Subsequent log entries here.

12/30/09 Shoe was fixed just a few days after the last log entry. He became sounder and sounder over time. Out for a snow hack today. Lovely canter work to right. Some difficulty left. Quite sound.

12/17/09 Unsound on left front. Shoe is wonky per vet. Heels are visibly uneven and shoe turned at about a 15 degree angle off center. My farrier is very good, so I am sure he had a reason, but unfortunately, it didn't produce the desired result. Having farrier out asap.

11/30/09 Nice long walk warmup and then some long trot work. Then into canter work, focusing on the quality of the canter rather than the quanity. His departs are getting better and he is able to hold the lead longer. Excellent work.

11/20/09 I got to thinking about why he did so well with WDP hunt and so poorly with our hunt when I took him out last week (much bucking). It turns out we had a great slow warm up at WDH and none with our hunt. With that in mind, I took him out today and provided a nice long walk and trot warmup. He still had some lead swapping in canter, but no bucking and he was really great. Woohoo.

11/11/09 Sedate trail ride with Katie aboard and me and Sammy along.

11/10/09 Out for a hack where he felt really quite well. A few lead changes here or there, but happy to go and very even in trot. Great fun.

11/7/09 Headed over to Chicago to hunt with WDH. We dropped him off at Bull Run Friday after a bath and he arrived at the meet tacked and braided and quite lovely. What a treat. He was a little tight in his back (minor bucks at a walk) when I got on, but with a little movement, he worked out of it quite nicely. Other than a few disagreements about which side of a few trees to pass on, we both had a great day. He was a star, and he walked a little taller when we got home on Sunday.

11/1/09 Out for a trail ride with Jay and Elliott. Lots of fun, but he needs a lot more strength in back.

10/26/09 Dressage school. He is feeling better in his back and didn't offer to buck once and seems very pleased with himself. Yay.

10/19/09 He has had a week off since being re-shod in the back to give him a little more lift in th heel. I rode him and he was pretty good in trot and improved in canter. He did not buck, but is not right over his back. Moving in the right direction though. We ended up cantering around the pasture twice and he did well.

10/7/09 He got his back feet redone yesterday after Roy said that a higher heel would help him a lot. I rode him today, mostly sitting on him while teaching. He is still pretty sore, so I didn't ask him to do much. I think I need to take it easy and build him back up.

9/27/09 Hunt with Jay. He was quite good, but got a thistle between his butt cheeks at a walk and nearly unseated Jay, who made a very good save. Other than that understandable bobble, he was great.

9/26/09 Opening Hunt with me. He was stellar and jumped and behaved like a pro.

9/25/09 Katie came out and played with him and rode him. Fun.

9/23/09 Hunted with Jay and jumped well, but had a fair amount of bucking in canter. Called Roy to see if I can get him in for SI evaluation.

9/22/09 Soundness check before the hunt tomorrow. He felt great in all gaits.

9/16/09 Got new front shoes, much less tender. Did some canter work in the pasture. He is pretty unfit, but willing.

9/5/09 Another 8 laps with me riding, coaching Martha.

9/3/09 8 laps including some canter

9/1/09 Jay rode him and we trotted 8 laps of the pasture. He did very well.

8/25/09 Missed a few log entries in there. Getting back into foxhunting shape. He was chiropractically adjusted last Thursday and his right hip was low. So we are doing a lot of steady trot work to help strengthen everything back up now that it is in the right spot. He was nappy at first, but managed to get his mojo going and do some nice working trot around the pasture.

8/5/09Jay rode him in the outdoor, where Charlie was very good but extremely lazy. Then he rode him in the pasture with me and Elliott (who was a brat) and Charlie bucked several times. Jay stuck with it admirably and we proceeded to trot several times around the outside of the pasture and got better and better.

8/4/09 Back in the tack after a long hiatus. He was a little tight in the back and bucked a few times, but nothing big. Good man.

6/19/09 Sheath cleaning. Much better.

6/5/09 I rode him with Martha and Speck and he was fabulous. What a nice horse.

3/22/09 Hunted with Jay. Did very well, other than one wobbly coop and pulling a shoe in the mud at the end. He really did do well. Today was his 9th birthday and he got lots of cookies.

3/18/09 Took him out for a hack in the fields, which were softer than I anticipated. So we went out on the gravel roads a few miles, where the footing was perfect. Other than a few whinnies, he was really quite good.

3/15/09 Jay hunted him while I was at the NE Horse Expo. Jay said he was very good. He was the Fieldmaster, so all in all, not too shabby. Yay.

3/5/09 Three mile hack on the roads. He was a little unsure about being alone, did some whinnying, but behaved very well. Good man.

2/28/09 Hunted with me at Grand River. Five inches of snow and still snowing when we arrived, windy, but a great hunting day and he was stellar.

12/13/08 Katie Hall rode him on the champagne ride. He was excellent and she had a blast.

11/22/08 Hunted at Tipton. He was great. Huge fun, perfect gentleman and enjoyed himself.

11/12,15,16 Hunted. White Breast, Grand, River twice. He is really coming into his own. Jumping coops and enjoying himself. He does remarkably well.

