Disuniting Again

Axel got back on the road last night. S and Stitch were out so I grabbed Axel and cleaned him up the quickest I could, gave him some MSM, and gave Cody his extra snack (which he's getting quite used to and knickers at me when I arrive). Lately Axel has decided he just really can't walk with those bell boots on. I put them on like normal and he picks his back left leg up all the way to his belly and then jumps around on three feet. Last night he did this while still cross tied. Really?

It was slow going as we made our way between the corn fields, Axel dove for the grass every chance he got. We trotted a bit to get his head out of the grass and he moved soundly even on the squishy ground. We ended up heading down the road next to the cows and went for a canter. Unfortunately I couldn't get Axel to pick up the lead correctly. He kept cross cantering even after I'd bring him back to a trot and try again.

On the way back we tried another canter and this time I think he managed to get the front and the back end to cooperate. I was busy keeping him moving to really check what lead we were on and all that. There was no bucking either time. He was a little off for the rest of the walk home but it was very minuscule. We'll see how he feels today. It shouldn't have been any more work than normal so maybe he was just tired and lazy at that point.

I picked up a bunch of little cones from Northern Tool Outlet so I'll mark some dressage letters on them and leave them at the barn to work on patterns and weaving and all that. Axel used to really like weaving so we'll see how he feels about that now. There's a clover leaf pattern that I want to try and another basic trotting pattern. Gotta come up with some interesting stuff for the winter.

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!

A Little Huntseat

No photos from last night's ride :( Video might have been interesting, not sure how I would have looked. I got out the huntseat saddle and swapped it with the dressage saddle. I figure if I ever get around to showing I'd be showing WSCA and there's no dressage classes. So I thought it'd be best to start riding in that saddle for a while. J said it looked good on Cody. I felt like a fish out of water. I haven't ridden with my knees that bent in ages. But if I'm going to play around with some jumping as well I guess I need to get used to it!

Cody had a bit of a bump on the outside of his right front pastern so I decided to lunge him before I tacked to make sure he wasn't hurting. He was lazy lazy lazy (gotta remember that stick with the plastic bag) but he didn't seem to hurt at all. After fidgeting with the saddle to get it to feel at least a little normal we were on our way (how in the world do you keep your leg on when your knee is bent so much?). I had the foresight to grab the whip so I didn't have to kick constantly. And actually having my legs up a bit higher seemed to help a bit as well. But with two other horses in the arena there was a lot of temptation to stop and watch them work. We manged to do quite a bit of trotting but Cody is a little confused on posting. He slows down quite a bit making it nearly impossible to post. So before we attempt any jumping we'll have to work on that. J was showing the stuff she was working on with Amigo to get him to calm down in the canter. J3 (heh yes there are 3 Js at the barn) gave it a try with Steele. He gets a little full of himself and speeds up so they were talking about doing some spiral-ins. He's back from the trainer so J3 has been riding him quite a bit it seems. He's still heavy on the front but he seems to go quieter than he did before she sent him away. I attempted some cantering with Cody, wrong lead to the left nearly every time. Finally had to counter bend the heck out of him to get that left lead. J said he had a really nice lope. Right lead he just didn't want to canter at all but when we got it he kept it up for a lap or so and did a nice halt when asked.

After all that work I was sweaty. But Cody was actually barely wet so I guess I didn't work him too hard. I'll probably try and ride him again tonight and if no one is in the arena we'll do some lunging over ground poles and then maybe just work on trotting. I'll see if I can just let him go and do two point or post and let him have his head and just move out. If no one else is around I'll try and video it despite my fear that my riding position will look like crap. Eek!

Nice Evening

The hunter girls were having their lesson when I got to the barn tonight so I groomed Cody in the aisle and then did some ground work outside on the grass. Ground work on nice fluffy grass is not an easy task, let me tell you, someone thought it was snack time not work time. I ended up putting on his saddle and riding out in the pasture. Axel was kind enough to leave us alone and actually give us a little challenge to work on. Cody was pretty calm with life but he was slightly concerned that he was out working and Axel was grazing without him. So we worked on that for a while, also the footing is a little more "iffy" so he had to pay attention and I got a bit more of a riding challenge. Thirdly I thought we'd work on some cantering with all the extra space but Cody wasn't on the same page. We couldn't really get the correct lead but we did have plenty of chances to work on controlling "runaways." After a few pretty bad run offs Cody got the picture and paid attention to where I wanted to turn. He still had some issues with relaxing and collecting but I guess you take what you can get. Still working on the rein back and we spent a little time working on the turn on the haunches. For some reason I am better at turn on the forehand from the ground and turn on the haunches under saddle. We un-tacked in the aisle and backed out of the barn.

