Saturdays are busy days

24 minutes - 1.08 miles - Morgan
32 minutes - 0.11 miles - Rhulain

The kid and I went for a two mile walk and hiked around the sand dunes.  I taught him how to slide down the dunes on a piece of cardboard, but the sand was too soft and he got stuck half way down.  We found a dune that had a nice drop and we tried it on our butts ... worked great!

 Morgan and I headed out for a quick mile ride after I finished the hike.  I think she was cranky it was me doing the riding rather than the kid.  Or maybe she doesn't like the Aussie saddle.  Whatever it was, she wasn't happy to go out for a ride.  She was unfocused and coiled the whole time, so we cut it short and went home.

Rhulain and I did some ground work on flexing her neck then I saddled up and practiced standing still for mounting.  Her job was to do nothing, and she did it quite well after a few attempts.  She was nervous, but she sure tried hard, and I love a girl who tries!

Getting Back to Normal

20 Minutes Total
Walking for 12 minutes - Trotting for 3 minutes - Walking for 5 minutes - Flexing for 2 min
Distance: 1.26 miles

Morgan grabbed a quick snack while I tried to capture the sunrise through the mist

Because of the rain, there was a lovely layer of mist over the mountains

Snack finished, Morgan was ready to move on to the trotting portion of our work out 

Had to cut our walk time short today because Bill said there was fog in the pass and I should leave early in order to make it to work on time. 

Escapees ...

40 Minutes Total
Walking for 25 minutes - Trotting for 8 minutes - Walking for 5 minutes - Flexing for 2 min

This morning I decided to take Morgan for a walk, but I failed to wrap a chain around the turn out exit.  Before I had even made it to the tack shed, Wasabi used those ever busy mustang lips of hers to flip open the latch and lead the other three horses on a merry outing around the yard.

Of course, once Morgan saw the other three running free, she joined in. *sigh*  She told everyone to follow her and she headed towards the open gate.  NOOOOOO!  I started running and barely managed to get the gate shut before they whirled around and ran towards the other gate.  Nice try, but  that one was shut.

So after 20 minutes of chasing them from one side of the yard to the other, I bent over to try and catch my breath.  I saw Wasabi peek around the bush and watch me carefully.  When I managed to stand up, she stood still and let me lead her back to her stall.  Sundance and Morgan didn't want to be left alone, so they followed along.  

Majesty took another 5 minutes to catch. *rolls eyes*

Once that was done, I saddled Morgan and we trotted off down the road, stopped at the end of the street and let her grab a snack, before turning and trotting almost all the way home.  We walked the last 5 minutes and then I returned her to the turn out so she could eat breakfast.

According to the app on my phone, I walked 1.77 miles and burned 129 calories chasing those dorks this morning.  So, um, good for me?

More exercising

Ground work, 30 minutes

Morg and I put in 20 minutes of brisk walking tonight, followed by 2 minutes of jogging.  To change things up a bit, we wandered through trees and added a walk to the front driveway in addition to stepping over boards.  Then we worked on flexing her neck to both sides while standing still for a bit.  I love hanging out with my Morgie girl and getting in shape!  She's a great partner :)

Topline Exercises

Ground work for 30 minutes

Sticking to the plan!  Morgan and I getting ready to start our 20 minute walking exercise

To add some fun and to work on rebuilding her topline, I set up some planks for us to step over.  I was hoping this would encourage her to stretch out her neck and lift her back.  Plus, it gave us something to do for 20 minutes in the pitch black.

Making shadows and burning calories

This is the best shot I got of Morgan stretching and stepping over the planks ... we'll continue to work on it until we're both back in shape

After 20 minutes of walk/plank work, we spent an additional 10 minutes on flexing her neck on both sides.  Just wanted a refresher course for our upcoming mounting lesson.

Morgan and I hanging out

Before Work Ride

Tuesday, July 22nd  Left at 7:47 am  Arrived at 8:15 am  73°
Solo with Morgan

Flexing before we ride ...nice soft eye

Was able to go in late this morning, so I decided to sneak in a morning ride while it was still "cool."  Saddled up, and flexed her neck as I got in to the saddle.  She stood perfectly still and flexed both sides!  Nicely done Morg!

In the sand dunes, surrounded on two sides by Mesquite bushes

Headed out down a wash until it connected with a pathway we knew.  Anytime she stopped, I flexed her neck to both sides and waited until her feet stopped moving until releasing the rein.  We only had to do this three times before we settled in to our ride.

Lots of open spaces to play in the bushes and washes

She was very nervous about heading up the sand dune, so we flexed again, and once her head was straight we went up the sand dune and down a back road to the salt flats.  She was doing so well that we pushed on to the next salt flat before turning south and taking a nice flat path to the road.  

Heading home ... look at those perky ears!

The road was rocky, so we paralleled it in the desert and found some natural obstacles to play with ... in and out of the bushes, through the washes with uneven footing, and over some fallen logs that were in our path.  It was a pleasurable way to conclude our ride!  Practiced flexing before dismounting and then bathed my darling Morgan before putting her back in the turn out and feeding everyone breakfast.  

Fallen trees mean time to practice stepping and jumping

What a wonderful way to start my day!  Thank you Morgie girl!

Worked hard enough to make a few veins rise to the surface 

Working on Flexing the Neck & New Barn Cat

Monday, July 22nd  Evening, About an hour  93°
Solo, Ground Work

This is not Morgan ... This is Elmer. He just started showing up and has decided he lives with us now.

Bill was in house working on the air conditioner, so I went outside to feed.  I couldn't resist working with Morgan, so I tossed on a halter and worked on flexing her neck.  She was much better on the left side, but she seemed to be stiff on her right side.  After about 20 tries on each side, I decided to try it from the saddle.

Hello Elmer.  Thank you for guarding the front porch and eating bugs

I tossed on her bitless bridle, but she really stiffened her neck and she resisted turning to either side.  I thought maybe that might not be the best tool, so I switched to her bit.  This seemed to work better, but she kept trying to move her feet before giving to the bit and receiving release.

Um Elmer ...You don't really look big and brave when you're begging to be picked up

We kept working at it until I could get two flexes on each side while at a stand still.  Then I moved her over to the mounting stool.  I worked on bringing her head to the left, sliding in to the saddle, then flexing to the right and releasing before dismounting.  When we did this 10 times successfully, I just let her wander around the yard in any direction and speed she wanted for a few minutes.  Then we flexed one more time before untacking and feeding all the horses.  Not a great session, but a good one!