We’ve been in a pretty good rhythm with the horses. Work’s been busy for me, so I haven’t been getting out a lot during the week, but we’ve been getting really great weekend rides. I’ve been focusing on Steen and Aiden. Aiden seems sound now, so I’ve been working on just getting into a good… Read more »
Horse Thoughts
Steen in the Two-Rein
It’s been a little while since I rode Steen in the two-rein, and I feel like I’ve addressed a lot of the weaknesses riding in it last brought to light for me. On Tuesdays, I have my lessons with my student, J. She’s been riding with me for close to a year now, but we’ve… Read more »
Getting to Know Aiden
Now that Brian and I have four horses again, we’re settling into a rhythm. We’ve divided our guys into ‘strings’ for the time being. I’m going to be working with Steen and Aiden for a chunk of time, while Brian is primarily in charge of Laredo and Oliver. I rode Aiden for the first time… Read more »
Farewell to Bear
It’s been hard to bring myself to write this post, so I have been putting it off. We recently came to a difficult decision. Bear has moved on to a new home. He is now in the hands of the good people at Miracles in Motion – the therapeutic riding program where I volunteered some… Read more »
A Slow Spring
It’s been a really busy 10 days or so. For the first week after draining Aiden’s abscess, we unwrapped, soaked, flushed, and rewrapped it every day. That was a lot, because it meant going to the barn every night, even if Brian and I both worked long days. Plus, this (naturally) coincided with Brian being… Read more »
Foxtails and an Abscess
It seems to be a pattern that we end up calling the vet shortly after getting a new horse. This time around is turned out to be no exception. As we mentioned, Aiden was a little off on the right hind when farrier saw him on Wednesday. We checked in with him on Thursday and… Read more »
The Trees and The Wind
On Friday, we had another nice day at the barn, except Steen was still showing symptoms that there might be foxtails in the hay again. I looked at the new bale they’d put out to replace the last one that had foxtails, and found it chalk full of the offending weed. I talked to the… Read more »
Sunny Days
Today we finally had some warm weather. Technically, we just barely made it into the 50s, but the sun was warm and the air was dry. It felt great. Aiden is getting some more time off to gain weight and heal his foot. Happily, he’s seeming really nicely settled into the herd now, and appears… Read more »
Feet and Tails
Yesterday, Aiden got the day off. When Brian rode him on Monday, he seemed fatigued, and also stamped his feet when the cinch came up. We’ve been riding these guys really light, but there’s no getting around the fact that neither one of them has worn a saddle for years. Brian did a light ride… Read more »
Getting to Know the New Guys
It’s been just over a week since we picked up Aiden and Oliver, and in that time we’ve worked with them quite a bit. I’ve spent most of that time with Oliver. He is the bigger horse, and when they arrived, he was also the pushier horse. As Robin’s side can still get flared up… Read more »