11/1-2/08 Hunted on Saturday at Whitebreast and led a gate group. He was very good. Almost went down at a canter once when he stepped in a depression he should have seen. Cheap lesson about watching his feet. Sunday hunted at South River and led a second flight. Jumped a lot of things and he was great. Woohoo.

10/25/08 Hunted at GR. He arrived at the hunt with an enlarged right front fetlock which was warm on the inside. I trotted him out and he was sound on it. I rode him for about an hour in the walk/trot group and he was excellent and retired sound. His leg was actually better after the ride and looked better yet Sunday, so hopefully just a passing thing.

10/19/08 Hunted in the back of first flight, taking the gates. He was excellent. Managed some tough terrain and minded himself very well, even with horses behind him eventually when he became an impromput second flight non jumping fieldmaster horse with me. Hunted about an hour and a half and then took him home, because he was doing so well and I didn't want to overdo it.

10/18/08 Hunted in the gate group at Tipton. He was excellent in the slow paced group, crossed streams, trotted and cantered and stood well. He did have a weird moment and kicked a horse with basically no warning. The horse was fine, thank goodness. Other than that, he was great.

10/15/08 Missed a bunch of entries in there, including his first hunt, which we did in the gate group with Pam and Jeff and Kim with her young saddlebred. Charlie did quite well, tolerating hounds, crossing a bridge and cantering in the group quite nicely. He was not fond of the Scottish Highland cattle, but then, so few of us are. ;-) Today we worked in the arena on dressage. He is so willing. Worked on spiral in and out of the canter to help him balance. It is particularly difficult for him to the left, but he tries. I may have to get him to the chiropractor again.

8/7/08 Rode him around the pasture, checking the fence, then did some trot and canter work, keeping him in front of my leg, especially on the way out. He was improved over the last ride, though a little bit wobbly still.

8/5/08 Cantered Charlie in the pasture. He was good toward the barn, but a bit of a pill away. D'oh. Big goofy baby horsie.

7/26/08 Jumped the liverpool and cantered balanced. Way cool.

7/25/08 Katie came out and rode him. Went well.

7/24/08 All I'm going to say is, balance the canter and good things happen. :-)

7/21/08 Worked in the arena. Talked about stop, stand and breathe, some leg yield and canter. Did quite well.

7/16/08 Jump school which went well. A little exuberant at first, but got better. Always willing.

7/9/08 Jump school in the arena. He did a small one stride. Getting better all the time.

7/1/08 Cavaletti and jump school in the sand arena. He had some moments of crashing through the jump, but got better and better. He learned about cavaletti quickly. Very good.

6/29/08 Rode in the arena and put up a small one stride in and out which was a fair disaster, but he did learn a lot. More to come. Good boy.

6/25/08 After a warmup, did some canter work which went well and then some jumping. Getting more confident, up to 2' with reasonable form.

6/14/08 Warm up in the outdoor and with a little jumping that went moderately well. We need a lot more work on balance. Three mile road hack with Jay and Elliott. Went pretty well.

6/13/08 Rode in the outdoor. He was very good and we did our first jumping. Had a few moments, but went well.

6/6/08 Ver nice work in the outdoor. Not one difficulty. A little sticky in trot if one were looking for problems.

6/1/08 Rode in the outdoor. He feels much better, he says. Did a lot of canter transition work which is coming along. Only one bad step on that left hind. Very good.

5/28/08 Chiropractic adjustment. Lots of stuff out of whack. Feels much better.

5/26/08 Slow warmup with much walking and then some trot work which went fine. Then on to canter which was quite good, a few tight steps, but mostly good. He goes to the chiro on Wednesday.

5/25/08 Sheath cleaning. He was very polite.

5/12/08 Walk trot canter in the outdoor. He is coming more balanced all the time. Wants to carry his hip left all the time. He has a really good attitude and today produced some nice trot work too.

5/4/08 Worked in the outdoor with a lot of trot walk trot transition and then some canter work which went quite well. Took him out on a hack which went well, including hand gallop. Some whinnying, but very good.

4/22/08 Worked in the outdoor on canter work which was really quite unbalanced. Ended better than we started, though, so that is what we ask for.

4/9/08 The canter fest goes on. After a walk warm up, much cantering. He is now getting good enough with his right lead that I can feel that the left is weaker. Unusual, that, but encouraging, too, because it means we are getting somewhere. Even if the left is fairly unbalanced, it is still better than where we started and the right lead is showing us the shape of things to come. Yay.

4/8/08 Got on and he was relaxed from the start. Good trot work, willing trot leg yield, if a little unbalanced. Canter work goofy at first, losing lead in back, but not bucking. Ended doing some walk canter transitions which really seemed to help himi balance his canter. Very good.

4/1 and 2/08 Getting better about staying relaxed right away after mounting. Trot work inconsistent but enthusiastic. Canter work improving, though he does throw his head once in a while which I can do without. All in all he did very well. He has a great attitude.

3/30/08 Started out much more relaxed than he has in the past, but his trot work was fairly tight, but it came around. Canter work was really quite awful until I figured out that he wasn't moving his ribcage over which was why he kept losing the lead. Once I got that working, his canter work had its first moments of true goodness. Very gratifying.

