Mustang Saga

Today the weather was absolutely beautiful. I got to work with both of my boys. Sorry, no pictures. :(

I tried a different Myler bit with Tonka, and he didn't like it. He wasn't bad, but it was clear it was a distraction rather than a help. He's been working really well in the basic Myler comfort snaffle and this was similar but with short shanks and a roller. I'd like to try a Myler bit with a little tongue relief or low port, I think he'd like that a lot. Or I just need to get another regular comfort snaffle, so that I have one for each of the boys. They both like it much better than a regular snaffle.

I don't think Tonka's muscles were doing very well today. He was pretty resistant and tail-swishy about backing up, which is only a problem for him when his EPSM is a problem. So I cut that short and we did some other stuff. It may have been because I hadn't fed him his supplement in the morning like I normally do, I fed it after our work instead. I hope he feels better tomorrow.

I got Scout out for the first real work session since his stall rest. I decided his hooves needed a touch up and while I was doing that I found a big abscess exit tract in his heel area on his right front hoof. So it looks like his lameness was from an abscess after all. Unless it was just a coincidence, but that seems unlikely.

Recently I've noted that Scout is bossing both of the mares he lives with, and I wondered if that was going to have repercussions in our work. Well, he was sure a handful today. More sluggish than usual and then more attitude when I asked him to toe the mark. But I was happy to note that he did not seem lame in the least. Eventually, after a lot of groundwork, we did some relaxed riding. We worked mostly on the backup, and he did well, then not, then well, then not. It was weird and frustrating. At one point as I asked him to back up he slipped in a patch of mud and fell to his knees. That was a fun position to be in. I could feel him thinking about what to do, and I really hoped he wouldn't decide to lay down. I gave the reins a slight upward pressure and he got himself back up. Good boy!

When I was done I fed them an extra meal because I'd given them a light breakfast. Scout was a turd! He was pinning his ears and heading for the hay I was holding after I'd dropped the first pile. So I didn't drop the second pile until I had told him (more than once and quite firmly) to go away and he finally went to eat with his mom. Then I fed the other two piles and he didn't bother me. I'm going to have to pay closer attention when I feed. He's got a lot of thoughts going on in his head when I'm just getting through my chores, and I think he has me pegged as a push-over.

So it wasn't really fun work today, but the weather was nice and it was good to get time with both boys for a change. We have a lesson on coming up and I'm hoping John will go with and ride one of them (I'm starting to think he better ride Tonka for now). So I need to make sure they're both in a working mindset.