a whole heck of a lot. He had a nice big extended (for him) trot, nice canters on both leads, even a flying change. Why can't he do that when I'm riding? I thought maybe he'd jump the barrels that were still set up but he went around them every time, I wasn't going to force him into jumping them with his sore foot but if he chose to do it on his own I'd be excited to see it. That was pretty much all for the night for Axel.

Back in the Saddle Part 3

Finally a sunny day but after all the rain I didn't want to risk the ground being really soft or slippery in the corn field so I stuck with the arena. Plus Wednesdays I don't have a whole lot of time and it's easy to loose track. Axel was surprisingly not that muddy considering. I suppose laying down in the mud while it rains for 4 days isn't exactly on the top of his list. I ended up scraping off what I thought was dried mud but turned out to be a scab/dried skin/scar tissue. So I had to tend to a bleeding coronary band for a bit. Luckily it was pretty minor and didn't bleed for more than a minute.

He didn't seem terribly glad to be saddled but into the arena we went. J had taken Amigo out on the road so I had some room and lunged Axel for a bit. He was pretty calm about life, really just wanted to look at the horses in the pasture. There were some minor head flips but no bucking when he was asked to trot. He moved pretty well, a little off now and then but pretty good. I stopped with the trotting, still trying to take it a little easy.

We rode at the walk for quite a while, he was kind of cranky, nothing major just a little fidgety. I finally asked for a trot and it was slow going at first, lots of stopping but he eventually picked it up and trotted pretty well. We did a lot of walking between trotting and we stuck mostly to going to the right. For obvious reasons he doesn't like when I post the correct diagonal to the left. We walked around for quite a while and even had some nice rein back before calling it a day.

I'm still hesitant to really start working. He's had 1 week off completely and 2 weeks of real mellow hand walking or easy riding in the arena. I really want to go for a canter down the field but I should probably hold off a bit longer. Even though when he trots he walks out of it sound and he tends to choose the canter over trotting when he is sore. We'll see, I could give him some bute before we go I suppose to take off the edge. It's Cody's turn next anyway so perhaps I'll just get my cantering fix with him.

Rain rain go away!

I debated just going home and staying in but I thought it'd be pretty quiet at the barn in the rain on a weekday. I was right, the place was deserted. The boys were standing half in the lean-to and half in the rain. When I went into the little barn to get Cody's food I could hear them nickering, but instead of coming up to the gate to wait for dinner they just stood in the lean-to and nickered there. They both really wanted to come in when I went to get Cody.

Cody took his time eating his extra food and he didn't mind the MSM I had snuck in the bucket. I tried to dry him off a bit with a wool blanket and groom him a bit. The barn wasn't too loud with the rain but I turned on the radio anyway. Cody lunged pretty good and seemed to be paying attention, though he was paying attention to the gate. My guess is that's just where he wanted to keep his eye on in case the rain got scary or something. He wasn't too happy about standing at the mounting block so it took a few tries before he stood for me.

We worked on some trotting in circles, Cody is having a hard time bending, especially to the left. Even with the clear circle wore into the footing he had a hard time staying on the circle (it's time to get some cones). So we kept working on that for a while and worked on keeping in the trot until asked to do something else. At least he was moving pretty well and I didn't have to carry a whip at all. We got a pretty nice but a little fast canter to the right. To left took a lot of tries as he kept picking up the wrong lead. When he finally picked up the correct lead it was kind of unbalanced but since that's what I was asking for I let him stop. We trotted a bit more so we could end on a nice note. Sometimes after the canter he gets a little strung out so I wanted to make sure he'd go back to a nice easy trot. Even with the noisy rain he was calm.

After he backed up when I asked I dismounted and we worked on some turn on the forehand for a while as well as some bending particularly to the left. I untacked him and grabbed some treats and we did some "carrot stretches." He was really good at them and kept his feet in once place while bending to each side and down between his legs. He didn't really want to stretch up to get a treat though, so I'm not sure what that's about. I also did some leg stretches with him that I think he actually enjoys, or at least he tolerates them well and stands still and doesn't yank his feet away. He even seems to not mind the tail circles. I might have to do some of the bending after some lunging circles for warm ups and before riding to try and get him bending better.

