Fresh Horses

Mallory, Patty, Cynthia, Cathy, Nancy, Kathy, Margaret and
Ivy, Alaina and Roxy celebrate Kathy's B-day MONTH!

It's official, Cynthia and her guys are leaving the Rocking C and headed WEST.... to Albuquerque, NM.  With lightning speed, Cynthia has a new home and barn already selected and will be moving very soon.  We will miss Cindy as well as Ahab and Shadow.  In particular, Ivy will miss riding Ahab who has been her main mount since Pico's "two-end" problem started in early August.  I hope Cindy's new barn is almost as much fun as the Rocking C so that she gets her Equine Therapy but will miss us too.

Ivy and Mario

Pico had another visit to Doc P on Monday and Doc says Pico has problems in front and rear.  Apparently, something in the left foot is causing the main lameness but a problem with the left rear suspensory is aggravating the issue.  So, a month of stall rest with 2 10-min walks per day and a bute/no bute regimen - we will re-check and go from there.

Drill is in high gear getting ready for the competition on November 3rd at the Claremore Expo (mark your calendars).  Friday evening and the girls learned a new maneuver - the box.  Oh and the temperature DROPPED.  Mallory and I huddled in our jackets and didn't work our ponies.  We were saving ourselves for the party lesson.

And the horses were very fresh.  We spent extra time warming up and all the horses were really moving out.  Kathy brought Missy for Nancy, Mallory was riding Mario, and after the warm-up we all worked on shoulder-in and leg yields.  Kathy and Call added some counter-canter loops while Splash and I worked on canter circles and maintaining forward during leg yields.  Left leg yield is very hard for Splash - a lingering effect of his injury a couple of years ago.  These things take a long time to heal.

The girls drilled again on Sunday afternoon and I dusted off the western gear and reminded Splash about neck reining.  We worked on some canter on a long rein as well back-thoughs and pivots - he was a very good boy.  After drill, Ivy took a test ride on Mario and he showed off his smooth side.  The only thing missing from my week was a ride with my YaYa sisters.