The hunter girls finished up so I brought Axel in and groomed him. Found a wood tick in his forelock but that was the only one. He was very patient for grooming and would have probably taken a nap if I had let him. We did a couple circles lunging, there was a lot less fuss over the canter tonight. We spent a few minutes on our turns again and it seemed like perhaps he was finally catching on and we did some backing as well. I rode the walk for a while and then we worked on the trot in two point. I was hoping that two point would help get me off that foot and he could trot out for a while maybe work on stretching his neck and lifting his back. It went alright to the right but he was pretty unhappy to the left even in two point. I didn't fight with him too long, I want him to figure out it's the same to the right and the left especially when we're on a straight-a-way. Rein back under saddle is still reluctant with Axel but I'll keep working. I spent some time trying to get him to do turn on the haunches as well.

After my ride I went and watched one of the other boarders do some drill work with some of her fellow mounted posse members. She let me ride Danny around a bit before they got started working. It was a gorgeous sunset so I had to take some photos. Tomorrow: farrier day.

Still Pacing

I knew Cody was going to be a hold out on this whole herd bound issue but I thought just maybe he'd calm down after a few days. He's still pacing the fence line while Axel stands in the opposite corner napping. Unlike yesterday he led out of the paddock a lot calmer so we went right to the barn. He didn't stand well in the cross ties but I groomed a little while before going into the arena. We did more circling and changing directions and then worked a lot on turn on the haunches and turn on the forehand. After all the turning he actually seemed to calm down quite a bit. Two of the arena doors were open so he had a lot to look at but the lateral work seemed to keep his attention better than most stuff. Obviously he wasn't completely 100% in tune with me but considering how he's been lately he did really well.

I brought Cody back to the paddock and grabbed Axel. I did a few laps with Axel back and forth out of sight and back in sight of Cody. Cody wasn't going to get bored of that since he didn't really care about Axel leaving so we just went to the arena. Axel stood like a statue in the cross ties (until I put the saddle on him then he lost patience). With two of the arena doors open Axel was beside himself trying to look out every time we passed. He had quite a bit more energy than usual but despite that I was able to sit his trot again. I had the western saddle on him if that makes any difference. He wasn't bending quite as well as he usually does but his attention was outside. We trotted a bit and I asked for a few canters. Wrong lead on the left and I think the right side was correct but it was a short canter so I didn't have much of a chance to check it out. He only bucked once so I wasn't going to push it.

I got off and untacked him so I could lunge him and get a couple more canters out of him. He actually offered the canter on the lunge line several times and it was the left lead believe it or not. To the right he had a few little head twists and grabbed the lunge line out of my hand but after that he cantered nicely. I unclipped him so I could go put away tack so I asked him to trot and canter without the line and he did pretty well with that even; right lead canter with no bucking. I love how one of my horses can act like a total idiot while the other one makes up for it.

Cody's Confinement

I pulled up to the barn this afternoon and noticed that the new horse (horse owned by a friend of the barn owner's) was in the front paddock with the goofy paint gelding and the black and white paint mare. Looking further I see that Cody is in the middle paddock, by himself. I can see some other horses off in the distance in one of the back pastures. Cody was screaming his head off and not a happy horse. I was wondering what was going on. Jason was around so I chatted with him for a while. I guess he had just put out Amigo and Steele with Cody, Axel, and Danny. There was some fireworks and Cody gave it to Steele pretty bad. So they decided to put Cody by himself and give the rest of the herd a chance to get settled. The other four were getting along well when I got there. There was a few squeals still happening but very minor and all talk.

I grabbed Cody and brought him into the barn. I groomed pretty quickly because Cody was having a fit in the crossties. He did show me that his issue is not with the bit. Clearly his gaping mouth issue and probably the tongue over the bit issue is some sort of anxiety thing. I took a quick video if it with my phone if anyone wants to offer some suggestions on what to do to get him over this.

I took him into the arena to get his feet moving and hopefully get his attention back to me and off of the fact that his herd was far away. We did some circling and worked on keeping on the outside of the circle and not drifting in. Lots of changing directions to make sure he was paying attention to me. For the first time we worked on Cody circling around me with me stationary like you see all the NH types do. He was confused at first and when he got around to my back he wanted to stop and switch directions so we worked through that. You could tell he was concentrating more, his trot got slower and more thoughtful while he tried to figure out what it was that I wanted. We worked a little bit on some turns on the forehand and haunches, mostly just working on responding to pressure. I also lunged him on the real lunge line just to get him moving out a bit and to get a canter. He wasn't very willing to canter this time but we managed.