When Cody was eating his extra food I ran out and gave Axel some MSM and a little grain in the lean-to. After I turned out Cody I stood in the shelter for a while while Axel proceeded to chew the wood off the inside of the building. I smacked him a couple times with the rope when he started to chew and scared him a bit so he wandered off. I put some manure on the spot he was chewing in what will probably be a feeble attempted to keep him from doing it again. Grrr ... kids!

Back in the Saddle Part 2

Late on a raining Saturday I didn't expect to see many people at the barn. J was out catching Steele when I got there, then the new folks arrived, then A arrived with some family in tow. It was grand central station. I rode Cody in the arena with Steele for a while. We even (to my surprise) picked up both canter leads without running into them. After the canter Cody was a little wound up but after standing for a bit he calmed down. We visited with A's family and let the kids pet and look at the fuzzy ponies. Cody went back out to his pasture, Steele spent some time grazing the yard, and I grabbed Axel to see how he was feeling.

Axel went pretty well in the arena with one of the new horses. We didn't get close enough for him to act like a bully. I decided to try a bit of a trot to see where he was at. He was feeling a little bouncy but not too bad and trotted okay for a bit. Perhaps a little off but he returned the walk and was sound. So that's pretty much all we did for the day. Lots of chatting with all the people around since it's a rare occurrence to see so many people at once. Cody got his extra food and some MSM and Axel got some MSM and he wore his boots while riding.

Windy Monday

Too windy to enjoy a ride down the road today but I want to keep a sort of close eye on Axel so I went to the barn anyway. The wind must have gotten everyone all riled up, both horses were kind of weird and trying to climb in my pockets. I brought Cody in and gave him some extra food while I groomed him quick. He's so fuzzy already. I lunged him a little with the 12' line. He's been so slow and lazy lately so it was time to get him responding. He did pretty well actually. I worked on some of our regular ground work. I need to get a little more precise with the turns on the haunches and forehand. Cody remembers stuff once he learns it so I just need to get it right.

I hopped on bareback and rode around a little while, mostly at the walk and a tiny bit of trot. We mostly worked on the left turns. I also tried a bit of what was supposed to be sidepassing but was more of a lesson in turn on the haunches, or just moving the specific parts of the body when asked. Something I probably should have kept on working on but I didn't. When I was done riding I did a few stretches with Cody and we went back outside.

Axel had his turn inside. I mostly just hand walked him around the arena, I thought the good footing and a little moving would be helpful for his foot. He was sound at the walk and wasn't shortening his stride at all so that was good. I tried to lunge him a little at the walk but he kept speeding up going to the right. To the left he kept pawing, almost spanish walk, and eventually a little buck and a kick. I kept telling him to walk and "easy" but he got it in his head that I wanted more so we had to stop so he didn't hurt himself. I ended up giving him some grain to see if he'd eat the MSM I bought. He licked the bucket clean so that's a good sign. I'll probably just give him the extra MSM when I'm out there instead of adding it to his regular feeding, at least for now.

Back in the saddle?

Okay so Axel is not back in the saddle yet, but he is sound in the pasture at the walk at the very least. And he's as obnoxious as he ever is. He had 2g of bute on Monday noon and Monday around 4pm, 2g on Tuesday morning, and nothing on Wednesday. And when I saw him in the pasture on Wednesday he was feeling good. I don't think the bute sticks around quite that long to be masking pain but I'm letting him have some time off anyway. Then we'll ease back into it, with boots on for sure!

So poor Cody has to do some work while Axel is on vacation. I wish I could figure out what Cody loves to do besides be with other horses. But until then I guess we just keep trying things. So I wanted to try the low back pad again since all I did was walk last time. Cody was calm for tacking and didn't even yawn. And I'm sure it was a fluke but as soon as I put his bridle on, he walked over to the mounting block. Albeit a little too far away for me to use but it was like he was saying, "fine, we do this everytime, just get it over with already." He lunged lazily but sound so we walked and trotted in the arena. The low back pad seems to make a huge difference in how the ride feels. It seems a lot more lateral or "wobbly" for a lack of better words. The trot was still "sit-able" and after a bit of prodding Cody would maintain until told otherwise. He wasn't happy about the left turn in the middle of our figure-8s though. I had a few minutes left before I had to leave so I decided to grab his hoof boots and head out on the road. One of the bad things I noticed about the low back pad is that it pretty much takes away Cody's withers which means spinning saddle when mounting. So that was a bit frustrating.

