Gold Brothers

Dylan is 5. It's fantastic. His owner said he led and lunged, but... not so much. I watched him walking into her space and circling around, no attention to her, and quietly raised an eyebrow. Now I see.

Keno was good today. He's understanding the concept of being pushed together now. By the end, if he got a little strung out, I squeezed my legs and hands, basically a half halt, and he came back together very nicely. I suspect he's breaking at the poll to avoid the bit, so a little more leg is needed than hands. I'll have to ask someone to watch to see how badly he's doing it. We walked through the jump field to cool off. He looooved it because the grass is so high he could walk at the same pace and grab grass without lowering or turning his head. I still think we should take him to a dressage show. He's a crappy looking horse but he's a nice mover, responsive, and will stay sound.

I also rode Reno. We put a leverage bit on him and he basically ignored the whole thing, so today we added a curb chain. That got his attention! Now he neckreins, whoas nicely, and is much less likely to try to just barge through the bit. After a while in the ring to see how he reacted to the bit and to make sure Gillian and Star wouldn't kill each other in the next fifteen minutes, we went out to the back forty. This part is important because I haven't been on the back forty on a horse since the first day I got back on a horse in October (okay more than 100 feet into it). I haven't gone by myself since September before my accident. Reno was a little jiggy, I was a little panicky, but focusing on the ride (and grabbing the horn) worked okay. I've wanted to do this for a while but haven't had a horse I felt comfortable enough on. So that was good.

That was actually all I accomplished today. I had a crappy night* and needed some solid, no problem horse time. Keno needs to get worked pretty hard on about a biweekly/weekly basis for him to stay compliant, so I spent a long time on him, and then got caught in conversation by Cari, so he was thrilled to stand there eating grass while we talked. He also helps me with my position, and he's a horse who basically understands the concepts I'm asking him for. He won't do it, though, unless I ask right, so it's enjoyable to see him improve. He's also getting better about his girthiness, or at least we have an agreement. I put his girth on, stand back and let him dance and back up and express his displeasure at life as long as he does NOT take one step towards me. He stops after a few seconds, I tighten it a hole or two, step back, watch the Keno shuffle, etc. If he had withers I'd cut him some slack because the saddle wouldn't roll, but he's round and so it's necessary.

Geldings are major dorks. It's kind of adorable.

*One of the kittens started coughing up blood last night. A fabulous person drove to the emergency vet. Unfortunately, we lost the kitten to an uncurable, fatal virus. So best case scenario, the other three are magically uninfected. Worst case, we lose them all. As they're acting normal, they're either magic or more likely nonsymptomatic carriers. I don't want anyone to have to go through this, so kittens are under quarantine until they can get tested for FIP at 8 weeks old, if I can finagle a way to keep them that long. It sucks. Very sad, and I didn't get to bed until 4 so I was tired and drained at the barn, then proceeded to have an apple in the morning and nothing else until I was going to work, so I didn't actually feel capable of much work. If kittens are carriers, they can live with other carriers, but are otherwise confined to single catdom. If they get sick, it will probably go fast. If they're healthy, they shouldn't be too difficult to place.