Well, I don't know what it was, but it appears to be gone. Jessie seems almost back to 100% as measured by how much she kicks up at feeding time. She doesn't kick up excessively but I can entice her to kick up if I make a few playful moves or if she is just feeling "perky".



The swelling in her pasterns is down. I'm still a little concerned with the crack in that hoof. I'll keep an eye on it. The farrier is do out week after next.



It's what I call a fugitive occurrence or,… Continue

So far I've had Jessie for three + years and thankfully no health issues. We were scheduled to leave town for a family wedding 250 miles away last Friday. Thursday night I came home and was busy getting ready for the trip. About dusk I went out to see Jessie and noticed she seemed a bit lethargic. I went in and rubbed her and she felt warm so I took her temperature...103.4. She was eating her dinner, her stools were normal, her rear pasterns were a bit swollen but held no more heat than the… Continue

After 55 million years of evolution, you gotta believe they have us figured out. So much so, that I believe there's a book of tricks hidden somewhere. They all have it. They all know the tricks. You know what I mean. Leave the reins in the wrong place - they get chewed on. Trying to take a picture - your "stone still" horse appears to be standing on an ant hill. Late for a trail ride - your horse decides the trailer is "just not for me right now". There… Continue

I'm not a morning person, but I will get up if there is an opportunity to ride Jessie. We rode Thursday and Friday mornings before work and got two two-hour rides in on the weekend, then another hour ride Monday morning. I don't know about her, but I'm a little sore.



The Sunday ride was out to the city farm area. There are a lot of natural obstacles like this ditch to cross.…





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I was up at six and had the horses moved and Jessie saddled by six-thirty. Armed with with my index card of exercises, fresh from re-watching the DVD's for the ??th time, we were ready to go.



The first exercise, Yield-to-Stop at walk, trot, and cantor, went pretty well. Jessie stops easily and isn't crazy about yielding or flexing, but I could feel her trying and getting softer in the process. The next exercise is the same except I add a bending circle around my inside leg and her head… Continue

We try to take the trailer out at least once a month. Family obligations are taking up many of the May weekends so we decided to take another river ride on Saturday. It was a beautiful day and we planned to ride out to a little bar about 4 miles away, have a beer and a snack, then head back.

I always feel like I should be doing…

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The sun is rising earlier. The sun is setting latter. The opportunities to ride are more plentiful. Anyone who has followed this blog or it's shadow on blogger (Training Jessie) knows that I'm trying to work through all the exercises in the two Downunder Horsemanship's Gaining Respect on the Ground and Riding with Confidence… Continue

I love gadgets. I'm also pragmatic and I have to rationalize their purchase or I am left to just admire them from afar. Like the ipad, for example. A very cool machine, but I don't have enough of a reason to justify the expense...yet.



One gadget I picked up a couple of years ago, my Garmin Forerunner 201, is a very cool tool I use while riding. The Forerunner 201 is an outdated model now. If the folks over at Garmin would like me to review the newer models, and they have an old… Continue

Friday night we had tickets to the rodeo... It was fun except for the second bareback rider got hung up and then under his horse. They said he was okay, but they took him out by stretcher anyway. Those guys are crazy tough.



Saturday morning I had to get more hay. The rain and cool weather has limited the supply. Most farms are just now cutting their second, so I opted for getting more of last year's hay. It looks good.



We rode for about 2 1/2 hours Saturday afternoon. Mostly… Continue