It was, as usual, a painfully slow departure from the barn. I really wanted to trot or canter and just let Cody go for a while. So when we got to the first little drainage ditch between fields we went that way. I haven't ridden in them yet and don't have permission to but I went for it anyways. I really really really love those ditches. The corn is high on both sides so it's a perfect place for a canter with the safety of "walls" so discourage any runoffs. The grass was probably a little too long to see the footing but when we got to a spot that looked like it had been mowed we went for it. Cody took a little while to get into the canter and was kind of weaving all over but he was calm and had brakes and I think he enjoyed it a bit. I would have kept going but I didn't want to be late for ballet so we had to turn back. But you can bet we'll go back before they get the corn down. I have to call the tack shop in town and find out if they have any of the pads that go inside the hoof boots. I'm a little afraid his boots are a bit too big for cantering.

On the way back I wanted to make Cody do some work but we weren't in a good spot for it so we trotted then walked then trotted then walked. I don't typically like to "run" home but Cody likes to trot so his reward for walking when asked is to trot again. Maybe that lesson is "if I listen to the rider I get home sooner." When we hit the drive way Cody wanted to go in but after realizing we don't do that he kept going. We stopped and did a little reluctant backing up and then went back to the barn.

I've been doing some of the massage techniques to get Cody to stretch his back, namely the one where you run your hands on either side of his tail. He stands well for it and it seems to get him to lift a bit. I also did some tail circles. I saw something once where they said if it's hard to do a tail circle to one side that is also the side the horse doesn't bend to as well. So I was testing that theory since Cody didn't want to turn left. My results are inconclusive.

A Whole Week Off

The horses ended up with a whole week off after the big trail ride. Jeff went out to drop off the trailer last Wednesday and confirmed that both horses were still alive but that was about it. We stopped by Friday to get the trailer to take it home to the farm and I checked on both horses but my back was having some issues so it was a quick visit with just a little scratch here and there. In the end the pickup brakes were stuck so we didn't bring the trailer back after all.

Jeff had to work on Sunday so we were back in town early and my back was just about 100% normal so I spent some time at the barn. I wanted to try out a low back pad on Cody to see if that's something I should buy for him. He's not totally swayback but his withers are so high and he's lost a bit of topline so his saddle isn't in the most ideal place on his back. Hopefully the low back pad will help keep everything even and comfortable. Unfortunately he was feeling a bit off on the lunge, not to mention he's been way lazy lately. So after walking around in both directions and a little bit of reluctant trot I got on for a few minutes of loose rein walking just to try out the saddle pad. From what I could tell he was just generally stiff/sore. Though his feet are pretty chipped up already so that could be the culprit also.

Axel, on the other hand, was feeling pretty darned good. He wouldn't lunge at the walk, immediately went into a trot. Not the nicest trot but a trot nonetheless. Even struck out in a canter in both directions when asked, only kept it up for a few strides but there was no bucking or nonsense. So it's back to work for poor Axel. He's been slacking for too long. We trotted, and trotted, and trotted. We probably didn't trot for an obnoxious amount of time but since everyone's getting their winter coats he was sweaty. We did some circles and even some figure-8s without breaking out of the trot. J said he looked pretty good from what she could tell. He didn't feel all that great but it's good to know he looked good. He was generally just bumpy and uneven, his usual MO. But he hasn't had to work for a long time so we'll just keep going. I'll have to look for some advice on how to get his trot a little more free flowing. If only he'd figure out that a nice trot is better for his leg not to mention his back (without me bouncing around on it). He's forgotten some of his backing up lesson from the cattle clinic so we'll have to keep working on that one as well. Ideally if he can remain sound at the walk and trot I'd love to get to a schooling show next year. I don't want to take him if he looks lame even if it's just how he is, probably not the best to show up at a show riding a lame horse. And even if he lacks a bit of energy if he can get a nicer trot we should have some fun at a dressage show.

Post Cow High

Axel must have felt invigorated after visiting the cows. Or maybe he was just feeling good. Interesting that Tuesday, Wednesday, and now today he's been pretty full of energy. I didn't lunge him tonight I just groomed and threw on his saddle and joined another boarder in the barn. Axel was really moving out at the walk. He even passed Stitch a few times. When they left the arena we worked on the backing up stuff we learned the other night. He's a little reluctant but he gives at the poll a lot sooner than he had been. He got a lot of scratches as soon as he'd back and drop his head instead of jutting out his nose. We did some serpentines to work on some bending and steering without getting in his face too much. We even managed a bit of trotting without any bucking. One jump into a canter stride but we were back to trotting right away and he moved out actually very sound. I had thought about giving him some bute before and during the trail ride but he's been doing so well I think he'll be just fine, especially since it should be pretty easy going. I think I'll even buy him a little warm up massage. Silly spoiled horses.

