As I mentioned a few posts ago, Steen and I have been acting as a sort of mobile round pen for Brian and Nevada sometimes. When I’m setting a boundary and a cadence, Brian can worry less about those things and think more about keeping her in a proper bend and getting her more comfortable… Read more »
Nevada
Sunset Gallops
Lately I’ve been having this strange experience of feeling like I only have one horse. This isn’t true, of course. But we’ve worked out a deal with Brian’s student, K, and she’s riding Aiden three times a week, twice on her own, once in a lesson with Brian. This is great for her as she’s… Read more »
Big September
It is September 7. So far, this month, I have spent 10.5 hours in the saddle. This is probably a new short-term record for me. I’m not sure I’ve ever started a month off with such a bang. Mostly, I blame the weather. It’s been absolutely gorgeous out. We’ve had perfect temps, just enough rain… Read more »
After a Week Away
We spent last week in Arizona visiting family. It was a nice time. We got to hang out with my parents and my sister and the new Great Dane puppy. There was much sleeping in, drinking of tea and coffee, and lounging around. We also got to spend my mother’s birthday with her for the… Read more »
Nevada Time
Brian, of course, has been doing almost all the direct work with Nevada. But I’ve been around for most of it, sometimes supporting them from the back of another horse. This has been pretty fun for me, because it’s not something I’ve had the opportunity to do before. Since she arrived, I’ve done basic yielding… Read more »
The Polar Vortex in Summer
This winter, the crazy low temps we experienced here in Iowa were ostensibly caused by the polar vortex. And last week, it was here again. But instead of plunging temps from the single digits to the negative double digits, this time it gave us a beautiful week of days that were dry, sunny and in… Read more »
The First Few Rides
Nevada and I have spent the last couple of weeks really working on our groundwork. While parts of the early sessions were a little rough for both of us, things are now going extremely well. She is soft and happy and willing to work through problems that I present to her. I’ve never spent so… Read more »
Getting Started
Nevada has been at our place for about ten days now. We were out of town for some of that, so I’ve only had a chance to work with her on four occasions. She is proving to be a very sweet and willing little mare. And like the few other young horses I have worked… Read more »
And Then There Were Six
When we originally started talking about Brian getting a young horse, we thought we’d do it in the fall — after we’d found either Aiden or Oliver (or both) new homes. But then we found a horse we really wanted. So we bought her and thought we’d just leave her with the breeder until the… Read more »