Lazy Day

Memorial Day Off

No school today for Memorial Day, the day we remember those who fought for our country. I have my memorial poppy which I get every year from war veterans. And, I did manage to put the flag out this afternoon.

Otherwise, not much else to report. The new lawn tractor is still on the trailer as I haven't been able to get in touch with Bill to get his sons over to help me unload it. I guess they went to the shore for the remainder of the weekend. On a positive note, I do think the ramps will work, so unloading should not be too big a deal--but not by myself!!

I napped a good part of the day after doing the barn chores. Don't know why, just lazy, I guess.

I finally decided to lunge Tucker and Toby and work them over a few little jumps just to keep it entertaining.

There is a sharp contrast between the two. Tucker is laid back to a fault and Toby is enthusiastic to another fault. I gave Tucker more of a flat workout because he is fit and then set him to the little jump.

His first three approaches were at a trot and he trotted over the rail. I fianlly set him to a canter and he jumped with little extra effort. The combination was a one stride, though, and that did give him a bit of a puzzle. He tends to land on his forehand, so gathering his stride to lift himself over the second jump required a bit of effort on his part. However, he figured it out after just two tries and was quite proud of himself in the end. He is totally laid back about jumping, which leads me to believe he would be a nice ride on a course.

Toby, after a shorter warm-up, really took to the jumps with enthusiasm. He was very forward and jumped even the one foot fence at about three feet. He really uses his back and looks tremendously athletic over a jump. In between, he was doing aerial acrobatics with some pretty wicked looking bucks. He had a grand time at the combination, and if he had been more fit, I might have raised it a bit just because he looked to be having so much fun. However, watching him go, I definitely would not like to be in the saddle. He snaps his back, which is good, but at the same time, the "flying" can be a bit intimidating. But, I've jumped him enough under saddle to know I'd be fine on his back. A course with him, though, would be dicey, mostly because he is spooky about new jumps and is very quick of he decides to run out.

Both Boys look to be natural jumpers. Thoroughbreds are just so athletic, it seems they can do most anything. Sometimes it's just fun playing with them to let them show off their talent without demanding much more from them.

Carrots all-round at the end, and a bit of a wistful laugh. As I was working the two older Boys in the ring, I saw Chance watching through his window. I felt kind of bad for him, but three carrots may have made up for being left out of the games.

By the way, the good news is that so far he is eating the bute in his morning feed without fuss. I do mix it in with some tasty sweet feed and water--it is a powder--so maybe it doesn't taste too bad. He just needs to have it until Wednesday, so if he takes it for two more days, we are home free.