Incentive!

Stacie and Chance

Stacie called this morning to see if we wanted to get together for the holiday. I called her back after church and she came over in the afternoon.

When we went out to get the horses, Stacie decided she'd ride whichever horse came over willingly At first Toby made a move, but when she ran out of treats, he turned and walked away. Chance, though, along with Tucker moved right in, eager for some attention even without the treats.

I caught Tucker, and she took Chance.

Grooming took a little work, but the sheets had kept them pretty clean underneath.

Tuck was pretty cooperative for most of the work. His trot was fine, and he cantered with minor protests. But part way through the ride, he started behaving strangely. It started when I tried to make a left turn across the arena... and he simply didn't. It was one of those drift out to the right, through the outside rein, bend the neck to the left, but not follow with the body kind of things. I eventually corrected it with a strong outside rein, but if I put my left leg on him, he really went crooked away from it.

I did not do any lateral work at all, and both canter leads felt OK, but I am suspicious there is still something bothering him behind. I will keep working him through it, but if it starts to become chronic, I guess I may have to get a vet out for chiro or x-rays, whichever ends up being the most logical.

Stacie really had to work to get Chance going forward. Sometimes he is on the lazy side, and sometimes not. Today was a lazy. I finally gave her the whip to encourage him and soon she had him going really nicely at the trot. Then, by accident, she pushed him into the canter on the left lead. It was the first time I'd seen him canter under saddle. His head was not entirely steady, but for the bulk of the ride, he was in a nice little frame and looking good! Considering how little under saddle work he's had in the last few months, it was quite a nice effort.

The temps were in the high 60'sF for most of the day, cooling off as we finished riding. All the while, Toby was exercising himself by running back and forth along the fence line, trotting, cantering, and bucking like a young colt. I thought he'd be all sweated up under his sheet, but he was OK enough that I was able to change into his lighter weight sheet for the night.

Tuck and Chance were sweaty too, but not too wet, fortunately. I put Tuck in his stall without a sheet for about an hour or so until he dried off and then put his and Chance's light sheets on too.

I figure we managed to exercise three horses for the price of two this time.