Snow, Rain, and the Arrival of Winter

Insane weather for early October!

Wow. We seriously had three inches of snow come down yesterday. And rain the day before. Sheesh--it was too hot to ride last Friday and our high temperature today was 42 degrees. Rather rude of Mother Nature in my opinion, but it does make me grateful to have the county indoor arena just a few blocks away!

On Wednesday afternoon I took both boys down to play at the arena, and we were lucky enough to have it to ourselves so I could turn them loose to run. Flyboy has only seen it once before, so he had a lot of fun charging around in the sand and exploring the corners with Keno. They ran from one end to the other, over and over again. Fly actually was brave enough to kick up his heels at Keno as they raced around like maniacs.

When they had had their fill of freedom, I haltered Flyboy and played ground games with him. He is making lots of progress in the driving game, yielding his forequarters much easier than he did a couple of weeks ago. He is very good at most of the games and I will start adding new variations soon. I did ask him to jump the barrel; he was reluctant, but eventually gave it a try. I should probably bring some trot poles down there again.

I worked with Keno for a few minutes while Fly was tied to the rail. When I headed to the far end to turn off the lights I took Keno with me. Flyboy got anxious and pulled back on the rope. He really pulled but didn't get too panicked and settled back down quickly. That's the first time he's done that although the trainer told me it was a problem. I will order a tie ring and use that in the future. That should help him feel less trapped. He will have to spend time at the rail this winter, so Keno can get his share of work. ;)

Yesterday I wasn't planning on riding, but about after it stopped snowing around two-thirty, I went out to work with Flyboy in the corral. We played for a few minutes, and I took him out to the trailer to work on his loading skills. He got right in, backed halfway out once, got in again and stood with his hip cocked looking at me like, "So where are we headed?" I closed the slant panel and decided I'd better take him somewhere: that was the best he's done with loading! I took him down to play at the arena, and again we were the only ones there.

I turned him loose to play and for the first five minutes he wouldn't leave my side! Once the lights warmed up and came on, he relaxed. (Oh, yeah, I've been here before!) He trotted and cantered around for a while and checked the place out. My neighbor showed up with a couple of horses; that interested Flyboy! We watched them ride till Fly relaxed. I took him out to the trailer, he stepped in, moved over so I could close the slant panel, and away we went. Great trailer progress! Woohoo---hope it holds!

Today it was Keno's turn, though. Fly stayed home alone while I took Keno down to the arena again for a good workout. Hopefully the weather changes back to our balmy fall afternoons, so we can get back out on trail. Otherwise, Fly will be headed for some arena work tomorrow, too! I just can't resign myself to being in the arena everyday this early in the winter!