First Ride At Home!

We finally got a chance to tack up Thursday evening before it got too dark. We decided to tie Shalom close to where we would be and feed him in the pasture just in case he got stressed with us taking his buddies away. Red was super happy to be out of the pasture, lowered his head right in the bridle and followed me through the gate, but Spirit wasn't too pleased and didn't want to take the bit and was stubborn trying to go through the gate.

Mr turkey himself.

We fly sprayed and tacked up quickly, Red was perfect standing in the stall and took a nap while I put his saddle on. Our farrier C was actually up in one of the pastures hunting deer (he gets to hunt in exchange for some help with fencing) so I think they heard him a couple times but all they did was perk their ears forward. We decided to just ride in the front and in the hay-field, but the hay field ended up being too hard to ride in because of how high the grass it. It'll be fun to ride in once the rest of the hay is cut.

We rode around for about 15 minutes before my sister and her family showed up. My two oldest nephews (6 & 7 years old) wanted to ride so we let them hop on for a few minutes. The twins (2 years old) ended up enjoying it just as much, though. They rode Spirit first so I took Red to some flat ground and trotted him around for about 10 minutes and warmed him up a little and worked on collection and turns. He's super slow with turning so I worked on getting him a bit faster with things and less eager to go back to his gate in the pasture. He did great after about 5 minutes and I got him to slow down into a jog (without a bit, and I'm very excited) even mom noticed how he's starting to use his hindquarters better and he's starting to arch his neck beautifully.

Taking a break and watching the kids.

Every other lap around we'd slow back down into a nice slow walk so he wouldn't get too hot and he got to enjoy himself.

Eventually Spirit was getting tired of the kids and mom stalled him and we let the kiddos ride Red around. Red is much better with the kids and the two oldest got to ride him around by themselves. By the time they were done, they were all crying because the oldest two wanted to gallop around (not yet, guys!)  and the younger ones were saying "me ride more horseys!"

Mom and I got back on and took them around the front field and back around the hay field. Lots of trotting around, they were great and happy to trot around but fine with stopping when they were asked which is Spirit's biggest challenge.

I'm really, really proud of how Red acted. It may seem like a really small feat for most of y'all but having him slow down to a slower trot and start collecting himself without a bunch of tack is a huge deal. Not only that, but by the time I was done he was turning so well and was so responsive. I've never had a chance to work with him like that at the trot and it was so cool to see how it just clicked and he started turning so quickly on a loose rein.

We dismounted after about an hour, untacked, cooled them off and fed them.

The vet came out yesterday for yearly vaccines and coggins. She looked at the small lump on Red's neck and the one on Spirit's girth area and said it didn't look like anything bad and I showed her photos from when the lump first appeared on Red and she was pleased with how much it's shrunk and that he doesn't show any discomfort, same with Spirit. She said to keep an eye on it and if it got worse or stopped improving quickly then let her know. She is concerned about Shalom's sore on his withers and thinks something could be up in there (gross. gross. gross.) so she said to wait a few more days, see if it heals completely and if not get it x-rayed. Fun! But it would answer a lot of our questions on things. So far he's a sweetheart and everyone agrees that he doesn't have an aggressive bone in his body.

And before I go, if you or anyone you know have tips on a horse with ringbone, lemme know. Shoot me an email at dappledbays@gmail.com or comment here. My best friend's mare is currently suffering pretty bad. They've tried everything. :/