On your knees

OK last weekend was BEAUTIFUL. I spent both Saturday and Sunday at the barn with Annie. We did ground work to recap on a few things. There are still a few things to work on more because she is not easily affected. She would stand there without reacting or budging to my almost forceful attempts. She can be so lazy sometimes.

Sunday Carol, Barbara and I went for a short trail ride around the property. It was so nice. Vegas was a bit nervous at first but then warmed up. Vegas is a young horse. Talking about age, the vet came Saturday for shots and coggins certification for another horse and we took advantage of it and did Annie's at the same time. He inspected her teeth (he is also an equine dentist), and noted that she appeared to be barely 10 yrs of age. Not 12 as I thought. Last year when I had a different vet examined her, he made the same remark. So I have a younger mare than I thought...It is hard to tell how old they are especially if they have no papers.

We worked on canter also. Saturday and Sunday both A's on the canter. Sunday was a bit crowded in the arena so we went into the round pen. The round pen needs to be enlarged by a couple of panels. I feared that she would trip and she did. Not only she would lean on her front inside shoulder but she landed on her knees and skidded to a stop. The new and improve reining stop! Forward knee stop! Well I stayed on her back and then slowly dismounted to inspect her face (it hit the pen gates) and checked her knees for cuts and heat. They seemed fine. We just walked for a while so we could both catch our breath.

When she seemed to have forgotten about it, I mounted again and we trotted and cantered a couple of turns around the arena. I was happy with the outcome so we called it a day.