This afternoon I rode Sonny all the way up the driveway..180m uphill !

Woo Hoo!!

I’ve been trying to be dedicated about trimming Sonny every week as requested by Cas. All the horses got done again yesterday. Sonny’s back feet needed doing properly as they haven't been done fully since Cas was here except for some heel realignment. The fronts needed the heels taking back a little & the toes reshaping & shortening using measurement method (1/3-2/3).  I didn’t take any photos. But I rasped off almost all the remaining bullnose leaving just a little bit on the RF. I will take photos after next week’s trim when there should be 2 full totally new front hooves to show off!

 

Each afternoon I’ve been doing some 'work play' with Sonny including Marijke de Jong’s ‘Straightness Training’. Sonny prefers to do that in the18m wide round pen rather than along straight fences in the play area. So with the special halter set up with the long reins on it, we go around the outside & the inside of the round pen doing travers, renvers, haunches in & out, shoulders in & out. All this is done from the ground with me using the long reins. Then some liberty through the weave pegs followed by a short ride 1 lap of the round pen with a weave through the pegs all at the walk only. He was a bit sore after previous trims when I asked(or rather I allowed him) to trot 2 laps of round pen on the day following the trim. All this roundpen work is mainly to work his feet. It causes him to use the whole of his hooves, particularly the edges. Apparently if he can do that without getting sore it means the internal structures are repairing properly.

 

He wasn’t sore at all after yesterday’s trim, nor did he limp at all during today’s play session done without boots. So after our walk out along the road & graze back 200m to the gate with no sign of soreness I decided to ride him bareback up the driveway on the grass at a brisk walk. It will be very interesting to see if he is sore during the next few days from today’s effort. Over the next couple of days I won't ask him to do any 'work play', just mess around with the big ball & getting up on the stump.



All in all things are going really well. Still no rain at all. That's 6.5wks without rain. It's a record. All this dry weather is an absolute gift. He's got 5months before the wet season starts properly in February so that should be after another full cycle of hoof growth.


Happy days!!