Where is June going?

May flew by, June is flying by. By and large, the weather has been AWESOME, and that has meant that Larry at the barn has been able to get hay in. 

Bestie is a big fan of the new hay. We had gotten to the point where last year's hay looked really brown and dry. The horses were eating it, but this fresh cut is a big hit. Between being out on grass and the arrival of the new hay, she's had a few gassy spells. Probably brought on by the fact that she's not a girl who ever says, "Oh, none for me, thanks. I'm full."

Our lesson schedule has gotten a bit topsy turvy because I was out of town at the end of May, and out of town again over Father's Day weekend. It was nice that Paula rode her those two weekends. 

The week before I left in June, she seemed a little funky. I had ridden her on Sunday, and she was great. Then I went to ride Tuesday, and she seemed kind of stiff in the hind end. The next day she seemed better, but I decided to lunge her for a couple minutes - didn't notice anything. On Thursday I rode, but just at the walk. We went down to the big arena; she seems to like the deep footing in there.

Paula rode her on Saturday while I was gone and said she was great. Who knows about the mystery funkiness. Maybe she was a little stiff and ouchy while in heat. I've only ridden twice this week. Looking forward to my lesson tomorrow and getting back in the swing of things.

A great article - Aging Gracefully, on trailridermag.com

Back in the saddle

Paula rode Bestie last weekend while I was away. Peace of mind for me knowing she was getting a little exercise in my absence. I heard via text that it went well, but haven't had a chance to get the full scoop; will get that tomorrow night when I have my lesson.

I got back into town on Monday. The weekend had been very hot, and Monday was still pretty warm, so I postponed riding until Tuesday.

Once I got Bestie saddled up Tuesday after work, I decided to ride in our regular indoor, the upper one. She was super sluggish, and kept pulling me toward the door. The arena did feel kind of hot, so I dismounted and walked her down to the lower arena. The lower arena is always airy because the plastic walls are lowered in nice weather, which typically results in a nice breeze. She was better down there, but still inattentive. Honestly, it was a drag to keep pushing her along, so after about 20 minutes I dismounted, walked her back up the aisle to the door, got back on, and we headed outside to go down the path to the outdoor ring.

About a third of the way down, we met a few riders and their horses coming from the ring, and Bestie totally lost interest in walking down there, since they were going the opposite way - the magic way ... back to the barn. Whatever. I chalked it up to being one of those out-of-sorts nights, after experiencing a break in our routine over the previous 5 days.

On Wednesday we tried again. The weather had cooled off, and she was great in the upper ring. We did a lot of figure eights over a center pole, and long diagonals. She was much more peppy than the previous night. After about a half hour, we went outside and headed down the path, catching up to a couple people who were riding the same direction with their horses.

The early evening was perfect, much cooler and with no bugs, and walking out to the ring was really pleasant. Once we got there, we turned around and headed back to the barn. Easy peasy. She seemed really happy to be outside. Sometimes I can sense both of us loosening up and relaxing on that path. We spend so much time in the arena during the long Vermont winter, enjoying a mosey down the path feels like heaven.