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.

No Clever Title Today

Axel first tonight. He snoozed in the crossties while I groomed and tacked. Right as we were finishing up one of the hunter girls came into ride also. So Axel got a little more experience working with the distraction of another horse in the arena. He was fairly well behaved and didn't try and kick the other horse though we didn't get in each other's way at all so he probably didn't have an opportunity. Some walking, trotting, no real cantering just the "I'm not going to trot" canter. We did a little ground work to round out the evening.

Cody was second and he was pretty stressed out in the crossties but he calmed down in the arena even working on ground tying. I left the chiropractor a message so hopefully I can get that scheduled soon. Once the saddle and bridle were on Cody turned into lead and would not move for me. I managed to get him to the block and get on and he moved fine under saddle but I can tell he's no comfortable with the whole situation. I should probably stop riding him til he can get adjusted (he'll appreciate that for sure). We walked for a while with no reins and then trotted for a while, just a nice little trot. No cantering tonight. We did some minor work on the turns and some trot to halt. Our backing up is still really sluggish and reluctant. I got off and tried to ground tie and walk away but he wasn't too happy to face away from the gate while I went out of his sight, he did alright though, he tried. I backed him to the gate but like I said he's really reluctant so it too quite some escalation to get him to move, even then it was slow.

Cody couldn't see Axel in the pasture when we were done, he was behind the lean-to, and he just about made me deaf screaming in my ear trying to find Axel. Wow do I wish the herdbound thing would go away. I keep thinking all the times I take a horse away and bring him back would start to teach Cody that it's not the end of the world but so far no luck.

Holy Wind, Batman

I didn't realize quite how windy it was until I got on the horse. Groomed Cody outside, tacked him up, added a second thin saddle blanket to his outfit, threw on his hoof boots, and we headed down the driveway. Cody was very indecisive and really wanted to be back at the barn but we plugged along. We made it down the one side of the road in the ditch and crossed over to the other side to go a little further. In addition to the wavering he also spent a lot of time trying to back up. Which just proves that he can back up a lot easier then the lets me think when I ask for it. Luckily he's pretty reluctant to really spazz out so a swift kick to the sides snaps him out of his reverse gear. I'm hoping that he figures out how much nicer it is to just go forward when I want than to fight the whole way. When he was moving forward decently we turned around and went back.

The first few yards he brought out his 2 beat walk, tried a little trot, and then settled in. He sped up again when a car whizzed by us, it was so windy you couldn't hear the cars til they were right up your rear end. About 2 blocks from the barn Cody settled in and walked at a pace slightly faster than on the way out. We went past the driveway, turned around, and then went back to the barn.

I just groomed Axel a bit, still trying to get off some of the red winter hair but it's not all gone yet. He was nice and shiny until I started brushing and that just brought all the dust to the top. Whoops. I managed to get Axel to do some leg stretches which I plan to try and do every time I'm out there. I lunged him a little in the pasture just to get him to move a bit before turning him out and heading home.

Spinning in Circles

Axel was first tonight. I put a training surcingle and a bridle on him and got out my new ropes. They are little heavy and that in combination with Axel forgetting what long lining was about made for some awkward driving. I wanted to start with regular long lining/lunging with the long lines but Axel was mighty confused about the situation. We drove a little, he fought with the bit and the lines and assumed an extreme rollkur position with his head. I wasn't pulling on the reins he was doing it all to himself so I just let him work through it, the side effect was that he was still stepping pretty well under himself and stretching through his neck to the poll. So I guess in the end some good will come out of it. We were finally able to trot around in a circle to the right. He did not like going to the left and would cut the circle short and then face me and get confused as to where to go. We'll definitely have to work on that more. He broke in the canter a few times and then startled himself when he'd hit the end of the lines in his mouth. I had him lunge a few times around without the surcingle and bit and just a single line so he could stretch out a bit and get into a canter. After the pseudo collected work he went into the canter really easily comparatively.

The shining point was when I was about to be done I decided to see where we could get with learning how to bow. I had no treats but I figured I'd give it a go anyway. The best I can figure is that it has to be done in parts. I was able to get his head down just by a bit of pressure on the halter. He'd keep his head down (probably just smelling the ground) so I picked up his front foot. I asked him to keep his head down and I pulled back a bit on his front foot. After a few seconds of encouragement he leaned back just enough that his lifted leg touched the ground and I let him up and rewarded him with scratches and praise. We did the same process a second time with the same results so I stopped there. Hopefully if we go gradual like that when he really puts weight on that knee he won't freak himself out. I'm not certain he can really stretch down physically like that but it's worth a try. I should probably teach him on both sides, it's a good stretch.

