Today was the first time Laredo approached me in the pasture. I stopped to pet Nadir, and he walked right up to me. I even slipped the halter on, and probably could have gotten it tied if I hadn’t hurried a little. When my hand got up by his eye, he pulled back. I kept… Read more »
Outdoor Arena
Still Some Soreness
It was really great to hang out with Bear again after my Laredo ride yesterday. It is amazing how comfortable the two of us are with one another. I just know what he’s going to do and how he is going to move. Maybe not in every single situation, but for the most part, we… Read more »
The Sloppy Lope
Today on the way to the barn I was making a conscious effort to think about Steen and what he needs right now. It’s easy to get a little Laredocentric, what with him being our brand new baby and all. I don’t want to lose momentum with Steen, though, so today I decided one of… Read more »
Short, Short Serpentines
This was my second ride on Laredo. Like Robin over the weekend, we rode in the outdoor arena. He felt a little keyed up in the beginning, but as we’ve come to get used to, he really comes right back to being settled so fast. This is really great, because often when we’re working on… Read more »
This is Why We Wanted a Third Horse
Today was sunny, in the low 70s, and there was a light breeze out of the north. We ran a few errands in the morning and had nothing to do in the afternoon but ride. I had another double day starting with Steen and then moving over to Bear. Robin also had a double, working… Read more »
Catching Up
Well it feels like we are well into the new year, and I haven’t blogged yet. It felt like I made it through the holidays and was ready to get back to my normal routine, but I forgot that we were having Robin’s brother Jesse and his wife Susie visit for a long weekend. We… Read more »
Family Fun
The new year has started off pretty busy and trips to the barn have been a bit scarce. Last week we had some visitors: My brother Jesse and his wife Susie came to Iowa via England from Hawaii, on their way back to Arizona (don’t ask.) And remarkably all my dire warnings to them to… Read more »
Cold Snap
We had a few days of pretty chilly temps, but on Tuesday Brian and I decided to ride anyway. It wasn’t that cold, according to the thermometer, but the wind was just bitter. Both herds were riled up when we arrived, particularly the stall herd was just tearing around in their pasture. We tacked up indoors and… Read more »
A Rough Ride for Everyone
Today, things started out promising. The weather continues to be beyond perfect. We started out with some groundwork and working on detail stuff. I had excellent success with yielding Steen’s forequarters and hindquarters separately and softly under saddle. We headed out to the big pasture and meandered out way up to the hilltop. We worked… Read more »
Sunday Bliss
Today was sunny, breezy and in the high 70’s. After our excellent ride yesterday, we were keen to get out to the barn again. We returned to the big pasture after mounting, and walked all the way to the hilltop to work on backing half-circles. Steen was relaxed. I’m sure some part of it was… Read more »