Sunday, February 17, 2008

It finally made it to 20 degrees so I took the pups for a nice walk to try to wear them down. I put their backpacks on this time. For weight and balance, I used tennis balls. At first Pix was putting the brakes on but soon stepped into pace. Pixie's kept sliding off to one side so I took one of the balls and put it to the other side and then it slid that way. After checking her straps and finding the second belly strap needed tightening we had improvement. Wyatt enjoyed his new pack - his tail was up and he sported a proud bearing. During the summer he is the water boy with his other pack. His new pack has an area that you can feed the p/u bag and a velcro tab to put the used bag on his pack. He didn't like carry the used stuff so Pix, my little butterfly gal, doesn't notice anything except what intrigs her so I slipped it into her pack.

After getting home with a couple of mellower dogs, I made some more adjustments. The next time we have a nice day for walking we can test the changes.

Did some pre-packing for staying at L's.

Went to the barn for fake cow practice and nobody was there!?!? I called the owner but no answer. Josie came up to the gate when I called. She is better about it between feedings or at the end of her evening hay.

I started applying hoof dressing on her front right. She has a crack that goes all the way into her coronet band. She had one on her other front but the farrier had filed it and it went away. The stuff I bought is suppose to promote growth so we will see what happens. Over that application I am putting on a mixture the farrier sells.

Josie is doing better at side pass. She is moving over more and quicker. She is still walking forward a bit but after a firm half halt she gets it and quits moving forward.

Since I had the arena to myself I decided canter practice would be a focal point. She made a couple of mistakes (picked up the incorrect lead or broke). Once I got the correct lead we circled and we cantered the entire arena. Needless to say she was a bit sweaty.

I am amazed at how much better I am riding, my confidence level and my training consistency once we decided to do the sorting league. Check out bigmuddyranch.com. Team Stampedes (Non-buckle).

With all that work I knew I had at least a half hour of drying time. She is very funny when it comes to the hair dryer. I don't think she minds it but she doesn't seem to like it when I move her hair around. She bobs her head and opens and closes her mouth to bite. I have been more firm about attempted biting - one day I hope she quits trying. Just stand still in the cross ties and we will be fine.

Had to clean up her accident in the cross ties. Again, one day I hope . . .

Got out of there earlier than I would have if there had been a practice. The pups were not ready to go to bed and I was tired with a capital T.