Today was hot, muggy, and buggy. And Bear was not happy about it at all. Thankfully he was happy to see me, and he came up to me in the pasture again. He was probably hoping I would be able to get rid of the bugs, and when I couldn’t really do that, he didn’t… Read more »
Horse Thoughts
Hacked
With my new saddle theoretically due any day now, Brian and I decided it might be nice to have a spare saddle that will fit Steen in case we have guests who are good riders but perhaps not comfortable in a treeless saddle. We’ve been watching ebay, and late last week we made our move.… Read more »
Left Leaning
No, Bear is not a liberal socialist. He is a ‘Merican Quarter Horse, I’m not sure you can get much more conservative than that. The thing is, he just hates going right. It is fine at the walk and trot, but I cannot get him to pick up a nice, relaxed lope with a right… Read more »
Long in the Hoof
Yesterday we went to the barn in the afternoon looking to have a leisurely ride. We’ve been dragging a little bit after coming back from vacation, so even the fun things have felt a little difficult lately. Thankfully the weather was not so nice in the morning so we could hang around, read, and enjoy… Read more »
Super Mellow Ride
Vacation can be wonderful and tiring at the same time, so Brian and I found ourselves too worn out to go to the barn on Friday. Today, however, both Bear and Steen seemed very happy to see us, coming to meet us at the gate. Steen’s left front foot has gotten weirdly splayed and spread… Read more »
Happy to Be Home
Vacations are wonderful things, but I am always thrilled to come home again. I suppose that is a good thing. It is also interesting to ride other horses and then get back to the one you are most familiar with. I haven’t even had Bear a year yet, but he is by far the horse… Read more »
Back on Jak
Robin and I spent the last few days visiting her family in Arizona. We had wonderful weather and lots of relaxing family time. We also got to spend some time with the horses. For three days I got to ride my sister-in-law’s horse Jak. He is a spunky little Appaloosa with a lot of character. … Read more »
Familiar and Content
As much as it was fun to work with Jak and Rojo while we were in Tucson, it was really pretty wonderful to see our boys again this morning. The herd was way out in the pasture, and as Brian and I hiked out to them Steen saw us and started to walk in our… Read more »
Horse Hopping
Although my mom and my sister each have a horse, lately neither of them has had much opportunity to ride. My sister’s horse, Jak, is happily one of those rare horses who doesn’t seem to backslide much even when left standing for long periods of time. He is sometimes a total goofball and maybe a… Read more »
Saddle Care
We’re back in town after a trip out to AZ to visit my family. We were mostly there to socialize with people, but we had a few horse-related goals as well. First, conditioning Brian’s new saddle in past weeks has caused me to suffer some pangs of guilt regarding the old saddle I used on… Read more »