Happy July 5th!

A day late and a dollar short. Story of my life. Haha. Anyways, I hope everyone had a safe and happy 4th of July yesterday. I know I did. It was unbearably hot and I spent nearly the whole day on the couch (I did clean house and go grocery shopping though).

On to the boys though. Gringo - well, I haven't done anything with him in a while. I was out last week, June 28th, and decided to tack him up and see how he behaved himself as a "real" boy. Well, the outcome wasn't so good. While he was a dang near perfect angel (and who would have thought five years ago I'd say the words Gringo and angel in the same sentence), he was also lame. Dead Lame. Like head-bobbing lame. He was significantly worse to the left then he was to the right, which leads me to believe we were dealing with his left fore, yet again. He's due (like past due, actually) for a hoof trim and while looking at his hooves the other day, I noticed SIGNIFICANT ridges. Not good, not good at all. The biggest ridge is about an inch or so down the hoof wall, which I believe means something happened about a month to six weeks ago. Diet change? Well, about that time he started going into a different pasture for half the day ... a very RICH pasture. Uggh. So, hopefully time will tell. I'm hoping that lameness was just due to having a saddle on his back and perhaps something was pinched?

Anyways, Gringo was like an old pro with the saddle. No issues, whatsoever. I ended up borrowing the MIL's western saddle. I should've gotten some photos of Gringo wearing it. What a joke. He's fairly short-backed and the saddle pad was just massive. Least he's got a sense of humor. I wish he had been sound enough to work, instead we took a scenic walk around the property and called it a day. I've not been out to see him since (too DANG hot and the in-laws don't have AC).

I ended up riding Gus again last week too. Actually, I think it was the day after I posted last. We basically did the same "ride" as that last post. And, as usual for him, he was a good boy.

Gus and I had another ride again on Tuesday morning. It was godawfully hot out, so we rode in the indoor - which was slightly better. I opted to not lunge, because it was unbearably hot, so we got off to a rocky start as far as Gus's limberness goes. By the end of the (short) ride, he was moving much more freely through his shoulders and back. Our game plan was basically the same as previous rides. We started off on a giant figure-8, working on suppleness and flexion. From there, I added in some SIs and haunches-ins down the long side, eventually adding in leg yields on the opposite long side.

Canter work consisted of simple 1-loop serpentines. And, Gus was a very good boy for the canter work. Nice, forward and upward canter. Yes! Now we just need to work on endurance.

Anyways, neither boy has been worked since. And with highs in the upper 90s, lows in like the mid-70s, it's understandable why. Thankfully, a break is supposed to come this weekend, so I'm hoping to put in some good riding time over the weekend (granted I have to work, but I should be able to squeeze in a ride one day ... ). Til next time.