One of the peculiarities about where we board is that (other than the indoor arena) there is nowhere that’s guaranteed to be available to ride in any given day. There are plenty of places you can usually ride, but between moving herds, changing seasons, farm equipment, and various other factors, if you want to ride outside… Read more »
Horse Thoughts
Steen the Accomplished
I was a little engrossed in my work today when Brian got home, and when I get engrossed it can be hard for me to switch gears. It was a beautiful day, and I worked for twelve hours straight yesterday. I knew I could benefit from a break. Still, it took a little bit of… Read more »
Do More With Less
I’m not sure who said this first, probably Ray or Tom, but I know I’ve read it from a lot of people, most recently Martin Black. We found some great write ups of some colt starting clinics he put on a few years ago (click on the forward arrows to get through these if you’re… Read more »
And More Cows
Pretend cows, that is. Today some ride plans fell through, and Brian and I found ourselves trying to decide if we wanted to hit the trails alone. I was riding Steen and he was riding Bear, so we could have gone out and about. But we also wanted to have a day where we swapped… Read more »
Playing Cow
We got to the barn fairly early to meet a friend for a trail ride. It was really cool out, and we were looking forward to a long day of riding. Unfortunately our friend never made it out. We tacked up and started riding on the strip thinking they would show, but no. So we… Read more »
And More Running
Today it was my turn to ride Laredo, and after Robin’s highly successful loping, I figured we would do the same. The ride started out pretty good, with the only problem coming from me and my boots. My good riding boots are at the cobbler’s getting new heels (I knocked the rubber off one doing… Read more »
Feelin’ It
This was the day: Sunny and in the low 70s. Beautiful. It started with me attempting to familiarization myself and Steen with a rope. He was fine with it coiled. I could bang it all around his saddle and body. When I started swinging it around he wasn’t as cool with it, though I couldn’t tell if… Read more »
Lots of Running
Bear continues to feel a little off. He was not super interested in coming to me, and while he often lacks a little spunk, today he was lacking more than usual. I kept things very slow in the beginning. We went through all our usual things that seem to help loosen him up like walking… Read more »
First Laredo Lope
Last Monday I went out to the barn telling myself I would lope Laredo. We’ve been a bit slow to get there because we usually ride in such irregular, open spaces. For so long he had such a tendency to lock up on the bit and lean into pressure it didn’t seem there was anything… Read more »
Gettin a Moove On
I was all set to ride Laredo today. I even hiked way way out into the pasture to get him, and worked on hurrying his walk while leading (he can be a bit pokey) all the way back, which meant I was pretty hot and sweaty by the time I got him tied up. I… Read more »