We haven’t had a day where we’ve worked with all three horses for a while, but today it was just beautiful out, so we figured it was a good day to spend loads of time at the barn. Also in our chatting recently we’ve realized it has been AGES since I rode Bear. I’ve certainly… Read more »
collection
The last ride of July
We rode in the morning again today. The horses were all out on the hilltop in the pasture when we arrived, and everyone was a bit revved because two horses were moved from the stall herd to the pasture herd. Bear led a charge down the hill to see us, and it was neat to… Read more »
Early Morning Heat
The heat has been so oppressive, we decided the only way we were going to get a ride in was to adjust. So on Wednesday, we moved our schedules around to free up time in the morning, and out we went. We found Laredo has a fairly large chip in one of his front feet.… Read more »
Reset
It was with some relief I haltered Steen today and tacked him up. It’s going to be an interesting challenge for me these next few months. Steen seems to be hitting some kind of stride lately. Every ride I think things are fantastic, and then the next ride they are better. It’s a hard act… Read more »
Workin’
Usually this time of year I experience a bit of a lull with work and so I can do things like ride a lot and take short vacations but still stay on top of things with my clients. Not so much this year. I’m juggling more projects than ever before and I have a waiting… Read more »
Musical Horses
Since getting Laredo, our conversations on the way to the barn have become quite a bit more complicated. Today we had ample time to do all sorts of things. Both Brian and I wanted to ride our individual horses and also work with Laredo, so we formulated a plan that involved catching all three guys… Read more »
After Buck, Take II
We built an extra day into our vacation so we could get back home and spend many hours at the barn applying the new stuff we learned at the clinic. There were a few things I was surprised to figure out this time. For instance, I somehow forgot/got lazy about the concept that you should… Read more »
Good Booties
I had two things on my mind as I started my ride today. One, I wanted to lope enough to see how Steen’s new booties affect his ability to relax at that gait. Two, I wanted to keep my booty in the saddle — no bouncing at the lope. Not even a little. I’ve been… Read more »
The Horse I Have Today
It is easy to go into a ride with expectations. On the way out to the barn Brian and I were talking about some of the ideas he’s reviewing while rereading True Horsemanship Through Feel by Bill Dorrance. He mentioned how Bill likes to talk about making things into games by setting up little challenges, like can… Read more »
Steen So Soft
It was back to “work” today after our leisurely trail ride on Sunday followed by two much-needed days off for all of us. I was curious to see how Steen was feeling after his little break, and right when I first got on I thought we were in for a sub-par day. Starting out, Steen’s… Read more »