Brand side (what do you think, is there a dressage horse in the making hiding in there?)
Mane side
I just liked the look on his face, "Are you done yet?"
Sunday, April 26, 2009
A good day for a picture
I have been so lax in posting lately. Will try and write more tonight, but I just wanted to share some pics from this afternoon. Cody is darn near shed out and the sun was shining and he was all shiny looking so I had to take a few. Three dozen pictures later, I liked these.
Brand side (what do you think, is there a dressage horse in the making hiding in there?)
Mane side
I just liked the look on his face, "Are you done yet?"
Brand side (what do you think, is there a dressage horse in the making hiding in there?)
Mane side
I just liked the look on his face, "Are you done yet?"
Wednesday, April 15, 2009
Sunshine
The sun is actually shining this morning! Nice to see a sunny sunrise.
I have continued to get up at 4am to go walking (am I nuts?) but I should use some of the time I have between 5 and 6 (when it's finally light enough to go out) to be updating my blog but I seem to keep getting side-tracked.
Let's see, last Wednesday Cody got his feet trimmed for the first time! After he decided the farrier wasn't a mustang eating monster (I was rather surprised at this) he stood there like a champ. I would have tried to take pictures, but, well, Cody wasn't exactly behaving when the farrier first approached (he was like 'get me out of here!') and then I forgot.
We've been working on standing out by the road and watching cars go by. He is getting much more relaxed about the cars zipping by in front of him. And yesterday we went for a walk down a quiet side street! First time he's been off the property since he got here in December. It was a nice relaxed first outing with no traffic (but still lots to look at) and he handled it well I thought.
My brother's dog, Isis (a rottweiler-husky mix) is here for a few weeks and during the day she is out in her kennel out by Cody. She sometimes barks at him and he'll step back but then he's right back up by the fence checking her out. The cats however (she sleeps in the house at night) are none too thrilled with there being a strange dog in the house. The first night Bentley refused to purr which is so unlike him. But his motor is back and running again.
This morning didn't have much time so I just put Taffy's old leather halter on him and took him out to snap some pictures. I need to do that again one of these days with my better camera. I thought he looked handsome in that halter (and yes, I need to tighten the noseband up a bit).
I should have taken his blanket off and adjusted the halter better for the pic!
Yum!
I have continued to get up at 4am to go walking (am I nuts?) but I should use some of the time I have between 5 and 6 (when it's finally light enough to go out) to be updating my blog but I seem to keep getting side-tracked.
Let's see, last Wednesday Cody got his feet trimmed for the first time! After he decided the farrier wasn't a mustang eating monster (I was rather surprised at this) he stood there like a champ. I would have tried to take pictures, but, well, Cody wasn't exactly behaving when the farrier first approached (he was like 'get me out of here!') and then I forgot.
We've been working on standing out by the road and watching cars go by. He is getting much more relaxed about the cars zipping by in front of him. And yesterday we went for a walk down a quiet side street! First time he's been off the property since he got here in December. It was a nice relaxed first outing with no traffic (but still lots to look at) and he handled it well I thought.
My brother's dog, Isis (a rottweiler-husky mix) is here for a few weeks and during the day she is out in her kennel out by Cody. She sometimes barks at him and he'll step back but then he's right back up by the fence checking her out. The cats however (she sleeps in the house at night) are none too thrilled with there being a strange dog in the house. The first night Bentley refused to purr which is so unlike him. But his motor is back and running again.
This morning didn't have much time so I just put Taffy's old leather halter on him and took him out to snap some pictures. I need to do that again one of these days with my better camera. I thought he looked handsome in that halter (and yes, I need to tighten the noseband up a bit).
I should have taken his blanket off and adjusted the halter better for the pic!
Yum!
Tuesday, April 7, 2009
A Quick Post Before Work
So I have been getting up at 4am to go walking with a friend on the east cost. The first morning I got up that early, I fell back asleep when I got home. After that first morning though, I felt guilty since he had to go to work and couldn't go back to sleep. So I have been staying up and once it gets light out I go take care of Cody.
This morning, we went for a short walk to watch cars go by. We will need to do that a few (dozen) more times! The first couple cars he didn't really care for but was able to just stand there and watch by the time we left.
The other success was that I got him to step out onto the road (he wasn't too sure about stepping onto that strange surface)! Definitely a case where slow and steady, rewarding movement in the right direction paid off.
I love being around horses, they have so much to teach about patience and sticking with something.
Here are a couple pictures from yesterday morning.
This morning, we went for a short walk to watch cars go by. We will need to do that a few (dozen) more times! The first couple cars he didn't really care for but was able to just stand there and watch by the time we left.
The other success was that I got him to step out onto the road (he wasn't too sure about stepping onto that strange surface)! Definitely a case where slow and steady, rewarding movement in the right direction paid off.