I checked on Cody and brought him out to the hitching rail. He has a weird scabby raw grown over missing hair spot on his left ear. I assume it's rope burn from his little spazz and it was dry and didn't bother him to touch it. I held his bucket while he spilled his senior feed all over the place. No wonder he doesn't gain weight easily, most of it ends up on the floor. Sadly it was like that before he had his teeth done and is still that way after, so I think it's just his way. Maybe he'll get a feed bag some day.

What got into you?

I ran out to the barn quick last night just to check on the horses and make sure no one had done anything stupid over the long weekend. I dropped off a bag of feed for Cody to have a little extra every once in a while. The horses thought I was there for feeding time when they heard me in the feed room.

I gave Cody a scoop of the senior feed as I was grooming him. Boy does he make a mess when he eats. No wonder he's a little thin, food all over the floor. I just did a little lunging in the arena to make sure he was feeling good. He was a little feisty mostly just when asked to move faster than a turtle. I jumped on bareback for a while and just rode around with the halter and lead rope. Cody's a difficult horse to sit on bareback right now. He's thinner so there's less "body" under your legs and you kind of wobble around easier. We did a little trotting and some backing up which went well. Our turns on the forehand and haunches still lack ... a lot.

Axel followed me to the barn limping the whole way when it was his turn. I was hoping it was just a stone in his hoof and thank goodness I was right. When I asked Axel to lunge he started out at a decent walk, sped up, started trotting, then cantering, then completely galloping and bucking and farting and acting like an idiot. Same reaction on the other side. Mind you I only asked for a walk. I un hooked my lunge line and clucked at him once and he was off around the arena like a bat out of hell. It was at this point that my previous thought of giving him some bute so he wouldn't be sore for the cattle clinic left my mind. When he finally stopped he was huffing and puffing. I jumped on him bareback and rode around at the walk. I'm hesitant to ask for a trot bareback since I haven't worked him a lot lately and he mostly likely buck. So we just walked around, tried some bending, backing, turns, checked our brakes. Nothing spectacular.

So everyone seemed in decent condition, hopefully they have remained that way today. Though I could probably borrow one of A's horses if someone turned up lame. Cow clinic tonight!

It's Almost Winter

Okay it's not really almost winter but it's getting darker, colder, and the horses are starting to shed their summer coats and put on their winter wear. I'm not quite as concerned about it this year since I have a lit arena to ride in. Sure the cold is no fun but at least the complete lack of sunlight won't put a damper on some riding.

I rode Cody in his new headstall on Tuesday. It seems to fit well and stayed on his head. We worked on some trotting and a tiny bit of canter transition. I attempted some rollbacks on the rail, which to my surprised got me a few little canter departs. I'm not sure what inspired him, if he's done rollbacks before or what because I was only really asking for a trot. After that I asked for a canter on the rail and got a lot more willing transition than usual. Wrong lead to the one direction but he wasn't speed trotting into it at least. So maybe rollbacks are a good exercise for him. It was also a nice exercise in stopping when asked since there was a nice finite element to each pass.

Axel lunged pretty sound so I rode him for a while as well. Perhaps he was just sore from needing his feet done. We mostly walked, did some bending, and I worked on seat aids. We did a minor amount of trotting but he was not terribly excited about that situation. I probably need to start trotting more and more, he's had so much time off and I've been babying him lately, but the foot is excellent in the arena, he's on supplements and I just picked up some MSM to add to what he's getting now, and I could add some bute when I ride. The poor fat horse just needs to get out and move more.

We have a new adventure planned for next Wednesday (assuming I get signed up). We're going to head out to Cornerstone and try out a beginning cattle clinic. Jeff is going to ride Axel and I'll ride Cody. I think A is bringing Danny or maybe even Vinnie who knows. I'm excited to see how the boys do on cattle with the thought that we'll try and work some cows at the farm and also maybe get in on the Gary cattle drive sometime. There's a lot of trailer fixing to do this weekend, cattle clinic Wednesday, and the We Can Ride trail ride a week from Sunday. So much going on!

