Monday's Ride

Well, the first workout for both boys (and myself) since last Wednesday was on Monday. And both boys were really good.

I worked Gus first, so he'd have a chance to cool down and dry off before I put him back out. We worked on the same basic principles as we have done in prior rides. Lunging followed up with some shoulder stretches. Trot and canter work was almost entirely done on 20m, 15m and 10m circles. Gus was really good - seemed to be travelling much looser then he has in previous rides. I'm not sure if that has to do with the addition of aspirin back into his supps or not. We shall see.

I did finally upload those photos of both boys ... so here's what Gus looks like currently.

This is what Gus looked like at his lowest weight. Notice the significant muscle and fat loss on the topline, haunches and  the underside of his barrel. Thankfully the weightloss has subsided and now we're working on weight gain again.

 

His skinny little butt, with all the muscles showing ... 

Ribs showing ... 

Taken Monday ... about a week after we dramatically upped his grain.

So, not entirely sure how much hay Gus is getting ... I think it's like 2 flakes in the AM and 3 in the PM, or maybe it's 3/3 or 2/3 but I do know, for a fact, how much grain Gus is getting.

Currently, as of this morning, Gus is getting  1 1/2lb of Triple Crown Senior morning and evening. along with his MSM and apsirin. Hopefully the increase in grain, along with the better hay he's supposed to be getting in the evenings, he'll pack that weight back on in no time. I guess time will tell.

Gringo. 

Since Gringo graced me with being sound on Monday, we worked on the lunge line instead of ground driving. He was a really good boy. Unfortunately, we had issues with getting the correct canter lead, especially the left lead canter. Not entirely sure what's up with that. I know he can get really unbalanced at the canter, but he should still be able to manage to pick up the correct lead ... 

Anyways, he was a good boy though and we had some really nice work. I still ended up shortening the inside side rein two holes when we were going to the right. This helped encourage Gringo to work on the correct bend. I did not make any changes when going to the left ... but I think I'm going to try shortening the side reins next time to see if that encourages the correct bend and therefore the correct canter lead. We'll see if that little experiment works.

Gringo photos. I have a few new ones of him as well.

 While Gringo is still quite pudgy, he has lost a little weight. So I opted to increase his grain slightly as well. Instead of 1/4lb TC Senior twice a day, he's now getting 1/2lb in the AM and 1/4lb in the PM. We'll see if that helps keep him from losing too much.

Stay tuned for more updates. Tomorrow is lesson Wednesday!