I did try some standing still focus type work but if his feet weren't moving he wasn't paying attention to me. I saddled him, mounted very easily and we rode around the arena. I grabbed another bridle from my stash, this one is a sort of loose ring with a curved mouthpiece and copper inlays. I might stick with this bit or one like it, I can still neck rein if I want to but when I need to I can direct rein and not cause issues. He actually did well in this bit so far. There was some gaping mouth issues, I'm not sure if he ever got his tongue over the bit or not but if he did he put it back. We did a lot of walking, bending around the corner, staying on the "rail." We did circles in every corner, worked on getting that bend right and keeping the circle nice and round. I added in some serpentine and concentrated on not nagging with the reins but using my seat and legs. We trotted a little, not nearly as controlled as the walk but acceptable. In the end it was a very good ride despite the distractions. And we got to foot-print up the arena that Jason had just gotten done dragging. :)

I put Cody back in his little detention which was difficult to do as he looked longingly to the other boys in the pasture. He went over to the horses in the front pasture and called to them. One of the mares came up to see but was intercepted by the paint gelding who apparently felt threatened by Cody even through the fence. Usually Cody is pretty laid back as far as herd bosses go so I'm kind of surprised that he picked on Steele so bad. Hopefully his separation will help him get over the herd bound issue. I suppose his separation might make him a little more cooperative the next time they put him back in with Steele.

I grabbed Axel out of the pasture and we rode down the road for a while. Had a couple nice canters and generally just had a calm little ride. He seems to be getting along with the other horses really well. Steele squeals at him sometimes and paws but Axel just stands there. I'm thinking he might end up higher on the totem pole than usual. It seems like he enjoys being around some horses his same size. He was kind of tagging along with both Amigo and Steele and even though Steele seems to move Amigo around, it looked like Axel moved Steele. It'll be an interesting journey.

Cody is Also a Movie Star

I finally made it out to the barn alone so I could video tape some work with Cody. Our ground work didn't go quite as well as it has in the past, probably because there was a video camera, isn't that how it works? Our "circle game" was kind of lazy. Cody appears to be a bit off in these videos as well. So there's our laundry list of excuses. We worked on the circling for a bit and then I got out the real lunge line and whip to just get him moving a bit and practice our gaits and cues. It wasn't our best work over all. When I was done riding we worked on a few more circles and then tried our hand at some focus activities. Cody is supposed to keep his eyes and ears on me without moving. If he moves I get his attention back. It took a while for him to figure it out but he did pretty well in the end.

I rode with Cody in just the halter and lead rope. He was a little distracted and spent most of the time cruising around the arena with his head in the air and not wanting to bend. So I used the time to get used to Cody's gaits. Since I don't ride him very often I'm not used to how he goes so I figured that was a decent place to start. We did some trotting and tried a bit of cantering. Our canters didn't last too long and a few times we were on the wrong lead but it was a good opportunity to get used to him. When I figure out either which bit he'll go well in or how to get him to start paying better attention under saddle, we'll start working on more bending and things like that. If I ever get off my duff and get some long reins I'll start ground driving with him as well. Soon it'll be time to start riding outside down the road, that will be a whole new adventure I'm sure.

Ouch

I thought for sure my inner thighs would be sore today after riding on Saturday but instead my abs/ribs are killing me. I feel like I did a million sit ups or something.

It was finally 50F on Saturday so a trip to the barn was required. Apparently everyone else felt the same way. Two other boarders were out getting ready to ride as well. The owner of the little Arab and the owner of Steele, who I later found out is a TWH/Andalusian (gorgeous trot - so jealous). Cody was first since Axel likes to kick at other horses, I thought life would be easier with a crowded arena and Cody. It was evident that it is finally spring, Cody found the mud and was shedding on top of it.

1. Relax in barn/arena - I groomed Cody in the cross ties, he was facing the little Arab mare for a while and the TWH/Andy for a while so he was pretty calm and just interested in the other horse. When they went into the arena he was more concerned luckily I was just about done so he didn't have to figit for too long.
2. Relax in stall
3. Pay attention to handler - he did pretty well undersaddle. I didn't want to use just the rope halter with two other horses in the arena so I just used Axel's snaffle. Cody doesn't like the snaffle so he was a little worked up about that but he settled down and did his best to listen to me on his back. If I keep it up I think he'll come around, hopefully I can find a bit that he's happy with so he can pay attention to me instead of the thing in his mouth.
4. Lunge 3 gaits - when I untacked the other horses had left the arena and Cody was beside himself so I lunged him a few times around each direction to get his attention back. It was mostly trot and a bit of canter just on the 12' lead.
5. Gain confidence with rider - we're making some baby steps under saddle which I will hopefully supplement with ground driving when I get some long lines, but he had his moments of listening to me and moments of not listening to me. He's not bending right now because he's too concerned what's going on around him but he listens to commands like "easy" and he's getting better at walking when I ask. I am hoping some of this arena work with other horses will translate to the trail.
6. Load and unload

The other two boarders were grooming up their horses after riding when I brought Axel in. There's only two cross ties and since Axel isn't particularly hospitable to other horses I put him in the arena tied to the hitch they have in there.