3/26/08 Nice walk warm up, inattentive trot work, bouncing from rein to rein, canter work quite awful at first with bucking. Ended up with passing canter work and some reasonable walk lateral work. He did fine. Coming along and he has a very good attitude (ok, yes, the bucking maybe is a but much, but it isn't 'tude, it is lack of balance).

3/19/08 No initial bucking discussion. In fact no mention of bucking or the intention of it, during the whole ride. More canter practice. Coming along. Still not near balanced, but definitely coming along. He's got a great attitude.

3/18/08 Rode in the outdoor, and had an initial discussion about the wisdom of bucking in the first two minutes. He gets a hump behind the saddle and just suggests that he might buck, but I can negotiate it out. That habit will end. Trot work was nice, some deadness to lateral aids, but not bad. Canter work started out pretty feral, but with much forward we eventually cantered 2 consecutive 20 m circles in both directions. Very good and cookies.

3/16/08 Rode in the outdoor, and after some walk and trot warmup, with some basic lateral work, went into canter. It seems that he can't hold his balance on the circle, does a lot better using the whole arena and negotiating the corners as they come up. Less bucking, but still enough to keep things intersting. Luckily his attitude is good otherwise..

3/15/08 Finally some decent footing. We worked in the outdoor. He was bunched up in his back when I first got on and would have bucked if I hadn't done some cowboy bending tricks with him. He got over it nicely. He had some nice walk and trot work including leg yield. Canter work was a fair jumble of bucking and not going forward. Went back to trot, reviewed forward and then back into canter, which went well.

3/10/08 Got chiropracted. Found quite a few things wrong and fixed them. Also blew out the quarter on his left hind. Farrier fixed it on Friday the 14th. Will have to keep closer tabs on his hooves.

2/9/08 Front coming through at noon, so rode in the morning. I tacked up and led him out the south gate, which Jay had helped me dig out of the snow. I swung into the tack without letting down the offside stirrup, and as I did so, he jumped up into the air and continued bucking on a 20 m circle, 4 bounds of which went through an appreciable snowbank. He stopped after about, conservatively, 7 pretty good bucks, then he was standing there with all this tension in his body and a little tail swishing, so I had him step forward a few steps and then got off to let us both regroup. Got him settled and got on again and went on a delightful trailride. Clearly he has no experience on the trail because he had some questions about the footing that typical green horses do. We did some trotting and cantering, in which he managed to buck a few times, but not a big deal. On the way home he let out a few uncertain whinnies to his friends. He's a big silly green bean and I am confident he will turn out fine.

1/26/08 Started out with a walk in the too-icy-for-more-than-a-walk pasture. He was a little nappy because Billy was feedin the other horses and he figured it was supper time for him too. He got over himself and walked out and back with only a few jig steps. Then we did some trot work on the relatively ice free area where I had been riding the horses in a 20 m circle. We only did trot, and his circles were egg-shaped toward the barn, but he got less nappy and more confident as we went on. Very good man.

1/6/08 Finally the weather broke enough to get out and ride a bit, but not much because ice is still the rule, not the exception. We went out in the pasture and did walk trot and canter without any trouble. Very good.

11/21/07 Blanket holding up well despite cold rain and snow. Charlie very warm and dry. Rode him briefly today with much cantering. He is getting better, but still struggling behind. Friday I will try to make an apointment for Monday at the chiropractor.

11/20/07 Found a blanket that fits him and put it on due to windy and cold weather ahead. He's getting more relaxed.

11/19/07 After a warmup in the indoor, took him out on a trail ride. He looked at some things, but not overly dramatic about anything. Did some hand gallop in the soybean field which included a lot of flying changes from right to left. He had fun and did well.

11/14/07 Ha ha. Now he is better right than left in canter.

11/12/07 Walk, trot canter, both leads, no bucking. Still looking for more for free in walk, but coming along.

11/7/07 Short session, mostly worked to the right. Did a lot of flexibility stuff and had some good work in right lead canter, after much paddling about in counter canter. Proud of himself.

11/6/07 Worked in the arena (cold and windy outside!) and did some trot work, focusing on getting him to go to the left rein, and ribcage left. That went well, so on to canter work with no luck in getting the right lead. Gave it up and went to working on leg yield left to encourage him to go to the left rein and move his rib cage over. Legyield from center line to H, ask for canter depart at H and got it perfectly twice. Canter laughably unbalanced, but there with no bucking. Much praise and done for the day.

11/5/07 Working in the arena with some of the western people. Charlie did well, though he managed to throw in a few bucks in right lead canter. Beastie.

11/2/07 Warmed up nicely and behaved well with another horse in the ring. Nice trot work, and, after a nice buck, found the right lead. Got it twice. Pretty relaxed and fun.

11/1/07 Brought Chuck in an trimmed his mane and groomed him. Took him in the arena and discussed proper leading, then bending and moving. Tacked up and got on. Did walk, trot canter, and flexibility. Right lead non existant. His attitude is much softer than it was last time I worked with him. I'm thankful he joined the fold.