I love being around horses, they have so much to teach about patience and sticking with something.
Here are a couple pictures from yesterday morning.
 |
| From Coyote Bay |
 |
| From Coyote Bay |
 |
| From Coyote Bay |
Monday, April 6, 2009
It's been a week
Since I last posted, shame on me!
The week had mostly involved finding creative ways to exercise Cody as it had been wet and soggy for a good part of it, rendering my round pen (which I have yet to put footing in) unusable, ground was too wet to trot circles outside of the round pen either, so we practiced trotting in hand and I got exercise out of the deal too! Cody made a lot of progress being able to trot in hand this week too. He will now trot off nicely, instead of tossing his head and looking at me like I've lost mine when I break into a jog. He also stops as soon as I do which is just sort of fun to stop randomly to make sure he is paying attention.
Saturday (my birthday) was an absolutely gorgeous day! So of course I spent some time outside with Cody and what I decided to attempt again was ground driving. I hadn't really worked on it since he seemed a bit confused the last time I'd tried, although, thanks to Life at the Roughstring it sounds like he was getting it better than I was. So we had a moment of follow the pressure of the rope, oh wait, now there is pressure on the other side, and then I was able to get some forward motion and pretty soon he is trotting around with one rope going around his rump to my hand and the other straight from halter to hand (still don't have a surcingle or anything). We had some somewhat tangled moments when figuring out how to stop since he is so used to turning and facing me, but we got that mostly figured out. By the end, I could get him to make a few turns and trot off the other direction, all in all, a fun day!
The swelling has never gotten very bad from being gelded although the wound is still open and raw looking (but shrinking).
Yesterday, the ground was drier so on a bit of a whim (I was supposed to be doing something else outside but just sort of gravitated to Cody....) went to work with Cody for a moment. I had him trotting around the round pen this way and that, but he was just being a little skittish about me reaching out and petting him after I'd asked him to stop, which just seemed silly on his part, so off I'd send him again. This went on for a bit, and since it was actually above 60 degrees outside, he got sweaty! Hmm, my devious mind was plotting, what a perfect excuse to introduce him to the hose.... Luckily my mom was outside and kind of manned the water pressure as Cody tried to convince me he was just fine with being sweaty.
Hose with no water was okay, hose with a soft trickle of water, not so much. Okay then, take a look at it with your inquisitive nose.
"Oh, it's water? Well then, I want a drink!" (I so wish I had a picture of this but my hands were full!!) He was perfectly content to stand there drinking out of the hose for a moment but it took a bit longer to actually get the water on his shoulder, but by the end, success!
The week had mostly involved finding creative ways to exercise Cody as it had been wet and soggy for a good part of it, rendering my round pen (which I have yet to put footing in) unusable, ground was too wet to trot circles outside of the round pen either, so we practiced trotting in hand and I got exercise out of the deal too! Cody made a lot of progress being able to trot in hand this week too. He will now trot off nicely, instead of tossing his head and looking at me like I've lost mine when I break into a jog. He also stops as soon as I do which is just sort of fun to stop randomly to make sure he is paying attention.
Saturday (my birthday) was an absolutely gorgeous day! So of course I spent some time outside with Cody and what I decided to attempt again was ground driving. I hadn't really worked on it since he seemed a bit confused the last time I'd tried, although, thanks to Life at the Roughstring it sounds like he was getting it better than I was. So we had a moment of follow the pressure of the rope, oh wait, now there is pressure on the other side, and then I was able to get some forward motion and pretty soon he is trotting around with one rope going around his rump to my hand and the other straight from halter to hand (still don't have a surcingle or anything). We had some somewhat tangled moments when figuring out how to stop since he is so used to turning and facing me, but we got that mostly figured out. By the end, I could get him to make a few turns and trot off the other direction, all in all, a fun day!
The swelling has never gotten very bad from being gelded although the wound is still open and raw looking (but shrinking).
Yesterday, the ground was drier so on a bit of a whim (I was supposed to be doing something else outside but just sort of gravitated to Cody....) went to work with Cody for a moment. I had him trotting around the round pen this way and that, but he was just being a little skittish about me reaching out and petting him after I'd asked him to stop, which just seemed silly on his part, so off I'd send him again. This went on for a bit, and since it was actually above 60 degrees outside, he got sweaty! Hmm, my devious mind was plotting, what a perfect excuse to introduce him to the hose.... Luckily my mom was outside and kind of manned the water pressure as Cody tried to convince me he was just fine with being sweaty.
Hose with no water was okay, hose with a soft trickle of water, not so much. Okay then, take a look at it with your inquisitive nose.
"Oh, it's water? Well then, I want a drink!" (I so wish I had a picture of this but my hands were full!!) He was perfectly content to stand there drinking out of the hose for a moment but it took a bit longer to actually get the water on his shoulder, but by the end, success!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)