Grin and "Bare" It

Saturday Through Monday

Saturday was at least 60F, perhaps more in the sun.  I took the Boys's sheets off and let them go bare.

We started off with a little photography session, and some ball play, neither of which merited much action. I do, by the way, have a movie option on my digital cameras and I have a camcorder as well. I just haven't taken the time to fool around much with either of them. Without an extra camera person here, it's kind of hard to get much good stuff and I always miss the action when the Boys are playing on their own as the camera is usually somewhere else. By the time I get it, the games are done.

At any rate, even working with the still camera, it's not an easy task to get pictures of my little herd. Every time I hold the camera up to get a shot of someone, said someone turns and walks directly to me. It's as if the camera were some kind of horse nose magnet. I did get a few OK views of naked horses, though, so here they are:

Toby, heading for the camera.....

 Toby showing what he thinks of having his picture taken.

 Tucker thinking about entering the arena while Chance mugs the camera.

 Chance, encounterint "The Ball."

 Chance, starting to turn towards me for another camera "assault."

 Tucker and Toby caught in a candid moment. Note the missing fence rail. Surprise!

 Tucker, front shot as once again, he heads towards me.

 Tucker and his new best friend, "The Ball."

OK, enough nude photos. I hope you aren't blushing.

I need to add.

I rode.

I saddled up Chance on Saturday and meandered around the arena for about five minutes. He was rather wiggly mostly because not only did he want to go out on the trail instead, but I was using Toby's bridle and bit, not his.  Chance goes much better in a single jointed snaffle instead of the lozenge bit   He broke part of his bridle when I fell off and I just haven't gotten around to fixing it yet. Why not? Heaven only knows, but since I wasn't riding, it didn't seem a priority.  We walked and trotted a little and despite being very fussy in his mouth, he was a good boy.

Sunday was a bit more brisk and I didn't really do much outside at all. Then today, Monday, I headed out in the early afternoon to do a bit of ball playing.

Once again, Tucker was the most interested in the ball and by rewarding him with treats, I got him to push it around just a little. I don't know if he connected the pushing the ball with the little carrots, but he surely was involved in the whole affair.

Then, I put the ball away and saddled Tucker up for a short ride in the arena. Since he stood quietly at the mounting block until I was seated, I offered him a peppermint horse treat as a reward.

Error. Did you know Tucker cannot walk and chew treats at the same time? *LOL*  At least that's what he tried to convince me to believe.

We soon sorted that out and walked around in a few simple patterns before going into the trot for some experimental work.  I did a little sitting trot now and then, did figure 8's, serpentines, leg yield and then a little half pass in each direction. As usual, the left half pass is a little sticky compared to the right, but both of them were certainly acceptable at this point.

Then, I decided to try just a bit of canter. We are talking perhaps 20-30 strides on each lead.  I am pleased to report that from the trot, he struck off in both directions without any fuss. This is a good sign as the canter depart is where he shows any discomfort in his hocks. These were, of course, not fully engaged, rock back on the haunches canter departs, but nice prompt relaxed ones, so that is a fine start for us at this point.

My knees felt fine when I was riding with just a tiny bit of soreness now and again at the posting trot, but it's so much less than before the replacements I hardly notice.  They are less stiff than they were when I first tried to ride, but not yet as flexible as they need to be. The main issue is when I swing my leg over to mount. Fortunately, my horses do not seem to mind if my foot brushes them on the rump as I get on or off, so no real problem.

I don't know how much I will ride now. The weather will be a factor as will the rather long list of doctor appointments I have this month--three this week. But I will take one day at a time.

Meanwhile, we do have the ball to play with.

Oh, yes. Here is one more picture. This is Peppercorn, the barn kitty who now lets me pet him when he is eating and upon occasion elsewhere.  He is a well fed little critter.