1. Relax in barn/arena - believe it or not he stood there tied like a statue even with other horses in the barn that he couldn't see. There was even some calling being done by the mare to her pasture mate and he still stood nicely. I suppose I should have just groomed him and turned him out as a reward but I didn't.
2. Relax in stall
3. Back off trailer
4. Lunge 3 gaits - I tacked up the big black, shedding, muddy horse and decided to lunge him for some warm up time with the regular lunge line. He's getting pretty good at the lunging bit, a little confused when we first start out but I'm surprised how quickly he picked it up. Walk, trot, and canter with a few bucks at the canter but nothing major.
5. Move out - we worked a bit on moving out at the walk and he started out pretty good, then we did some trotting but when I post on the left diagonal he does not appreciate it. The left diagonal is the one that I'd be sitting when he puts down that sore back foot so I suppose it makes sense. I haven't figured out if it'd be better to use the wrong diagonal with him so he's not sore or if that will just encourage him to be off balance.
6. Use haunches
7. Canter both leads - We tried some cantering as well, he did okay to the right a few minor bucks but I was able to push him through. The left was a bit of a different story. First time it was the wrong lead. Second time it was disunited and I could hardly sit it (probably the biggest factor in my sore abs), the last few times I think he had the right lead but there was some bucking so I pushed him through that and tried to keep him going.

So when I was done working with Axel he had his usual roll in the arena and I brought him back out to the paddock. I tried to give both horses some apples, banana, and oatmeal cookies. Amazingly enough they weren't too thrilled with the oatmeal cookies which surprised me. Of course as soon as I moved some of the banana and cookies for Danny to eat then Axel and Cody were jealous and wanted to eat the stuff. So I guess the key to getting horses to eat something they don't want to eat is to give it to their pasture mate. Go figure. So far the mud isn't too bad but it'll be here sooner than later. Axel's back legs seem okay so far but I think I'll see if I can borrow Steph's cordless clippers to clean up his legs to help prevent the mud fever that is bound to happen. I also have to remember to groom them in the aisle or outside for a while when they are shedding, it's too hard to pick up the hair from the arena.

A Much Quieter Day

Yesterday I went back out to the barn hoping for a quieter day than the previous and my wish was granted. Cody and Danny were standing at the very back fence looking over at the airport as if waiting for an incoming airplane. Axel was hanging in the sun by the corn crib and made a run for it when he saw me coming (I guess he wasn't impressed by Saturday's events).

I brought Axel in and crosstied him while he ate 1g of bute and some snacks. he only lasts a few minutes in the crossties before he starts flinging his head and getting impatient, it's very obnoxious. I tied him in the arena on the wall so I could groom and give him time for the bute to kick in. He wasn't willing to stand still from the moment I clipped the lead rope. I'm not sure where this new found hatred for being tied up is from. He's never had a problem before so I'm hoping it's just a phase from moving to a new barn.

I lunged him for a few minutes with the lunge line trot and canter. He won't quite walk, if I get him down to something that would come close to a walk he just stops instead. But he picked up both leads at the canter and didn't throw a hissy fit on the lunge so that was good. Even after lunging he still hated being tied, he's taken to bucking while tied up. After I fought through tacking and mounting we were finally on our way.

We did quite a bit of trotting that went well. He was moving out and willing to go with very little encouragement. He's still a bit off when I post to the left since that puts me sitting on that back left foot which is his sore foot. Ironically he should be balking at the right lead canter because of that same reason but it's the left lead he hates. We picked up only one little canter to the left but it was too short lived to tell if it was the correct lead or not. My camera was having some issues so that didn't get on video either. We'll have to try again next time. We didn't ride for too long since he was getting damp. Luckily he's still a fan of rolling when I untack him and it was sunny outside so I didn't have to dink around waiting for him to dry under a blanket. I can't wait until he sheds out and it's warmer.

So overall a much better day than Saturday but the impatience while tied is annoying and if that doesn't get better Axel will have a date with the hitching post this spring.

Elise and Axel Make a Movie Part 2 from Elise Ferguson on Vimeo.

