We Lost Reverse

Out to the barn again to ride with another boarder and possibly the barn owner. I checked out Axel to make sure he was feeling okay after the previous days ride. He decided to trot away from me in the pasture so I took that as a good sign that he was just fine. The one hunter girl was jut finishing up as I groomed Cody. No one else had arrived yet so I did a bit of ground work in the arena while we waited. If no one was going to show up I was going to let Cody have the night off so I didn't tack right away. The other boarder showed up after a bit and we tacked our horses. The barn owner wasn't going to be back in time so we decided on just a quick ride down the road and back.

Cody was slow and reluctant and we had a hard time keeping up with Danny, we had to trot a lot. When we finally got down the block and turned he was a little easier to get into the trot. Eventually that turned into a canter and Danny was gaiting next to us as fast as possible. Eventually he broke into a canter as well. It was a pretty good ride. Cody's canter was pretty big and a little on the out-of-control let's-run-home side of life but he transitioned down pretty easily. He was a little more energetic on the way home, trotting a bit, we had a few minor arguments on if we were going to walk or not but for the most part it was a nice ride back.

Instead of going past the driveway we went right to work on backing up down the driveway. Cody had other ideas. I thought we had backed up enough steps the time before that he'd figure it out, he's usually pretty quick to pick up those things. But he was not playing my game. He'd take just a few hesitant half steps, not enough for me to even stop early. At that point all I wanted was some good purposeful steps backwards and we'd stop since I wasn't going to get him all the way down the driveway. Instead I'd get one tiny shift backwards, head tossing, yawning, and only forward movement. The best I could do was when he wouldn't go backwards we went down the road again. The side effect was that he was much happier leaving the barn than backing home at that point. I even tried using a whip as an extra appendage to tap his chest. I was trying to translate our ground work to saddle but it just wasn't happening. Unfortunately I was getting a lot of head tossing to the point where I'm a little concerned and don't want to make it a new habit. I finally got off after a few sort of okay but crooked steps back. I was able to get him to back a bunch of steps then from the ground. Sometimes that horse makes me wonder. Back to the drawing board on our backing up under saddle I guess.

No More Circles

We finally broke out of the arena and went for a ride down the road with another boarder. I was early so I was going to groom and lunge and do some stuff with Axel but he had other ideas. I nearly had to carry him across the driveway to the barn, he was slow and sort of lame but I couldn't figure out what was hurting him. I groomed him and then took him into the arena to evaluate what was wrong with him. Actually in the arena he wasn't really lame. He walked on the lunge line and didn't seem lame. He might have been a tiny bit off on one of his front legs but I couldn't pick it out. I only asked him to trot once, he pitched his usual fit and then trotted on as sound as he usually is. So I thought maybe he's not feeling well, of course if he wasn't feeling well it had nothing to do with his appetite. He was more than willing to pig out on the grass. So who knows what is up with him. Probably just sore after his little stunt on Sunday. We'll see how he is tomorrow.

So my little plan to not ride Cody isn't working out too well. We did a bit of ground work first and then went to groom. The ride out away from the barn was painfully slow. When we got to the first turn we trotted quite a ways and that seemed to snap Cody out of his barn sour funk. Of course the trip back was much faster, less fighting, and generally just a better ride. We passed the driveway on the way home and then my next plan was to back down the driveway. We only manged to get a little ways but at that point we had been sitting at the bottom of the drive fighting. He backed a little then would refuse. Finally I got a good 4-5 steps backwards so I called that good. We'll keep working on it, I think he'll get it after a while. Especially when he realizes backing down the driveway means we're done and we're home.

Axel's Turn

Luckily when I got out to the barn tonight the one hunter girl was just finishing up her ride. I groomed Axel in the crossties while she finished riding. She had some of the big barn doors open so it was pretty nice in the arena. I had been debating between going down the road and riding inside. Since it was seemingly deserted I decided to ride in the arena and do some video taping. I wanted to see if I could get Axel's new found canter departure on film.

Cody decided to have a complete fit while we were in the barn. He's been fairly okay lately but tonight he decided it was the end of the world that he was alone. I lunged Axel a bit, he was good at the trot but had some issues with the canter particularly to the left (I think). Lots of random bucking.

When I mounted we had an okay walk for a while. The trot was also just okay. He offered a couple canters instead of the trot probably just from his leg hurting. It took some work to keep him at a trot. I only asked for the canter a few times but when he offered it I tried to keep him going. That's what is going to kill me tomorrow. I already worked on a bit of trot on Wednesday and am sore from that. Heh oh well.

