Not much news

We're still out moseying every day or so.

Maybe I should just let Lance get his own exercise.

Playing with Oliver is the only time I see him expend this much energy! (It did leave him puffing, though.)

Moving forward while letting go

Lance continues to feel lackluster: breathing harder than is optimal, coughing occasionally, no get-up-and-go. He also seems to have some knots on the top of his left haunch. I'm still riding often, with no more than two days off, but I must admit the motivation is gone. He is bright and responsive in his stall, eats well, and isn't unhappy about getting tacked up, but his lack of energy makes riding him seem like a chore at best and borderline abusive at worst. So why do it at all? Because I am convinced that moving is better for him that standing around doing nothing. 

For now, that is going to have to be motivation enough for this goal-oriented, work-up-through-the-levels dressage rider.

Yuck

Yesterday I squeezed in an afternoon ride (mostly) between raindrops. The arena was sodden, so after our walking warm-up, we went down the lane and back to avoid damaging the footing. I asked for brief bits of lateral work, trot, and canter, but we mostly walked. Any more than that hardly seemed fair, because when I went down to the barn and timed Lance's respirations just standing around in his stall, he was at 38 breaths/minute. He's also coughing some when I ask for more than a walk.  :-(

I'm going to thoroughly clean out and rebed his stall today, but other than that there's not much else I can do for my boy. At least he's holding his weight and not showing a heave line.

Mixing it up but keeping it moving

Lance has made it to "exercise class" every day but Thursday this week – and went twice today! (Rick turned the boys out in the arena while he worked on Ollie's paddock, and they played long and hard.)

I'd much rather increase Lance's exercise than reduce his hay to manage his weight, since horses are designed to graze throughout the day. Lance gets "hangry" between meals as it is; makes me wonder if he has ulcers. So regardless of how I feel (I've been so tired lately) or how much hustle it takes get through my to-do list, I've been dedicated to getting Lance moving in one way or another as often as possible. I do vary our activities for mental and physical benefit; besides schooling in the arena, utilizing our "gymnastic equipment," and riding down the lanes, I sometimes lunge him – which gives me the chance to photograph my handsome Lance. ;-)

The red-tailed hawks continue to ply the sky above our hill; I snagged a shot the day I lunged Lance:

The weather has been mostly gray and soggy this week, but I've been blessed with dry windows every time I've gone out to work with Lance. I always feel lucky when we dodge the raindrops!

It's just one gorgeous weekend after another!

We had some rainy days last week, but the weekend has been glorious again. We were at church or with friends all day Saturday, so the only horse I was able to get on was at the Salem Carousel (thanks to an old punchcard I have).

Taking a picture of a friend taking a picture ;-)

Sunday I didn't let myself ride until I cleaned up the arena. Rick had "mowed" up the leaves early in the fall, but hadn't done it again once all the leaves were down. Grinding them into the sand affects drainage in the winter and dustiness in the summer, so I've been limiting our work to the relatively clean half. No more; I went out with rake and cart and cleaned the whole thing. Rick came in at the last and helped me pull some dead weeds, then used the teeth on the front end loader to groom the rougher end. Riding in that clean space afterwards was as refreshing as clean sheets!

Monday was another gorgeous day, so Lance and I went on a road/trail ride. Winter had knocked a lot of the weeds down so we were able to take the track through the woods for the first time in many months.

We came back home along the vineyards, watching red-tailed hawks courting against a backdrop of of snow-capped Cascade peaks. The breeze blew Lance's mane and I was lucky enough to capture a shot.

Majestic Mt. Hood

It's only long on the upper half, but dorky as it looks I've left it as it gives his neck some protection against the mosquitoes he's allergic to.