Naked!

Werther got body clipped on Tuesday night so when I went out on Wednesday he looked like a totally different horse:

I'm really proud of his overall body condition, he looks so much better than when we first bought him. I tried to get a conformation shot in here, and I am terrible at conformation critique but if you feel up to it feel free to comment. It was really warm yesterday so I was able to ride outside, we were by ourselves in the ring, but Jingle Belle and Fiona were on one side, and one paddock over from the ring on the other side Wesley and Vinny were turned out. He could care less about Vinny and Wesley, but he gets very distracted by Fiona. He does not do anything bad per say, but when he goes by, he slows down and bulges out so he can watch her. Fiona is not much help, when Werther trots by, she trots along the fence with him, when Werther canters, she gallops along the fence like his little shadow. He was excellent at the canter, he picked up both leads the first time he was asked with a minimal amount of fuss. The right lead was more difficult, I will have to start with that one today. After cantering I decided to do some no stirrup work at the walk and sitting trot. When I do a new stirrups sitting trot he goes into total dressage horse mode, beautiful collected trot with lots of forward impulsion and very round and on the bit. Werther actually likes having a lot of contact, he is relaxed and his ears are forward the whole time. This is a new experince for me, most of the horses I have ridden in the past were very much know it all packers who hated being told what to do. Werther likes direction, which is something I have to get used to giving.

Dr. Sarah Visits

No riding today, Dr. Sarah came to do shots and worming so we let the horses have the day off. The horses were turned out late, so I took the opportunity to spend some time with Wesley and groom him. He has a little scratches spot on his left front ankle, it gave me a chance to practice using the clippers, which is something I am not totally comfortable with yet. Werther was good with his shot, he did not care for the worming paste at all (and why should he?). I also had a doctors appointment today with a PT MD. She is concerned with the amount of pressure the current level of  spasticity is putting on my knee. I need to do more stretching and after she gets some records from my surgeon she is going to start me doing botox injections every 90 days in my leg, which they think will help provide some relief. 

Just a Little Trim

Werther got his whiskers and ears trimmed today.

We did his legs after I was done riding. Werther is getting entirely too hairy for a heated barn and will be body clipped soon. He has a little bit of scratches on his hind legs so we put some stuff on that to help him out. Dr. Sarah makes up her own anti-scratches cream, I think it is a mixture of anti-biotics and DMSO. It was windy and in the high thirties today, so I rode inside with Becky who was out riding Victoria. Werther was very good at trot, moving forward with little urging but I ran into trouble with the canter transition again, same issues as Saturday. This week is less crazy so I'll be able to have a lesson with Andre and she can evaluate to see if Werther needs a tune up.

Trail Ride

The forecast is predicting snow tomorrow, so my Mom and I went out on a trail ride while it was still in the high fifties. Werther was really good, but it was really windy and it made Stoli a little spooky, so I got nervous. I just could not shake the mental what ifs today. After doing a little walk trot work on the trail I did some canter work in the outdoor ring. He is getting much better at the canter transitions the issue I am having now is that in that first canter stride he tends the pull his head down really low and pull the reins out of my hands, after which he picks up his head and carries himself nomally. I'll have to ask Andre what she thinks I can do to fix it next week, though I have a feeling I know the answer, move my elbows forward and more leg. 

Back in the indoor

It is cold and wet here in Minnesota so we were back in the indoor today. Yesterday was really busy so Werther got the day off. We had to wait awhile to get started because Mom was having a lesson with Andre on Spike. Since we did not get going right away I struggled at the trot, Werther was very sluggish. I did several walk trot transitions and that helped a little. When I was getting ready to canter, Andre came in with T.J. to do some lameness evaluation and that distracted Werther a little as T.J. is his pasture mate. I started out on the left lead instead of the right, because Werther had more difficulty with that lead last time. Werther did not pick up the canter in the first corner of the short side, but I kept after him and he got on it the second corner of the short side. I did the rest of our normal canter work and Werther was very good, he had no problems picking up the right lead. I let Werther walk while Mom and Tom watched Andre trot T.J.. After T.J. was done trotting I asked Werther to pick up the left lead again which he did really well. I did a few more canter trot transitions and I was really happy Werther was still responsive after having more down time than usual. 

Pictures from yesterday

Andre on Tryst, a jumper of my Mom's he is an Irish Thoroughbred x Dutch Warmblood.

Becky on Victoria with her dog Buster, young Farnley Welsh pony we have for sale. She has been shown in Children's Pony Hunter's and is ready to move up to the small greens.

My Mom with our Basset Hound Chloe.

Twinkie ready for his photo shoot.
One of our other dogs Divot, a Lab x Swiss Mountain Dog.

The next generation

The MHJA meeting was interesting, it was really fun to watch all the rounds of hunter derbies on the DVDS that Diane brought. The whole family came out the barn today so they could take some pictures with my niece Lily and Twinkie. Twinkie taught all of girls how to ride and he is in his mid thirties at least and definitely feeling his age recently. He adored all the attention, and was very good with Lily. After those guys left I hacked Werther outside, he started out a little distracted by Jingle Belle and Fiona, but he had Stoli for company so that help. Another really good day with the canter transition, I got the right lead first without having to use my stick, when went to left lead I had to use the stick twice and he was a little delayed picking it up, so I am going to start with that lead tomorrow. I ended the ride using a figure eight exercise to practice my turns and he was very smart about it, the first time we missed to lead on the straight line, but after that he was very good about picking it up.