The barn was empty when Robin and I arrived this afternoon. The sky was slightly cloudy and the temperatures were neither too warm nor too cool. Plus they had mowed the strip, one of our favorite places to ride. Steen was waiting almost right by the gate when we entered the pasture, but Bear was… Read more »
Steen
More Riding
Wednesdays I usually get off work early, so I’m going to try to make a lot of them barn days. There is a good chance Robin will join me for most of them. I wasn’t sure if she would today, as she got out for a ride with Jean this morning. But after a little… Read more »
The First Rides
After work on Friday, I rushed home, made a cup of tea, ate a snack, and headed out to the barn with Robin. It was day two of Bear’s stay in his new home, and we wanted to check on him. If things looked good, we were hoping for a short ride, too. And things… Read more »
Meet the Bear
About four months ago I had to send my first horse, Sham, back to the guys we bought him from. He wasn’t working out, mostly from a behavioral standpoint. He had a bit of a dangerous side. I was grateful that the guys took him back. They said they could find a horse that would… Read more »
I Ride Again!
Actually, I’ve been riding for a little bit now, I’ve just been too lazy to blog about it. For the past couple of weeks Robin has been swamped with her web work and her last month at the art gallery. So a couple days each week I’ve gotten Steen out for some relaxing walk/trot rides.… Read more »
More Learning
Thursday was more or less and nice repeat of Wednesday. Except Robin came, so I wasn’t pretending to be anything other than myself. It was sunny and very, very windy. Sham was lethargic on the lead line and that gave me a little bit of trouble. We are changing some of our groundwork tactics with… Read more »
Pretending to be Robin
Yesterday afternoon I ventured to the barn on my own. It was almost 80 degrees and while still somewhat windy, it was nothing like the gale force winds of Monday. On the drive out I sipped on a cup of tea and tried to decide what my goals should be. Sham is continuing to improve,… Read more »
Feeling Better
Today Robin and I went to the barn with more or less the same plan as yesterday: she catches Sham and continues to work with him while I grab Steen and do an easy ride. But things didn’t quite go as planned. Some things were better, others not so much. We knew Cal was being… Read more »
A Shock to the System
Thursday’s spook near the gate turned out to be worse than we thought. What actually happened is the charge in the electric wire arced through the puddle, zapping Sham through all four feet. I was fine in my rubber boots. I was lucky in that all the work I did with Sham after that was… Read more »
Forward and Backward
On Saturday we woke up nice and early, and after our leisurely routine of coffee and breakfast, we headed off to the barn. It was super quiet when we arrived. Only Cathi, the owner, was there. We chatted for a few minutes and then Robin and I walked out to get our respective horses. The… Read more »