Progress Takes Work

Ollie, Toby and Davey enjoying time in their summer paddock.

Ollie and I are still progressing nicely albeit slowly.  

James came back to town but I wasn't in town to participate in the clinic.  Matt and I had gone to Baltimore for the Preakness Stakes.  So Ollie and I are continuing on with our work with the goal of strengthening his back, getting him to relax his jaw and accept the bit, and overall getting him to relax under saddle.  We'll get with James on his next visit.

Our routine has been fun for me.  I'm still using the long lines with him and he's really looking good.  We have to work harder for a nice bend when we go to the right but every horse has a bad direction.  To break things up and to get him to trust me, we make small ventures out around the property.  So far he's been good but we've not been out of sight of the barn with out Toby being with us.  On those days, I take them both out for a hack.  I ride Toby and pony Ollie.  We ride the perimeter of their big field where they spend the winter.  I have a pedometer with a GPS on my cell phone and it tells me that a perimeter loop is 1.2 miles.  It's nice rolling hillsides so it's good for working out both horses.  We do it all at a walk/trot.  Toby is horribly out of shape and I'm really trying to get Ollie to do things quietly so this is all good.  Plus walking up and down the hills will lengthen and strengthen those back muscles.

I'm really enjoying having a focus with my horses and setting goals.  Plus it's all happening at the right pace for Ollie to "get it".  I'm feeling good about our progress!  Even Ollie is feeling good about it!

In the meantime, Matt and I have been crazy busy.  We had the Preakness Stakes for starters:




Followed immediately (like the day after the Preakness) by the High Hope Steeplechase at the Kentucky Horse Park. Yep! We drove back in time for the 1st race at 1:30pm!


And now we are playing catch up! This week I get to go visit my foal friends at Adena Springs. I love doing this work! Meet my little filly friend SomethinAboutLaura - Bernardini '12. We will be following her up until she turns 1 yr old. We started when she was just a couple days old. In this video she's about 7 weeks old.


Finally, do you guys think we'll have a Triple Crown winner this year?!