After a long vacation in Arizona I am having fun readjusting to the cold Midwest, although I do lament the lack of snow. I’m not sure how Bear feels about it. Judging by how he’s been in the pasture lately, my guess is he could go either way. Today they were all out with the… Read more »
ground-work
A New Year at the Barn
It’s been my worst winter yet in Iowa as far as riding is concerned, but today Brian got off work early and we decided to go try to get a quality visit in with Bear and Steen. They are both looking good, though the winter is here in earnest and we’ve experienced some harsh temps.… Read more »
Cold and Wet
Today it rained for most of the morning and then the rain shifted to snow. Temps started to fall just after noon and tonight the lows are supposed to be in the teens. Although Bear has actually manged to put on weight as the weather has gotten colder (he’s apparently the definition of an easy-keeper),… Read more »
Getting Bigger
It has been a little over 3 weeks since I last went out to see Bear. My shoulder and rib have continued to get better (I’m wondering if I actually cracked a rib as I’m still feeling some tenderness 5 weeks out). In those 3 weeks we’ve had a few nice days, but quite a… Read more »
Birthday Ride
Today I told my clients I had late morning “meetings” and headed to the barn for a birthday ride. I actually hadn’t gone out alone for a very long time, and I was feeling excited about the prospect of a mellow indoor ride on Steen. Everything was quiet in the pasture when I arrived. Steen’s… Read more »
The Jog
I am happy to report that I believe Steen has finally (2.5 years after he came into my life) mastered the art of the jog. It’s a funny thing, because while the jog isn’t necessarily something I strive to teach my horse, and I certainly would never go to great lengths to force a non-jog-inclined… Read more »
The Good Seat
That’s what I had today. Of course, Bear didn’t bolt or buck or run off or do anything quite like that. But he wasn’t on his best behavior, either. He’d often express his desire to go in a direction different than the one I picked, his starts and stops were slightly unpredictable, and he would… Read more »
A Horsey Weekend
Again the weather was beautiful. The night times had frost warnings, but I don’t think we ever got quite below freezing. The days were sunny and warmed up in the high 50s on Saturday and into the 60s on Sunday. We rode both days. Saturday was a surprisingly busy day at the barn. We actually… Read more »
Bear and the Bots
Wednesday I went out to ride with Robin and Steen. Things were nice, but Bear was a little bit off. He was not thrilled to be riding. He was just spacey. To get him out of it we did some easy stuff, then we did some thinking stuff, then we just did some plain old… Read more »
Lessons on the Strip
After yesterday’s successful ride where Robin coached me through a few simple exercises, we decided to do more of the same. It was an even cooler and wetter day, and Bear was even further out in the pasture than he usually is. Everything else, though, was great. Once inside, Bear was great with his feet.… Read more »