Cody was freaking out in the pasture while I had Axel in the barn. The other boarder had Danny in the arena at this time so Cody was pretty happy to work in there. He was very unresponsive when asked to circle so when she took Danny out to groom and saddle I started some work I saw at the Stacy Westfall demo. I wanted to be able to bend Cody's neck around and have him stand still while I asked for the bend. When I asked for the bend he'd spin or more commonly he'd back up. So we spun and backed up and spun and backed up over and over again. Ran into the wall, moved back to where there was room, rinse and repeat. I was ready to give up, he just wasn't getting what I wanted and I didn't think he was going to get it. But just as I thought we were going to be done he started to pause his spinning when I bent. So I kept it up and finally he understood. Danny was in the arena now and I think that might have helped as he was a bit calmer with life but I kept it up and I was able to bend him in both directions without him moving his feet. I tried some turns on the forehand after that but he's a bit sticky with that now because of the bending so we'll have to work on both so he can tell the difference. We spent a little time standing still while I chatted with the other boarder and he did pretty good with that.

I have to go over my notes a bit more and make sure I'm keeping up with what needs to be done to teach him to whoa and mean it. I did make sure that after I asked for a whoa I didn't move him forward but turned him instead. Axel screamed a little bit while we were in the barn but he quieted down a lot quicker than Cody did. I really should keep going out there as much as I can even if it's just to walk each horse into the barn for a few minutes while the other one learns that he won't be alone forever.

Keep Trying

It was a better day than yesterday but I still think Cody and Axel should be with a herd. In any case both horses were standing randomly in the pasture snoozing. I grabbed Axel first and groomed at the hitching rail. My thought was that we'd sort of be out of Cody's line of sight but he could see us if he needed to. I thought that would ease him into us being in the arena. He wasn't terribly concerned with our absence. He called a few times but it seemed to be directed towards the other horses and not Axel. Axel was being kind of a pain while tied, he kept chewing on the rope and I couldn't figure out if he was just chewing or if he was actually cribbing. I'm hoping he was just trying to untie himself.

We went into the barn and I tacked him in the crossties where he stood fairly decent. Seems like he starts flinging his head when I put the saddle on him. I just put the western saddle on out of laziness. We did the basic walk and trot. His trot was just okay. He wanted to stop a lot so I tried to just keep him moving. He greatly dislikes me posting on the left diagonal and almost always stops. We had a few rounds with him in a long and low position which was nice. He was shuffling quite a bit for most of our trotting, I couldn't quite get him to pick up his feet. When I asked for more go he'd try to canter for a stride and then back to his trot. I did ask for the canter a few times but only got a few lazy strides, no bucking tonight though. We tried a few turn on the forehand which I think went better than the first time, it felt like he was swinging his rear end around at least for a step. I hadn't set up the camera so I'll just have to keep working until I can see what he's really doing.

When I dismounted I let him roll in the arena and then I put down the fake bridge so he could work on backing off a step. He stepped up easily and even stood there with all four feet waiting for the next request. I asked him to back off and he did what he usual does, took one step off and hopped right back up. I kept urging him on until he finally stepped all the way off. We worked on that a few times. One attempt he had just the tip of his back toes on the bridge balancing there while I did my best to encourage him to step down. He did alright overall but he seems pretty hesitant to step off going backwards. We'll keep working on it. It's almost as if he doesn't bend his knees to get off the bridge both forwards and backwards. He just kind of falls off instead of stepping.

Cody seemed almost okay with being left alone. I heard him calling a few times but he didn't seem as frantic as Axel was the day prior, but it was windy and the radio was on so I couldn't completely hear while in the arena. I tied Cody in the arena and brushed him quickly and tacked him up. He's the only horse I know that can pace while tied to a wall. I was lazy and just used the rope halter instead of a bridle. After this ride we'll be switching to the bit. He was preoccupied with the entrance as usual. We did some circles in the corners in both directions. I like riding Cody at the walk he actually moves. We trotted a bit. Cody speeds up quite a bit when I post. I asked for a canter as well, it took quite a bit of encouraging to get him into it and he pretty much ran into it. Things were kind of getting a little out of control. He wanted to run to the gate and wasn't listening at all so we went back to trotting in circles until he started listening again. I dismounted, untacked in the furthest corner, and lead him back to the gate without a leadline practicing some halts and backing in the process. We spent a few minutes on turn on the forehand and haunches and some sidepassing before backing out of the barn and going back to the pasture. Axel seemed like he was a little calmer than the day before but he was a little concerned. When I put Cody back I took him to the furthest corner to let him go. Today he actually stood there while I walked away from him instead of running off. Of course he started pacing after I left the pasture. They'll both get some time off as I'm booked the rest of the week and the horse expo is all weekend.

