Weekend

Thursday night (6/26), I settled for an hour on Chewie, Western, a little canter-work. Deer, wind, crazy neighbor gaming target pratice with some loud firearm, goofy weather... He was incredibly patient, and I was very appreciative.

Friday morning, I lazied around the house until nearly 9:00, then decided I should get my rump in gear, get dressed, and ride Chewie before the heat set in. I called MacKenzie over to her crate, and noticed her face was swollen & wrinkly. Called the vet, hauled her in, cortisone shot, benadryl shot, wait 10 minutes. She's fine.. but obviously got stung or bit by something numerous times in the face. The vet let me know that I need to keep benadryl tabs on hand, and be prepared for her to get curious again, get bit or stung again, and need the meds, again. Poor puppy... trying to be a Shar-Pei, when she's really a terrier-mutt-mix. Cute puppy-frog

Got home, and, despite the dark clouds looming, in some wild act of defiance, I caught Chewie & tacked up. It was windy & goofy-hot, but I was determined to get him ridden in the am, Romeo in the afternoon. Tacked Chewie Western, 100% determined to canter left & right, get good solid full circles in the round pen, no matter the weather, the guns, the deer. I was tired of having all the stupid distractions, and sick of the rest of the world interrupting my plans. So work we did. Half-way through my ride, the sky opened up. Chewie and I, trotting Western through the rain storms. No thunder, no lightening, and I refused to let the showers ruin my fun. At one point, Chewie and I were cantering left, and it started to downpour. He tossed his head, just a bit, saying, "this water on my head sucks." :) We wandered to a patch of trees, and waited it out. Just as I was about to get back to work, it poured even more. After about 15 minutes of rain, I decided an hour's work was enough, it was time to walk him back to the trailer. Just as "right as rain", when I pulled his lead rope through the tie on the trailer, the sky turned blue, and the rains moved on. That's Murphy's Law at its best. mumble mumble mumble should've ridden longer & made it rain more mumble mumble mumble

Friday night, Romeo and I worked on walking & trotting calm, and most went well. I need to find a way to convince him that light work is good, his training time has come to a close, and all he needs to do is plod.

Saturday morning, Chewie was back in action. Western, round pen, w/t/c. Absolutely no issues. No neighbors with guns, a few deer spurting around. Tired of the deer, I chased a doe & her twins with the purple lunge whip. Snap snap snap, shoo shoo SHOO! It worked, and I can hope they have picked up on a pattern - lady & horse at work means "go another way". Total work, about 40 minutes.

Saturday night, Romeo, repeat. I added walk poles to get his attention, and he did fairly well.