Running out of Titles

I'm running out of blog titles when I visit the horses this often! It might not be until Saturday or Sunday that I can get out to the barn again this week so I thought I better use the last warm day to visit. Of course it started raining/sleeting on my way there. But yay for an indoor arena! I wouldn't want to be a horse when it rains in February, that's for sure. It wasn't coming down too horribly though. Axel and I went right into the arena to work on some lunging. Right as we were heading to the barn another border came in. She asked if it was alright if she rode while I was in there. She thought it would take her a little while to get that far. I had planned to stop working as soon as Axel did some good work so it wasn't a problem if she came in to ride. While she was grooming Axel did really well on the lunge. He trotted and cantered both directions, picked up both leads, and only had one tiny "weee" moment. For a while there I thought "who trained this horse to lunge!?" He did so well. The other border came in so I thought we'd keep up a little just to practice working and paying attention while there was other things going on. He was very interested in this pretty paint mare and tried his best to grow a hand or two to impress her. He remained calm but had some attention issues and we couldn't really get any momentum on the lunge so we worked on leading and paying attention that way. Overall I think it was a success. Axel appreciates that the barn owners keep nice green bales of alfalfa right by the arena gate for him to sneak on his way out. Hrm.

I didn't want to bring Cody into the arena with that flashy mare in there. He would have been beside himself trying to get her attention. And on top of that he was covered in mud so it wouldn't have been a great impression in the first place. I did very minor ground work with him just standing in the pasture, just a little backing up and the "stand" cue. I've taken to using "whoa" for stop and "stand" for when the horse is already stopped and I don't want him to move. Cody and Axel have had some exposure to "stand" when they were in Canby so I think it's working out alright. I found it actually worked with both Cody and Axel while I was trying to get back far enough to take their photos without them following me and sticking their nose in the camera. I figure even if I'm not out there doing a whole laundry list of activities they are still going to pick up on cues and things just by me being out there for a few minutes.

Two More Rides

Axel: Went out to ride Axel to see if we could fight through that left lead issue we were having. The best part about Axel is we can fight and fight and fight over whatever, leads or contact or trotting, but as soon as I get off he's friendly and wants to stand next to me. I guess he doesn't hold any grudges.

1. Relax in barn/arena - crosstied for grooming and Axel was very calm until Jason came in and chatted with us for a while. He wasn't close enough for Axel to smell or beg at so he got mad and started yanking on the leads.
2. Relax in stall
3. Back off trailer
4. Lunge 3 gaits - when I finished riding and couldn't get that left lead I decided to try and lunge a bit. Axel was a little worked up about it and let out a few nice bucks and kicks. Right lead was no problem, left lead he still wasn't getting. Third try or so I was about to back him down to a trot when he switched his lead. Flying lead change! So that was the end of the lesson.
5. Move out - we moved out a bit at the trot but it wasn't with any sort of collection at all.
6. Use haunches - started some work with shoulder fore in prep to try and learn shoulder in, travers, and renvers. I figured that should help us use our haunches and get some more flexibility for cantering on that bad side.
7. Canter both leads - we rode for a while and Axel was trying to run the show. When I wanted to extend the walk he wanted to trot, when I wanted to trot he wanted to canter (or buck). We were still unable to pick up that left lead.

Cody: I'm trying to back up and go a little slower with Cody so instead of bringing him into the barn I just did a really quick attention activity with him in the pasture.

1. Relax in barn/arena
2. Relax in stall
3. Pay attention to handler - started working on the activity where I stand in front of Cody near the end of the lead and he's to only pay attention to me. If his attention wanders, I flip the lead rope to get his attention back. He was calm and comfortable in his pasture so he was pretty willing to stand there and stare at me.
4. Lunge 3 gaits
5. Gain confidence with rider
6. Load and unload

My second ride came when I drove out to Tricia's farm to ride Oly for her since she's been banned from riding horses. Oly was just about as obnoxious as Axel has been. Constantly yanking the reins out of my hands. I'm surprised my shoulders don't hurt more than they do. It was nice to know that it's not just my horse that acts like a fool. After riding 3 times in the past 2 days walking is a difficult task.

A Fairly Good Ride

The weather website said it was 19F and felt like 13F today but it seemed warmer than that to me. Maybe because the sun was out. I went out to the barn to see if Axel wanted to go for a ride.

1. Relax in barn/arena - crossed tied and groomed/tacked and was calm about the ordeal until I un-clipped him to put his bridle on, then I had a horse on the loose.
2. Relax in stall
3. Back off trailer - did some backing up on the leadline and undersaddle, nothing major at this point
4. Lunge 3 gaits
5. Move out - trotted fairly fast but wasn't extending at all, just trying to get him comfortable moving in the arena footing, he was a little cranky but I'm chalking that up to not having to do work for about a year now. Walk was okay but still close to his old slow self.
6. Use haunches - wasn't really happening right now, we'll get there.
7. Canter both leads - we got the right lead but just couldn't pick up that left lead. Tried some canter, trot, canter which didn't help. Tried picking up the canter in the corner, counter bending, etc, still no left lead. I couldn't push him any further since he was getting sweaty and I didn't want to spend all day trying to cool him out.

