Since we went to our first Buck clinic, I’ve been working hard to change the way I ride in any number of ways. The biggest is to do with my legs. Before Buck, I thought I used my legs, but really, I didn’t. I hadn’t been that great at using my legs before Steen, but… Read more »
Horse Thoughts
And the Heat Hits
It’s been a hot week, with heat index readings into the range where they recommend you be careful with your horses. The nights haven’t been cooling off, which means they don’t have a chance to recover from the brutal days. We’ve been taking it easy. Saturday It was Duke Day, and all our horses were… Read more »
July is Kind (So Far)
Usually July in Iowa is not all that great. It tends to be hot, humid, and buggy. Not my favorite combo. This July has been much better than usual. We’ve had a lot of mild days. We’ve been getting out on the horses a lot. And as far as the blogging in concerned, that’s part… Read more »
Photo Dump!
So having four horses has been interesting. We’re learning tons and getting a lot of ride time in. The only thing that is suffering is my blogging. When you are almost always having two rides each day, it makes it hard to come home and formulate your thoughts. So here are some highlights. Bear… Read more »
June Recap
Well, so June happened. So far this summer, we’ve been riding a lot. In May my total was over 28 hours. I’ve never ridden that much in a month before. At least, not since I’ve been keeping track. And honestly probably not since before I was keeping track, either. June has been not quite as… Read more »
A Snaffle and a Rope
One of my long-term horsemanship goals is to get handy with a rope. This is partly because I think it would be neat to work with cattle in the future, but also because using a rope adds a whole extra level of sophistication to your riding. When I watch riders who not only have perfect… Read more »
Doing What It Takes
We stopped at the barn on the way to Chicago today. It was still soggy, still overgrown. So we rode inside. But we had the place to ourselves. That makes a big difference. I rode Laredo. I started off with some groundwork with the flag. Brian and I have both been trying very hard lately… Read more »
A Quiet End to a Busy Month
It was quite the May. Between getting Zoey and a lot of pretty sub-par weather, the last few weeks have had their ups and downs. Today we arrived at the barn thinking we’d have a nice ride on Steen and Bear. The ground was still soggy and a lot of the places we usually ride… Read more »
Close Quarters
We arrived at the barn today to find a truck and trailer parked in the center of the indoor arena, a lesson taking place around it, and the ground too soggy for riding outdoors. Not ideal conditions, to say the least… But there was nothing to do but make the best of it. We brought… Read more »
Spurs on Steen
We had more storms today, so were stuck inside again. We brought Bear and Steen in, thinking we’d have a nice, relaxing ride. But these storms have been cool, and the horses get pretty tense in this kind of weather. Both of them were a tad ansty while we were getting them ready. I have… Read more »