moved back to wordpress

i decided to move this blog back over to wordpress i find it easier to work with.
http://thepmuponcho.wordpress.com/

Slowly getting there

Poncho still has a little bit of rain rot that DOES NOT want to go away for anything. So we're trying to battle that as much as possible.

I've been a bit inconsistent with the riding lately. Between going out of town, rain, and me we've been less than stellar. I'm trying to not stress it and approach it all as, if i'm not 100% committed to the ride I just won't. We'll see where that gets us I guess.

When I have managed to ride he's been improving with his canter. Not as crooked as he's been. Our trot work is hit or miss depending on his focus level for the day. We managed to pop over a small jump the other day which he didn't think was worth the effort and only trotted over it. What a goober.

Clipped the beast and never a dull moment at the barn.

Since Poncho will be staying in work this winter I knew I was going to do some sort of clip on him. I just didn't know when I was going to do it. So when today rolled around and was a lovely day that I happened to be off I decided today was the day! It didn't go quite as I planned however. First I ended up having to go a little further than I had wanted to get a new blade. Then when I got to the barn another horse was being clipped so I had to wait my turn. No biggie though I was in no rush.

2 hours later and we were ready to get going. First I was giving him a mini bath on his back and butt to knock out some rain rot he managed to get. While we were in the process of that we hear lots of screaming outside from horses and people. I went to investigate... The donkey had managed to get loose in a field that's not her normal one and one of the horses decided she was no acceptable. So she was being ferociously chased around the field. Unfortunately I couldn't do much to help because I couldn't leave Poncho alone in the barn. But they managed to separate the horse and donkey with no injuries thankfully.

After that we were able to start clipping. It's been awhile since he's been clipped so I wasn't sure how he'd react. He was fine with the clippers, the sound was a non issue. BUT the second some of his hair fell to the ground he was terrified of it. Go figure of course he'd be afraid of his own hair. Luckily he got over that quickly. He was really good minus occasional fidgeting. I still need to fix up the lines but my small clippers battery was dead so that will wait for another. Now hopefully this clip will be good enough and I won't have to take more hair off.

 

I fell off the face of the earth

Well it's been forever since I've posted anything. The quick run down of what happened since my last post. Poncho basically sat for a year. I was back and forth on the idea of selling him and quitting horses altogether. My funk lasted for an incredibly long time. Then one day I decided to hop up and see if he was sound undersaddle. He was.

So we've spent the last couple of months trying to get some sort of routine back into our riding schedule. Between him being out of shape and my horrible knees it's been a slow process and we're still only at about 20 minute rides a few times a week. BUT we're making a come back.

We still have lots to work on from our time off. Apparently he's forgotten how to canter like a civilized pony. However his trot work is the best it's ever been. Go figure.

Here are some pictures just for the heck of it:

Where we're at.

Basically still no where really. I have however hopped on him two times. He was still quite foot sore from pulling his shoes but he seemed pleased to work.

Is it working yet?

I've had the BoT knee wrap for a little while now. I'm still not 100% sure what I think. Although I will admit he hasn't been able to wear them everyday so far. Sometimes I just can't get out to the barn to put them on and I don't want to hassle the BO with putting them on and taking them off every day. She's does enough extra for him as it is.

Only more time will tell I suppose. Although I will note that now you can see another knot on his knee where the bone growth is...ahhhh his knee just looks so yucky.

WW