We had crazy winds here all morning but by late afternoon things had settled enough that we headed out to see how the boys were doing. Steen was a bit jumpy during tacking, but Bear was back in awesome mode. I gave Steen some chopped hay and we took our time grooming them in the sun. Then we headed to the strip.
One of our goals for the day was to get some photos, as we’ve been falling down on the photography lately. So, Brian gave me a leg up and I walked and jogged Steen around. At one point Cathi’s husband drove by and Steen was totally fine with this.
Although Steen was quiet today, he was a bit distracted. He was just a tad opinionated about our trajectory a couple of times, and kept wanting to pick up the jog unasked. So we actually did a fair bit of walking.
After taking quite a few shots of me riding, Brian hopped on Bear. They proceeded to have an absolutely fabulous ride. Bear was clearly just a tad tired from the start, and this translated into quite docile behavior. Brian trotted him quite a bit, and then did some more loping at the end for good measure. I got off before he did to snap the first shots of Brian loping a horse. Ever! (There is a better one on his post.)
We only rode for about half an hour, at which point we returned to the hitching post for another grooming session. Bear was happy to be doted on.
You can see how much less his belly sticks out to the sides and how much good muscle he’s put on lately. And they’re not even out in the big pasture yet!
Horseback hours YTD: 17:55
Thanks. 🙂 I feel I spend a disproportionate amount of time concerned about our horses' weight. Steen is a little too thin half the time; Bear has a tendency to look like he's going to drop a foal. Consistent exercise is the one thing that helps both of them. It's nice when life and weather cooperate and we can ride a lot.
Your guys are both looking pretty good. Mine are starting to look a bit round around the barrel. Guess that's what happens when you don't ride them enough. 🙂