The barn owner came in to work with one of her horses so while she groomed and tacked Axel and I cooled off by working on square corners and some small circles to try and get to some turns on the haunches and forehand. I should spend more time working on that stuff with Axel since trotting and cantering isn't really our forte. Which means a lot more work on the ground. He's kind of frustrating because he doesn't pick up on that stuff as fast as Cody does. We'd still be spinning in circles if I was trying to get him to bend like Cody does.

Working on the Road

I just went for a quick ride tonight with Cody. Picked up a few things at Fleet Farm on my way. One of which was a thin felt underpad. In the end I want to use it under Axel's yellow blanket but until Cody puts on a bit more weight I'm using it to double up on his pads. I groomed and tacked him up outside and we were off (slowly) down the road. I will be very interested to see if our trips away from the barn will speed up at all after he gets his back done by the chiropractor. Last time it made a world of difference. We only made it a little way down the road. Cody won't walk straight he weaves back and forth so he can try and keep an eye back on the barn/pasture. When I was finally able to get him to walk straight for more than a couple steps that's when we turned around for home. I wanted to make him "work" on the way home but the road is really busy so it's kind of difficult. We did do some circles, we turned around and walked away again, and we passed by the drive way. We also did some trotting in front of the barn and I was going to work on backing up since he did so good the day prior but it didn't really happen. I had bought a fly mask at Fleet Farm that was supposed to cover his nose and help it not get sunburnt but it wasn't even close to covering his nose. So I guess I have to order a Cashel fly mask.

Lots of Riding

Cody went first tonight. I groomed outside and I'm glad I did, the hair was flying. Luckily both horses are starting to get a bit shiny so maybe there is a light at the end of the tunnel. Cody and I started with some of the bending exercises from the previous day. It only took a few spins before he remembered what I wanted. We did a few circles as well and then I tacked up to ride. I was going to try some circling techniques from the Stacy Westfall demo. The point was to keep a bend using the inside rein, keep traveling in the circle, and then work on widening the circle with the outside rein. He's supposed to gain some balance in his movements and then we're supposed to work into a figure 8 where half the 8 is counter bent. We didn't make it to the figure 8 but he did pretty well with trotting in the circle. I worked on some of the bending from in the saddle as well and that took a few more spins than on the ground. I asked for some canter as well. He took several tries to get into the right lead canter and picked up the wrong lead a few times until I counter bent him in a corner. The left lead canter he picked up on the first try but wasn't terribly excited to maintain it for any length of time. We had a few good downward transitions from trot to halt or walk. We even had some fairly decent halts. I need to add more backing up to our halts but I did make sure I never asked him to move forward out of the halt, we only changed directions. He's definitely started to figure out that when I'm going to dismount I want him facing away from the gate in the opposite end of the arena and that I do not want him to try and turn around to look at the gate. The nice thing about Cody is that with consistent work a person can really see his improvements.

Axel only had some minor screaming bouts while we were in the arena. When I took Axel out of the pasture and groomed him at the rail, Cody ran around a bit and made fuss. I took Axel in the arena and we did some lunging before working on the bow. The bow work didn't go quite as well as yesterday but I think it's a slow process. I was huffing and puffing by the end of our session. I picked up his foot and lowered his head over and over again. Every once in a while I'd tempt him with a treat. One instance he bit my finger which still hurts, my own fault but dang. That will just help me not use treats very often for this trick. One time he touched his knee to the ground and I patted him and praised him. Another time he had his head all the way upside down nearly touching the ground so he got praise for that one as well. Of course I tried to video tape both the bow work and riding Cody but my aiming skills are less than stellar so it's back to the drawing board on that one. I'll see what I can piece together and add them later.

The lady that owns Danny came in right as we were finishing so I asked if she wanted to ride down the road. I tacked up and she and I went down the road and then up the next block. She thought the total trip was about 4 miles. The brown western saddle is a lot harder than my butt tends to like. Axel did pretty good and kept up with Danny and I don't think Danny was being held back at all. He didn't even try to kick him until the end of the ride but he was also stomping his foot spontaneously which we later found out was due to a stone stuck in his frog. Cody was having a minor fit when we left and one when we returned but I suppose he just kept up with the fit while we were gone we just couldn't hear him. I think he's at least changed his fits from pacing and screaming to just standing and screaming so he wasn't sweaty at all when we got back.