I was going to start working with Cody in/around the pasture but it was too darn icy to do any work outside. Another boarder had Danny inside the arena so I figured Cody would feel okay being inside since he wouldn't be alone. I think the first thing he and I need to work on is getting his confidence up with me as the handler and we'll have to start where he's comfortable. We'll work on some tasks I've picked up from a friend and her trainer, Kirsten Nelson.

1. Relax in barn/arena - I brushed him quickly while tied in the aisle, he could see Danny in the arena and was fairly calm about it.
2. Relax in stall
3. Pay attention to handler - he was much calmer about everything since he wasn't alone, we did some groundwork and seemed to be listening okay but he was pretty interested in other things going on.
4. Lunge 3 gaits
5. Gain confidence with rider
6. Load and unload

Updates from the Barn

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Mud and snow and darkness

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

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

Time for the Bean Field!

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

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

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

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

A ride and a little round pen work

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

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

Long Time No See

It's only been over a week since I've been out to see Cody and Axel and in that time Axel has turned black once again as his winter coat is starting to grow in. Cody is getting all the white fuzz on his belly and between his back legs. Winter is almost here! When I was in Maine last week I got an email from Patti stating that Axel was sore again and lumpy. He's always been lumpy from what I can tell so I wasn't too concerned. Last night he was still a bit sore but in retrospect I think he was stiff from not moving. And he was lumpy or his existing lumps were swollen. I cold hosed his foot for awhile to see if I could get the swelling down any. Axel enjoyed a snack in the lawn while holding his left rear foot high in the air to try and avoid the hose. When I was done he actually walked pretty well. I chose not to ride him and we're giving him 1g of bute for the next week to try and get the swelling down. Hopefully he'll be back to himself next week (and hopefully the beans will be out of the field so we can go for a canter).

Much to Cody's dismay I chose to ride him. I don't think Andrea has been out to ride in a while so I think he thinks he's on vacation. I decided I wasn't ready for a fight on the road if he was feeling ornery and I wasn't in the mood to mount and dismount a million times to move manure since one nasty neighbor has decided that manure doesn't belong on country dirt roads. So we went down the back hill instead. I mounted at the middle of the hill by the first stretchy gate. We got to where the trees start on the sandy part of the hill and began our circles. Cody didn't want to go in my direction and I didn't want to go back to the barn. After several circles and a couple failed attempts to go down the other hill we finally made it down to the bridge (all in the rope hackamore). We crossed the bridge and only had to do one or two circles on that side to get the right momentum to go up the hill. We trotted part way up the hill and then walked the rest. We had what was supposed to be a trot but turned into a canter in the meadow on the top of the hill. He wasn't totally with me as far as downward transitions up there so we did another loop and tried again and got a nice trot.

We did a few more various loops around that area and worked on "stand" near the hill to go home. That might have been a futile lesson. Down the hill went fine, crossed the bridge, went in the other direction back to the barn. But as soon as we got to the first part of the hill between the trees there was no walking to be had. We did one circle but it didn't really make a difference, Cody was in his "you think I'm walking but really it's a trot" gait. When we got to the last stretch of hill and he still wouldn't walk I thought "fine we'll trot up and then turn around and do it over and over until he walks." Well he thought "I'll canter gallop and buck and maybe she'll get off." (First time he's ever bucked with me on I might add). I did get off, and we did more circles at the top of the hill and changed directions over and over. Then we walked back down the hill where I remounted (shoulda done it at the top I suppose) and then we walked back up the hill.

At that point I decided the barn needed to be not such a nice place so we went out to the side pasture next to the barn and next to the rest of the herd and we rode out there. We trotted for a while, did some serpentines at the walk, tried at the trot but it was a little spastic. We even had some slightly faster than collected canters (no bucking). One of the canters he might have been disuniting which we noticed on the lunge last time so I stopped that. I dismounted away from the barn, led him around for a while to cool off, loosened his girth away from the barn, did some backing up through two bushes, and finally brought him back to the barn.

Will any of that stick? Probably not, but oh well. He was pretty good in the rope hack. He's very responsive to neck reining just also very stubborn to get back to the barn in the process. I don't think the ride would have been any better (or worse) with a bit and I don't think he would have listened to me any more with a bit. I think maybe the benefit of the rope hack with Cody is that now he doesn't have that bit or shank to pay attention to or try to eat constantly. So I'm hoping now he will listen to his rider more. Wishful thinking right?

