It's lonely here without Stefan! But he's almost back to Germany now . . . a couple more hours and he'll be home.Pat was trimming Toby's hooves, and she said that he had a bad case of thrush. It's a bacterial infection on the hoof, usually caused by moisture. It's not so much that you can see it, although it does look black, but it stinks like something rotten. She painted on a solution of thrush medicine, and we'll have to check his hooves every day. It will hopefully clear up in about a week.
After that, we took JD to the round pen and Pat taught me how to lunge him. Lunge-ing is when you stand in the center and the horse runs around you in a circle. Normally, the horse is on a lunge line which is a long rope attached to their halter. But, we did it today with no rope. I had a whip that is mostly used to get the horse going or keep him going. You normally don't touch him with the whip. It's just the idea and movement of it that keeps them going.
So, I stood in the center and had JD run around me. Then I had to reverse him. There are two different ways to do that, and I had trouble with one of them. The one that's easy is that you kind of step in front of the horse and ask him to turn around. That gets him to turn toward the fence. The other way is to step backwards so he turns toward you before going the other direction, and that's much harder. I also practiced switching the whip from one hand to the other smoothly. You have to have the whip in alternate hands depending on which way the horse is going. It's all kind of complicated!
After succeeding with JD, we brought Chaco in. He hasn't done it that much, so he was more of a challenge. I did get him going, but he ran in tight circles around me, so that I got dizzy! But he did it correctly, so he got lots of cookies. He'll learn to make bigger circles later. Pat wanted me to try to get him to canter . . . that's a slow run . . . but I couldn't. She tried and it took her awhile to get him to do it. He did it for her three different times, but I don't think he quite gets it yet. He will soon. Cookies are a great motivator for Chaco, so he learns quickly.
So, I stood in the center and had JD run around me. Then I had to reverse him. There are two different ways to do that, and I had trouble with one of them. The one that's easy is that you kind of step in front of the horse and ask him to turn around. That gets him to turn toward the fence. The other way is to step backwards so he turns toward you before going the other direction, and that's much harder. I also practiced switching the whip from one hand to the other smoothly. You have to have the whip in alternate hands depending on which way the horse is going. It's all kind of complicated!
After succeeding with JD, we brought Chaco in. He hasn't done it that much, so he was more of a challenge. I did get him going, but he ran in tight circles around me, so that I got dizzy! But he did it correctly, so he got lots of cookies. He'll learn to make bigger circles later. Pat wanted me to try to get him to canter . . . that's a slow run . . . but I couldn't. She tried and it took her awhile to get him to do it. He did it for her three different times, but I don't think he quite gets it yet. He will soon. Cookies are a great motivator for Chaco, so he learns quickly.
Then we turned all the horses loose in the yard, and they ran around like crazy, kicking up their heels and enjoying themselves. I remember when I first came and watched them run around how cool it was. It still is cool watching them run. That was a long three months ago!
At sunset, Pat and I sat in chairs on the roof looking for Mercury, Venus, and Mars. We never did see them, but it was a beautiful night, and watching the bats was cool, too. This is a picture of a bat that took a rest on the outside ceiling of the kitchen building.
Fall is in the air. There is a definite chill, and I had to wear my sweatshirt for part of the day today. It's almost time to get the electric blanket out!
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