I will probably run out tomorrow again for a few minutes and just do some groundwork to give each horse a chance to get out of the pasture away from the other horse. I still hope that they will eventually figure out that it isn't the end of the world when one of them leaves.

Not Good News

So far it's not looking good for Cody and his chances to rejoin the herd. Or Axel for that matter. Apparently the reason Axel was in with Cody is because Axel insists on chasing everyone during meals which not only means none of the other horses get to eat but it also means it's difficult for the barn owners to give him his supplement because he keeps walking off. So I chatted with Jason for a while and right now his plan is to move Cody and Axel to the front pasture when the two horses that live there leave at the end of the month. He figured eventually Cody will give up and stop pacing. But if he doesn't calm down soon I might have to look into some supplements for calming so he doesn't work himself sick worrying about the other horses.

Though Jason did say they would maybe try to put the horses together again or maybe put Danny back in with them and put the two grays up front instead. Really I just want Cody and Axel in with other horses so I can take one out and not have the one left behind have a heart attack, but that's selfish. In the end I just hope Cody calms down and maybe learns it's okay to be alone or almost alone.

I didn't have a lot of time so I just grabbed Cody and we went into the arena to work. Our circles were okay, nothing spectacular. Same with the turn on the haunches and forehand. We did manage to do some side-passing though in both directions. Thought each of our activities weren't great the overall work was really good. He didn't call to the other horses, he wasn't yawning, he was fairly responsive, and he seemed very calm about it - almost back to his usual self. We really have to work on our halt though. I ask for a halt and when I get it, he creeps forward. It seems like I'm always backing him up and he's just not getting it. I guess it's time to try something different. I took him to the furthest part of the paddock when we were done and tried to get him to stand still while I took his halter off, that's another thing we're working on - not running away as soon as we're done.

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.

Pacing

Axel is still in with Cody. The barn owners didn't seem to be around so I'm still assuming that's the reason. However, Cody has dug himself a nice 8-10" rut from pacing the fence (thus proving that having Axel in with him does not calm him down). They moved the feeder in the middle of his rut, either to block his path (which doesn't work, he just goes around) or to put the feeder near the feeder on the other side of the fence so the horses are sort of eating together.

I did some circling with Cody right in the paddock before I brought him out to groom. As is becoming more normal now, he was a complete fool while tied to the hitching rail (the hunter girls have their lesson on Mondays so the arena/parking lot/barn aisle are all occupied). I didn't groom long before I brought Cody back in the paddock with the intention to keep working him. Axel stays out of the way and just watches so it works out okay for everyone.

Cody and I worked on circling with him keeping an ear on me. He wasn't too great at this today since he was really concerned that those gray horses were way out in the pasture and he couldn't see them. We also worked on standing and looking at me. I tried to anticipate the moment that he couldn't stand there any more and move him before he chose to move. Every time he stood and looked at me for a few seconds without his attention drifting we'd walk back towards the other paddock where he wanted to go anyway. After all this work he did calm down a notch but all things are relative of course. It must have been almost dinner time because the gray horses decided to come back up to the fence and see what was going on. That made Cody very happy so we worked a few more minutes and then I let him go.

I groomed Axel at the hitching rail and he was solid as ever, just standing still and enjoying the scratches. I thought he would shed out more black than it seems he is. But he probably has a lot more shedding to do. He seems to be getting some white hairs on his forehead now as well. I don't think it'll be a full fledged star, I think it's just old age, I mean he is 16 after all!

Still Confined

Cody is still stuck in the middle paddock. But this time when I went out Axel was with him. My guess is that the barn owners were gone all day so they put Axel in with Cody to calm him down a bit since they wouldn't be around all day. Danny must have been out with his owner so it was just Amigo and Steele on one side of the fence and Cody and Axel on the other side. Though I have to say, Axel didn't seem to provide Cody with much comfort. When Amigo and Steele wandered away from the fence Cody called for them and paced the fence.

I took Cody out to the hitching rail and groomed him there but he was a basket-case about it. I decided to work him in the grass for a while out of sight of the other geldings. He wasn't great but we worked on some of the focus exercises and he'll come back to me but only for a moment before turning his attention to the herd. So continued work on that is on the list. I really want to keep working on this while he's so worked up, I know he'll settle down as soon as the herd dynamics are all figured out but every time something changes we're back to psycho horse.

I put Cody back and just groomed Axel a bit in the paddock and just kind of hung out for a while. There wasn't too much excitement. Cody and Steele sniffed under the fence a bit and Cody squealed at him. But that was about it.