Clean Pony

I had to look twice at Cody when I pulled him out of the pasture. His face was so clean I almost thought it wasn't him. Then his tail was so soft I started to think someone gave him a bath for me. J said he was playing in the water, thus the clean nose, and it had rained, thus the soft tail. Well I still thing someone switched my horse for a look-alike. J was riding in the arena so Cody and I joined her for a while. One lap around and I knew I was in for a slow slow ride. So I got off and grabbed the dressage whip. I only had to brush Cody with it once and he picked up the pace. It still wasn't the speediest walk in the world but it was greatly improved. We chatted with J for a bit standing in the middle, both of our horses were very patient and happy to stand there doing nothing. When J left Cody decided he was ready to be fast again. He seems to be slowest when other horses are in the arena. I'm not sure what that is about, he's trying to keep an eye on them maybe.

So we trotted around and around and tried some cantering. He's much more inspired to canter when I have the whip. He wasn't terrible smooth getting into it but he did it. He had the wrong lead to the left every time I tried but we can keep working on that. We also worked on some backing up. I had planned on working on that with just the lead rope and halter but since J was riding I thought I better just put the bridle on. Surprisingly he did fairly well even with the bit. So we'll keep working on that as well. I grabbed the chin strap from his bridle which pretty much matches the saddle. Hopefully I can find a bridle sometime that matches that leather. Of course Cody will go better when his tack finally matches! That's how it works, don't you know?!

When I was done riding Cody I brought Axel in just to get groomed and fly sprayed. Of course when I'm done that's when everyone else shows up to ride. Heh go figure. I guess I need to start going to the barn later unless I want to ride alone.

Goofing Around

Of course I forgot to take any photos last night but here's a nice one of Axel from last week that I hadn't posted yet. When I got to the barn B was just riding Diva in the arena, she suggested we head down the road a bit. So I grabbed Axel and got him ready as fast as I could leaving a bit of time to scratch some of his bug bites that itched. We made it down to the cows with Axel keeping a pretty decent pace, though trying to grab grass the whole trip. Diva wasn't so sure about the cows and positioned herself behind Axel while they looked on. I still want to take Axel and Cody to a cow clinic sometime.

When we got back to the barn we watched A load up Vinny and head out to her formation practice and then went back to the arena and goofed around. We trotted a bit and cantered. Axel canted more than he usually does so that was a win for him. Diva gets really strong in her plain eggbutt snaffle so B was working on that a bit. We tried some rollbacks and we worked on some lateral stuff which didn't go very far with Axel. We discussed jumping on the horses bareback and how exactly to go about that task. So we untacked and gave it a try. I can jump up on my belly from the mounting block but that's about it for now. B thought she needed a chair but she managed to get up on Diva with just the mounting block. So we rode around on our sweaty horses bareback for a while. I attempted an "around-the-world" for the first time. I tried to kneel on Axel's back vaulting style but he's not quite big enough for me to do that. One thing I did discover, okay two things, he backs up much better with just the lead rope than with a bit, and he understands the lateral cues a bit better with no saddle. He managed to do a turn on the forehand in one direction. So we have some winter projects lined up: bareback lateral moves. When we were done goofing off like kids and our butts had soaked up all the horse's back sweat it was time to call it a night. But not before Axel did his "rolling on command" trick. Okay so he doesn't do it on command but when he lays down to roll I've been saying "roll" and then praising him as he does it. Maybe it'll work the other way around one day.

Invasion of the Body Snatchers

Cody and Axel have switched bodies, that's all I can figure. Cody has been greeting me in the pasture with a knicker lately. The good news is that I groomed and tacked him in the cross ties on Friday and there was no yawning. There was one other person riding so we rode around in the arena with them for a while. Cody was as lazy as Axel usually is. It was all I could do to get/keep him moving. Part of it was that he really just wanted to sit and watch the other horse. I didn't even attempted to get a canter since the trot was so much work. I'll have to see what he does next time he's alone in the arena.

Axel, on the other hand, was all business. He lunged pretty well, big big trot. Took a bit to get that one canter lead but he eventually got it. I'm pretty sure he knows when he gets it right so now we just have to keep working til he gets it right on the first stride. He had a nice big trot under saddle as well. I decided to work on some canter from walk transitions. While he didn't want to pick up the correct lead he definitely knew what I was asking. So that was a cool discovery. He's got a few things other than food on his mind I guess! We finished up with some under saddle work on the bridge which included backing off the bridge. First just his front feet on and off then all four. It took some time standing before he made the attempt with all four but he got it. We'll get this horse backing off the trailer yet!