Two Herd Bound Horses

I get to the barn tonight and Cody and Axel are in the front pasture by themselves. They're grazing a bit and are pretty calm and not concerned with the other horses in the back pasture. I was early enough that no one else was around, I had forgotten that the hunter girls ride on Monday. I was going to see if I could at least get some grooming done before they got there so Cody and I went into the barn. Cody slipped on the aisle floor because his feet were muddy and that scared him. I was going to crosstie him but he was pretty worked up so I just tied him to one while I grabbed my grooming bag. Actually by that time he had calmed down but I decided to go into the arena with him to do a little groundwork before grooming. While we were in there I could here some really weird noises coming from outside. At first I thought it was from the mares next to the arena but I realized it was Axel. I let Cody go so I could check and make sure Axel wasn't going to knock down a fence or anything. He was in the pasture running around as fast as he could. Unfortunately my video taping did not work out how I had planned so I only ended up with one sort of usable video.

So now I'm thinking "great they move my horses and now I have to deal with two herd bound horses." I brought Cody outside, luckily Axel had taken a break from his heart attack so I wasn't rewarding his behavior. I put Cody on the hitching rail and groomed him out there.

The hunter girls arrived and took their horses out of the pastures. The horses that had been in the front pasture were now in with the grays and Danny. When the girl took her mare out those horses started having a fit. Then Diva the arab mare was having a fit because her pasture mate was in the arena as well. Then Axel was having a fit. And Cody was calling. It was really great, I was getting quite frustrated. When I was done grooming Cody I started walking him back and forth within sight and out of sight of Axel to try and bore Axel of the whole ordeal. The barn owner came out and mentioned that Cody was doing so well. I pointed out that I now had two herd bound horse. Her response was that "they'll get over it." I agree, they will get over it, I want them to get over it so I can have my horses back and maybe have them a little more able to go out alone or stay alone in the pasture. But I wish the "they'll get over it" attitude applied when my horses were having issues in the herd. Instead they just pulled them out of that herd and put them alone to leave me to deal with not being able to handle either of my horses due to herd bound-ness. Ug. Anyway I'll give them the benefit of the doubt for now because all the horses were worked up, it was cold, the wind was blowing like mad, and everyone was running around. We'll reassess when things calm down in general.

Axel had started to calm down quite a bit so I put Cody back in the pasture and took Axel out. At least Axel is calm when he's with even just another person. Cody isn't. Axel stood at the hitching rail while I groomed. He's started shedding again so I was covered in hair by the time I was done. Since it was so windy I cleaned out my grooming bag as well, it was full of hair. I put Axel back and sort of hoped they'd all run around again but they just went on their way grazing.

TGIF

Friday I went out to the barn for a quick check on the boys since I was out of town all weekend. They were still separated (and I assume they'll stay that way :( ) but it seemed like Cody was starting to calm down about the situation. Though it's hard to tell since the other group of horses was up by the feeder. The barn owner thought he had stopped pacing but we'll see.

I grabbed Cody and we went into the arena to work for a little while before I had to head out. We did some circling and backing and worked on some of the turn on the haunches and forehand and even some sidepassing. He wasn't totally understanding the sidepassing but that was because he was a lot calmer and didn't have quite as much "forward" as he had this past week when he was sidepassing up a storm. But I'm glad we started working on it because I think he retain a little of what I want and we'll just keep working. I'm wondering how to transfer that to under saddle. We didn't work for too long because he was doing so good and was so calm. I let him (I think - that was three days ago) off lead for a while and asked him to canter a bit in both directions. He was disuniting for a while but worked out of it.

When we were finished we stood outside for a few minutes chatting with the barn owner and Cody was very patient standing there. I didn't take him down to the same corner of the paddock since I wasn't wearing my boots but we still went to the opposite corner and I let him go there. This time he stood pretty well for me to take off his halter, he did promptly go to see who was at the fence but didn't completely blow me off like he usually does. We'll see how he's doing this week.