Yesterday as we rode in off the trail with the sun shining, I was envisioning a wondrous three day weekend of double ride days. Instead we woke up this morning to thunder and heavy rain, not to mention unseasonably cool temps. We waited. The rain didn’t stop. We checked the radar. One storm rolled out… Read more »
Horse Thoughts
A Long Day in the Arena
It’s a three day weekend and we’re supposed to have huge storms every day. Today we woke up to sprinkles and sat around the house for many hours as it continued to rain. The crops need it, but I’d rather it came on my non-ride days. Eventually we saw the storm ending and went out… Read more »
Walking Out
I was a little tired this afternoon. Friday’s can get that way a lot. Especially if we’ve been getting to the barn a lot that week. But there was no question whether or not we’d go. It was absolutely gorgeous out. High 60s, sun, light wind. The only question was who to ride. I didn’t… Read more »
Cool, Sunny Trail Ride
In spite of having rather cushy work-weeks, Brian and I were both pretty tired heading out to the barn today. In the car, we chatted about what to do, and eventually agreed it would be nice to just take our two most solid ponies and hit the trail. We tacked up Steen and Bear, and… Read more »
Hightlights From Tuesday
On Tuesday Robin grabbed some not-highly-exciting-video of me working Bear when I was trying to keep things light and stay off his head as he’s still got a pretty big lump from being kicked in the neck and chest. We’ve been working on this for a lot of months now. I used to have to… Read more »
Zoey Gets a Trim
Zoey has been in need of a trim since we got her, but it took us until today to coordinate with the farrier. I had a meeting in Cedar Rapids in the afternoon, but my morning was quiet so I went out early to sneak in a ride before he arrived at 11:00. I rode… Read more »
Steady Laredo
Robin and I were both tired heading out to the barn. It was a cool and cloudy day; I’m sure that wasn’t helping. We did feel better once we got out there and grabbed our horses. It is funny how steady and even Laredo feels after working with Zoey. Not only have we known him… Read more »
The One Where I Don’t Fall Off
Today was Steen’s birthday. He turned 13. My gift to him was a day off, which translated into some quality alone time with the bale. I rode Zoey today. We started off trying to saddle at the hitching post. In my efforts to be graceful with this, I tied my offside stirrup up with my… Read more »
Body Position Really Matters
A few nights ago we watched Richard Caldwell’s Jaquima a Freno (part II). It was a really great video. So many of the exercises we have seen before, but it is always nice to hear how another great horseman lays everything out there. And like so many others, Caldwell rides like he grew right out… Read more »
A Ride on a Different Girl
Bear seems to be over his bug. So although he’s probably still struggling with the anemia, the vet suggested getting him back into some light riding would be good. So today we set out to ride all our horses, two each. I started on Laredo in the outdoor arena. We rode him there a lot… Read more »