They Love Dinner

It was grand central station at the barn on Friday. Hunter girls were giving their horses a bath and getting ready to go to a show, barn owner was getting ready to go camping, and another boarder was doing some ground work with her horse. I had Cody in to ride a bit in the arena and he had his lazy pants on. We did some lunging (lazy) and then tried some riding (also lazy). After a lot of work we finally got some decent trotting but we could not get a canter to save our lives, just trot trot trot. Not sure what that's about. We did get some backing up under saddle, nothing mind blowing but steps backwards nonetheless. He stood patiently while I chatted with the other boarder and the barn owner.

The barn owner asked if I would feed my horses when I was done since he was leaving to go camping. So when I was done cleaning up and reorganizing my tack I went out to feed. Axel was far off in the pasture and when he saw me with the bucket of grain he came running. And I mean running, all while knickering. It was pretty hilarious. Goofy chubby horse running to dinner.

Getting Warmer

It's definitely starting to get warm and humid. Both horses came up to me in the pasture to see what kind of fun things I had for them. I guess that means Cody isn't holding a grudge after our long trail ride on Sunday. Axel was pretty lazy when I tried to get some circles out of him in the arena before getting on to ride. Then he was pretty lazy under saddle. I can't quite tell if he was hurting or just being lazy. We did trot around for a while but it was a lot of work to get and keep him going. He's getting so fat I figured he needs to get working, I don't think being overweight is good for ringbone. I didn't really attempt any good cantering and he was trotting pretty okay, not really popping up quite as often as he had been.

But it didn't feel like enough work and the pants I was wearing were not cooperating and it was hot. So I got off and got the lunge line and whip. He had a few super crazy bronc moments but settled in (probably tired himself out) and was trotting really nice and then even picking up the canter with little fuss. This of course was tracking right. Tracking left, not so much, it takes a lot of work just to get him to get going in that direction. Once he did it was nearly the same, good trot, pretty good canter on the correct lead, a little bit of fussiness. I probably should have been video taping it since he seemed to be moving pretty darn well.

I think I'll have to just lunge for real before I ride, get him loosened up a bit. Supposedly the canter is a better place to start than the trot as it loosens up their backs better so they'll be ready to do a nice trot.

Axel is starting to learn that as soon as he picks up that correct lead on the canter and does it nice without freaking out, he can stop. I think he knows it. It seems like he'll pick it up nice then whoa and look at me. When he freaks out and does his bronc impression he just keeps going. He's also starting to really get the turn on the forehand from the ground. Still not much on the bending his neck, we worked on a that a bit next to the wall so he couldn't spin. I also did some leg stretches for him since he was warm I thought it would be the perfect opportunity. Though as soon as he got off the arena footing to the cement he walked like a 90 year old man that had been sitting for 10 years. But right back on the grass out side he was fine again. Joints? Ringbone? The stretching? Not sure what that was about.

Warm Ride

Just a quick trip out to the barn today to check on the horses post adjustment. Cody was actually waiting at the gate so I took him in and groomed him and we did some ground work in the arena. He wasn't terribly excited and just wanted to walk on the lunge. I didn't push him but I did ask for a trot just to make sure he was just feeling lazy and not in pain. It's amazing how good he is at backing up from the ground and not under saddle. We didn't work long, it was pretty warm in the arena and I hadn't opened the doors yet since it would mean more distraction. I'll admit that Cody hadn't turned into some genius and super cooperative horse over night, his reactions were the same as they always were but there was a lot more chewing and licking than usual. I hadn't put the saddle on him so I don't know if he'd still yawn at the sight of it. That will remain to be seen I guess.

I brought Axel into the barn to groom and see how he was feeling. He was pretty pokey on the gravel and the cement but he seemed fine in the arena. I decided to jump on bareback and just ride around a bit. I managed to jump up from the mounting block and actually get on. Axel even stood there without moving, it would have been quite the sight had he moved since getting on bareback is not my forte. We just wandered around for a while before my butt was too hot to keep riding.

It was only low 70s today and it was pretty warm. Looks like high 70s for tomorrow and we're planning on going out to Lebanon Hills so it could be a very toasty ride. I think it'll be time to bust out the pink plaid pants.