A Good Ride

After Sunday's wet trail ride we had left all the blankets and whatnot laying around the barn to dry. So when I got there last night I got everything put away and discovered that some of the lead ropes were still wet and my grooming box was still damp and had water in the bottom of it.

The horses have decided to see if they can find any grass in the one clump of trees in the pasture. The clump of trees that is not cleared out at all. So when I went to fetch Axel, he along with part of Kalani, Papillon, and Daley were hiding in the trees. That's the first time I've seen anyone in there, it's pretty thick and hard to get around. It was reported that the horses were quite cranky yesterday after the trail ride on Sunday but Axel seemed to be in an acceptable mood and followed me willingly back to the barn. No one else followed us though.

After I groomed Axel and scratched some of his bug bites we went out in the yard where he helped mow the lawn while I cleaned out my grooming box. He was not pleased when I was done and wanted him to go back into the barn. I finally got around to switching back to my regular dressage blanket instead of the nice white one and I re-situated the therapy pad under the saddle so everything is all ship shape now. Axel has apparently grown into his dressage bridle. Originally we thought it was way too small but now it seems to fit alright. I doubt it would fit with the flash but I haven't found any reason to use a flash so it's probably lost in my tack trunk anyway.

When we got out to the pasture to school Steph arrived to work on some lunging with Kalani in the same pasture. I let Axel have several slow paced warm up laps at the walk. I worked on not nagging him so much if he was going in the right direction. He was tending towards the gate though so our mosey had to come to an end. We had our usual disjointed and random trotting. The pasture is just enough bumpy that Axel can't keep a good steady pace and kind of stumbles all over instead of trotting nicely. After a bit of that I asked for a canter on a long stretch. Axel gave me the canter, didn't protest and it went quite nicely. I asked for a canter a second time. This time I was pretty sure I even got the other lead (albeit the wrong one). Because I wasn't totally sure I asked one more time, I got the left lead in the correct direction. I switched directions, asked again, this time I got the right lead. Yipee! I just about flew off his back when dismounting. Two canters on each lead with no bucking or putting his head between his legs, that's a winner in my book. So Axel got un-tacked and left to graze right then and there.

Steph was still working Kalani who was doing a fabulous Saddlebred interpretation with his tail so I got Cody out to do a little ground work. I don't think we've done anything since Andrea started riding. He was a little wound up about it and not terribly calm. He also was having issues going to the left. Speeding around and when I asked for a canter he'd disunite after the first stride. He was looking slightly off so I think part of it was just sore from the trail ride and getting reshod the day before. Once he gave me a real canter we stopped that and worked on just a little bit of backing up and standing still. And then he got to graze a bit too.

A lot of luck

It is a great surprise that I don't hurt more than I do today. Last night's ride was quite the interesting one. It started out innocent enough. I brought in Axel and Kalani after watching them run up the hill to the barn. Axel has some how gotten himself a weird scab under his chest right where those two muscles line up to a "V" right behind the girth. Presumably he scraped himself with his foot getting up from laying down. In any case it apparently really itches and he really enjoyed me rubbing on it.

Tricia brought Oly over and we decided, since it's getting dark at 8pm now, going to the trail would be more hassle than it's worth. We tacked everyone up, did our best to get past the rest of the heard with Oly, and went down the back hill to ride in the meadow. Steph wanted to school Kalani at the canter and Axel needed a bit of that as well. The circle we ended up making was a little less than ideal, there was a pile of branches we had to jump over with each circle. It wasn't really big enough to have to jump but Axel must have thought that was good fun. More than once we jumped it and cantered out of it. He actually offered up the canter himself quite a few times. I still have a hard time riding his trot in a field like that, I never know where his feet are going (nor does he) and his strides are all uneven and bumpy but we managed alright. I think Steph even got at least one canter out of Kalani after a series of his cow kicking.

As we were schooling on top the hill Patti showed up on Daley for a ride so we decided to follow her through the woods and whatnot. She took the short cut down the hill and was going to go up the big hill. She asked what we wanted to do and everyone thought cantering was fine. Axel has been know to buck up that hill this year so supposedly I was ready for it. Well he bucked, and bucked, and bucked. And usually he gets tired and stops midway through the hill. Right about the time I expected him to get tired, I lost my stirrup and my balance and started falling forward. He kept going and I ended up staying on but had a huge pile of mane in my hand by the time I regained control. How I stayed on I'm not quite sure. I recall yelling, "I'm good I'm good" as I probably looked like I was about to end up on the ground.

