Much Accomplished.

Well, except for the riding. Looking back, I didn't get much saddle work completed this weekend. *sigh*

Thursday evening I longed Harley. He was good, and a bit delighted with his energy. :) Cute anyways.

Friday morning early I rode. Harley was introduced to his dressage bridle, complete with noseband and flash. He let me know just how crummy it was, flipping tail, ears, and face as I attached the neck stretcher. Quite promptly, he realized it wasn't going to get him anywhere to open his mouth to avoid the work, and he'd have to comply. With drool running out of his mouth, all I could do was giggle at him. Riding, I worked on all the gaits. One left lead wrong, after a pretty big trip and stumble. He started out correct, and then picked up the incorrect lead after his stumble. Lazy legs, I assumed, and quickly got him corrected. Rode for about 45 minutes total. Also did a LOT of transitions from walk to trot and back again. There's some significant improvement in his transitions, though they're still not where I'd like them to be.

Mo and I hit the arena, and went through all the basics. He also had a bit change, temporarily in the noseband and twisted wire o-ring. His transitions had gotten a little lazy, so I thought I might remind him of how easy life can be, as well as how difficult. 45 minutes of work, and about halfway through, he thought he'd try a "duck & run", taking my slight body language to mean "run off at a gallop instead of the jog she's really asking for". With a very sharp one-rein stop, followed by some very intense turns on forehand and haunches, Mo realized I wasn't joking around, nor was I tolerating it. He finally complied, and the remainder of our work went well.

Friday afternoon I took Harley to the vet for shots & coggins. All is well, so says Dr. Sam. Harley still has a few baby teeth hanging on, but we've decided to put off any serious dental work with them until at least his float next February. Works for me. He's still holding his weight good, eating well (not dropping), and doesn't leave even a speck of grain for the deer. :)

Saturday, Harley had a light walk on the buckle around the dirt road. About 35 minutes total saddle, some of that standing around waiting patiently. Nothing particularly exciting happened, except for the two "stop & find it" moments when he heard the neighbor dogs but didn't see them. Understandable, they were loud, and sudden. Wandering down the middle of the gravelly dirt road, I laughed at Mr ToughHooves. :)

Saturday afternoon, both boys got their hooves trimmed. All eight feets are coming along nicely. One hoof left to be 100%, and we'll be a band of happy barefoots. Harley's front right has this pesky crack that seems to turn into a split as he grows. Grr. Getting ready to start applying treatments to it, see if we can't make some progress. Romeo stood well for his trim, looked great afterwards. Harley was stiff and sore during his light walk, and this pain remained in his general attitude and way of going during the trim. I gave him 2g of bute, told him to enjoy the rest of the weekend off.

Sunday, knowing they both had new trims to adjust to, and Harley still recovering from his shots, I gave them both the day off. Tonight, we should be back in action. Depending on weather, temperature, and daylight, I hope to get both ridden, even if it's short for Romeo.

All that horse-ness being said, there are a doodle-load of other things going on around here. Is this something you guys would like me to blog about? Or, would you prefer I keep my life beyond riding to myself, leaving it to private discussions and unclear facebook posts? Most of it is pretty good right about now, so it wouldn't be a lot of down & dirty bad news. Send me a message, email, d-mail, facebook, comment. You know the drill.

As to the previous post asking about current readership, hang tight folks... I haven't quite made up my mind yet. I'll let you know if/when I do.