Slow & Steady

Today was for the most part a pretty simple day. I rode Scout this morning, and was pleased with how he did. He maintained calm throughout the ride, whereas he generally gets nervous or excited at some point and begins chomping around with his mouth, foaming wildly at the mouth, and attempts to do the spanish trot as an evasion. There was none of that today though. It was interesting taking him to the trot, pushing him past what he is comfortable and then just hanging out and waiting for him to get in the rhythm. He met with my efforts no problem. One difference I noted though was I left his boots off the front feet. I usually put boots on his hooves when we ride in the front, because he has a tendency to be tender. I left them off today to see where he was with soundness, and he was comfortable moving through the gaits. Makes me wonder if the added weight of the boots doesn’t make him uncomfortable, or perhaps something else? The fit? Who knows, we’ll see how he progresses without them for now though.

I worked Andie inside and out today, in-hand. She constantly spooks at the back door of the arena which faces out to the pasture and back field, so I decided to take her to where she was uncomfortable - outside we headed. She was very very frightened to wander out the back door, but out we went and right to work in-hand. She calmed down quickly though. I worked her on both sides, mostly maintaining the bend to that side, changing the elevation up or down, and then halting. When she would attempt to change the bend, I would just send her more forward. When we went back into the arena she was more relaxed about the door, so here’s to Wednesday’s work going smoother.

The babies were good today too, I groomed Ceylon and O-Man. They were happy to come in with me, considering everyone got their weekly dose of psyllium, rice bran and equi-shine. I think they were hoping I had a special treat in store for them, all they got was a good grooming. I still can’t believe how nice O-Man is maturing. The cross I chose between his mom and his sire was a tough one to make, I think I looked at several hundred different stallions from around the world, but when I saw the video footage of his sire, there was no doubt in my mind that he was the one. Now if only Ceylon would fill out a bit more!