After that portion of the ride Oly started acting the fool trying to scratch on the trees (turned out he had an itch under his saddle). He ended up acting like an idiot until we got back down across the bridge. Prior to that we went for a canter in the meadow on the straightaway. I figured after the hill bucking I needed to get some sort of good canter out of Axel. Daley lead and Axel followed close behind and it was a really nice calm canter. Right as I was pulling Axel up beside Daley so we could stop before the ground dipped, Daley spooked and jumped sideways towards us so Axel jumped sideways as well, he kept cantering and almost lost me a second time. Patti and I both managed to stay on even after loosing our stirrups and probably looking quite ridiculous. Steph lost her sunglasses while cantering and Oly tried to jump over them. So all in all it was probably quite the site. I decided that after 2 saves like that my luck may have run out and I needed to head back to the barn just in case.

After removing Oly's saddle twice on the way back down he finally started acting like a normal horse, we still aren't sure what his deal was there was nothing on him but he apparently itched like mad. I decided we needed one more canter up the sand hill so Axel cantered up, really well I might add and then Steph and Kalani followed. Tricia and Patti went around the opposite way and we met up at the middle of the hill. So 2 almost falls, 1 horrible bucking fit, and 2 good canters. We're hoping the trail ride on Sunday goes a lot better.

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.

Finally a trail ride/Ouch

We finally made it down to the MN Valley trail near the barn. Nathan had fixed the trailer brakes so Tricia was able to use the trailer and bring Oly and Cinder (Dusty/Dirt had thrown a shoe). So she and Lexi came down and picked up Axel and the three of us went to the trail. Lexi and I hung out with the horses while Tricia took the trailer back to get Kalani and Cody. 4 horse trailer and 5 horses doesn't work out quite so good so we made 2 trips. Luckily the trail is only 5 miles from the barn.

From the sounds of it Cody loaded really well. It looked like he unloaded just about as good. Just a minor increase in speed right at the end of the trailer but nothing major. He started out on the trail pretty calm. Got worked up a little ways in but as soon as he was in front of the pack he was once again calm as could be.

Axel was moving out a little more than normal, still slow but he did his best. It wasn't until we started cantering where I ran into trouble. The first short canter Axel plunged his head down between his front legs. I was able to pull him up and push him forward but it wasn't the best ride ever. Later on in the ride everyone decided to do another canter, this time they just kept going a lot further than I was prepared to sit. Axel continued to canter with his head between his front legs and no amount of me yanking on one rein would get his head up and I wasn't in the best position to force him forward more. I did my best but it was not pretty and I am pretty sure he was disjointed on top of it all. The third time I said "no thanks" no cantering for us. So somehow in everyone else's mind cantering away from Axel and I was a good plan. Axel proceeded to have a fit. I tried to get him to just walk or trot behind them but that turned into our spastic head between the legs canter again. This time I could not pull him up at all. The reins on my dressage bridle are so short I only had one had on the reins and I was fighting with all my might to either pull him up or push him forward but I was not winning the battle. When Axel finally gave in I got off to wait. He proceeded to call to them and run around me in a circle freaking out. To say the least it was not fun.

The return trip Axel would even throw his head down in a small trot. Punishment for that was circling. I think I only had to circle two times before he stopped with the head deal. Then he decided that Oly and Cinder and even Kalani were evil beings and if they got within 10 feet or so behind him he'd try and kick at them. Cinder actually got Axel moving out quite a bit for most of the ride. When that finally wore off he was still pretty fiesty. We had some interesting "collected" trots and even popped over a log.

We'll just say I've had better rides. There are not many parts of my body that don't hurt today. We decided to load our three horses first this time so Cinder and Oly didn't have to load and unload. So Cody went first, he needed a minor amount of convincing but got in pretty effortlessly. Axel jumped right in as usual. And Kalani just needed a little coaxing as well. The unloading was a bit different. In all reality it didn't go that poorly it just sounded like it. When we pulled up Cody turned on the volume and the welcoming committee and he traded cries as loud as possible. When he finally shut up Axel decided he had enough of the trailer and started shifting his weight back and forth squishing Cody in the process. Andrea was able to back Cody partway until Axel squished her against the wall and stepped on her foot. Cody flung his head up in the air and hit it on the trailer roof. Believe it or not, he then proceeded to back calmly the rest of the way out of the trailer. Axel can't figure out the backing deal so he walked out forwards but calmly and in control.

I just hope Axel is a little better behaved for Steph's dad on the WCR Trail Ride Fund Raiser. He should be fine, Steph's dad usually just walks and he's a horseman so he should be able to put the fear of god in the horse if he misbehaves. We're still not sure what other horses we'll have. With Kalani and Kiko for sale and Andrea maybe riding Cody, who knows. She can maybe ride Papillon if needbe. Time will tell. I ordered mecate reins partly for the trail ride as I don't have any long western reins any more and eventually I'd like to try Cody in a bosal. I might start with just the rope halter and mecate reins and see how that goes before I buy a bosal.