The weather has been beautiful and we’ve been riding but not blogging. Monday Our favorite local photographers have me work on their website from time to time, and we decided to do an exchange of services instead of payment. They came out on Monday and hauled their multiple cameras and lenses and boom out into… Read more »
Outdoor Arena
A Good Fit
My new bit and headstall both arrived last week, but since Brian and I had our Sunday trail ride planned I decided not to try them out until afterwards. I intended to test the new combo yesterday, but work did not permit. This morning I woke up and it was dark and raining, but things… Read more »
A Bit About Bits
Although Steen’s behavior has been excellent lately, I’ve been feeling for some time that his bit doesn’t fit him quite as well as I would like. He doesn’t fight it, or toss his head, or refuse to take it or anything major like that, but it does shift around in his mouth more than I’d… Read more »
A Few Good Rides
It’s been hot, but my sister has been visiting and that has provided extra motivation to get out to the barn even on days I would not normally go. She arrived on Saturday, and we headed out in the afternoon. She rode both horses and they both gave her a bit of a hard time… Read more »
Sweaty Backs
That was the goal for this morning’s ride. Well, more the goal for Robin and Steen, Bear and I were fine getting whatever sweat pattern we happened to get. But Robin wanted to push Steen a bit and see how the new saddle really fit him. The trick was the morning was really cool, and… Read more »
Just the Two of Us
It seems like it has been a while, but I did go out with Robin on Friday. I just got lazy and didn’t blog about it. I was worried about Bear’s swollen ankles and decided to have a relatively easy day of groundwork. I thought it would also help with his somewhat increasingly bad behavior… Read more »
Sweaty Rides
Yesterday was 90! We usually only hit 90 a handful of times in July and August each year, to get it in May is crazy. And with the cold spring we’ve had it felt like we missed the wonderful late spring/early summer weather and moved right into the bleghs of late August. I shouldn’t complain… Read more »
Sweet Talk
Horses aren’t super vocal creatures. For the most part the horses I’ve owned and handled tend to call out when they are feeling isolated and nicker when they are excited for their dinner. I have also heard the occasional nicker exchanged between horses who have been separated and are happy to be together again, or horses who haven’t met… Read more »
Not the Most Relaxing Friday at the Barn
The good news was that Bear was moving in a very smooth and relaxed manner under saddle. Both directions. There was not a hint of tightness in either side, and if anything, he was turning better to the right today than he was to the left. The bad was pretty much everything else. There was… Read more »
A Stirring in the Herd
While in general I am pleased that we are able to board our horses at a place that offers a large pasture and a small herd for the social and physical benefits this affords our horses, every now and then upheaval in the herd causes some issues. Today we found the boys in rather a… Read more »