Getting back on.

Uhhh, why am I tacked up right now?

Riley's had a charmed life for the last few weeks. He had his shoes pulled 3 weeks ago and they've been making decent progress. Not spectacular, but at least there's healthy growth. I took a Rider's Rasp to the toes (don't panic, it was a tiny, tiny adjustment) on Saturday because they were starting to chip pretty bad and he's not due for another trim until next Wednesday. That will be 4 full weeks and I am eager to see what P has to say. Looking back on my calendar, I can't even remember the last time I rode him, maybe to test ride the new saddle... yikes. Whatever the timeline was, it meant enough time for my newish saddle to get MOLDY. Nothing like being all set to hop on and have to clean your tack first! The weather up here this summer has been not unlike Florida with temps in the mid-90s and 100%, so it's to be expected.

I finally bit the bullet and hopped on him Sunday. He's been very sound on grass and in the arena so I figured it's time to get him back to work of some sort. We just walked, but we worked on lots of transitions and connection. I think the walk is a brilliant place to start teaching him about contact and we're trying out a new bit to see if he'll soften a little easier.
For reference, I had been riding him in a full cheek, beefy snaffle and now he's going in a Nathe. At first he was a little confused by the bit, but I have to say I got some of the best work out of him in that bit so far! We kept our ride to sweeping turns around the arena (he's still not super sound on small circles) and I added in some steps of baby lateral work to get him moving off my leg. *Did I mention he can be lazy?

Somebody save me from her!

I'm sure the other riders at the barn might think I'm a bit of a weirdo not riding my horse for weeks  and then only riding him at the walk, but the farrier said take things s-l-o-w. So we are!  We only worked for about a half hour as it was quite hot, and well he's out of shape. You would have thought we just ran XC by the way he was acting. Poor guy, vacation is over! He got a really nice bath afterwards where I worked desperately on his hideous RAIN ROT. UGH. This time I went with a combination of Head & Shoulders followed immediately with bedatine, scrubbed it in and washed him off. For those reading, I know you're not supposed to scrub at rain rot, but this is after all the scabs came off (I thought it would be best not to chronicle his rain rot journey!). It's looking a lot better already!

Oh, and I finally got to try some of the Absorbine stain remover for white markings, etc! I was a bit skeptical because Riley has permanent manure stains on his back sock a brown mark on his face from his halter, but it's awesome! After he was washed, I sprayed it on his sock and a little on his blaze, a few minutes later I scrubbed it a little and then rinsed it off and voila! WHITE again! I'll do a full review later with some before and after shots (plus a giveaway -- yea, the one I promised months ago)

The brightest his blaze has ever been! His sock is very clean here too, but this is moments before he pooped AND peed in the aisle. Grrrr.

Snoozy Riley. Hard to believe he's only 4.

I'm hoping to take him on a little field trip this weekend if the timing works out. My friend Emily wants to get her project horse for the Retired Racehorse Training Project over to xc school at Carousel Horse Park and she thought we'd be good company for her young mare. We most likely won't jump anything, but the terrain is nice undulating hills with many water crossings, and good footing so it would be nice for Riley! Plus, I just want to get him out of the ring while he's still a bit foot sore on pavement.

That's all for now. Things have been a little crazy at the barn this week with a freak storm two nights ago that sent two mares barreling through the electric fence line into Riley's field. Luckily only one horse was injured (she apparently tried to jump a 5 foot gate) and she should make a full recovery from her flesh wound. I checked on Riley today (obviously I got a report of who was injured, etc) and he had only a small cut on his shoulder, phew. No more excitement please, horses!

Bonus picture:

+5 points for anyone that can guess who's farm this is? It's just down the road from our barn. Swoon.