4/27/08 Horsie so very good that I am sending him home. If he is left with me I will not have the restraint to not start to put more buttons on him than you'd care to have... He did excellently today.

4/24/08 Worked in the arena on transitions. A bit unbalanced at times, but coming together.

4/23/08 Hacked in the field. He was a bit bully at first, wanting to lie on one rein or the other, but he got better with insistance. In his first canter he balled up and suggested a buck, but refrained. Didn't want to tear up the grass, so went to the outdoor and worked on transitions, which helped him remember politeness quite nicely. Good man.

4/17/08 He seems to be settling in quite well. I tacked him up and rode in the indoor and he was quite good. A little bit tight at first, but came around and produced nice work in all three gaits. Trimmed up his mane and tail.

9/5/07 Hunted at South River. He was so excited in the first few minutes that when we trotted off I thought he was lame. He was just goofy excited, but managed to be polite. He jumped the first few coops like a deer, but never hesitated. He got better and better as the day went on. Dropped him off at home after the hunt.

9/4/07 Conditioning hack, did very well.

8/30/07 He got new shoes and a trim. My farrier took a lot off his hoof and put him in a bigger shoe. He cautions that if he is continued to be shod so tight in the heels, it does not bode well for his long term soundness. Got on and rode him in the arena and he did quite well.

8/28/07 Road hack, 4 miles at a trot. Some shying, but did well.

8/27/07 Longed him which went very well and he got a good workout. Quite hot.

8/22/07 Three mile hack at a trot. Went fine.

8/17/07 two and a half mile trot conditioning hack. He did very well.

8/13/07 Longed. He is quite sound and quite, um, well fed. Let out a few good bucks which I was delighted not to be riding.

8/12/07 Picked him up and delivered to KMJ

5/29/07 Hauled home for shoeing and a break at home.

5/25/07 Warmed up with in hand work and he was very good. Got on and did a lot of transitions work and some discussion about shying at a carriage that is in the corner against the wall. When that was settled, on to canter work which went swimmingly.

5/23/07 Did in hand work which started out tough, but improved rapidly. Then tacked up and got on. Did a lot of transitions, bending and flexibility stuff in walk and trot which went well.

5/21/07 In hand work. Did a bunch of flexibility and obedience games. He figured things out pretty quickly. When we got to some moving the hindquarters things he got stuck once in both directions, which is fairly interesting. He figured it out and got significantly better by the end of the sesison.

5/16/07 Picked u JJ and brought him to KMJ.

10/20/06 JJ went home.

10/18/06 I lunged him to see how he was feeling and he started out a little slow, but after a few minutes was tracking up nicely and he was even. Wonderful.

10/17/06 trim and new shoes

10/16/06 I lunged him and he is even, but I would not call him sound. He is not reaching in front and not tracking up in back. I still blame the shoes. Farrier should be out by Wednesday.

10/14/06 Hunted him at Tipton. He was quite good on the flat, though when a run would start he did the pulling/rooting thing that Jeff described. I locked an elbow and let him hit the end of one rein. I don't like doing that, but it does teach them not to continue in that manner. It also has them punishing themselves, since I am not pulling on him, just absolutely refusing to give up my position for an instant. He figured it out pretty quickly, but I don't have delusion that it is fixed long term. He jumped exuberantly. It felt like he was using the coops as groundrails for the imaginary 4' oxers behind them. We had a long check and after we walked away from it, he was unsound on his right front. I think his shoes are terribly small. My farrier is going to come out and either pull them or pull and reset them with bigger shoes if there is enough growth there. We'll see.

6/7/06 JJ went to Brushy Creek with his owner, and then will go home after that. Report back from Jeff that he was excellent on the trailride. Great!

6/6/06 Worked in the arena on transitions and balance issues. Went very well. He seems to feel quite good.

6/1/06 Took him for a nice hack with a fair amount of trot and canter after warmup. He said he felt just great and performed well. The chiropractor was out to adjust him. He had a few spots in his neck that needed adjustment and one hip was lower than the other one. The adjustments went well and he was obviously relieved. We wormed with ivermectin and treated him with Equi-spot, a longer term fly repellant.

5/31/06 JJ seemed happy when I brought him in and tacked up. He was unusually quiet under saddle and when I had them out to graze in the yummy grass for a while he grazed but was distracted. The flies were really bothering him, which could be it. I will bring some permethrin treatment for him tomorrow and see if that helps. Some horses get sort of depressed when the flies get annoying.

5/24/06 2 mile road hack at trot and canter, on which he was quite settled and mindlful. No difficulties with the raging chickens from Hell. Very good.

5/22/06 More fun with transitions and lateral work. Advancing every day.

5/18/06 Transitions and lateral work to help with his balance. Coming right along.

5/17/06 Jump school. Went very well.

5/16/06 Work in the arena on transitions and lateral work to help him with balance and general strength. Went very well.

5/10/06 Working in the arena, focusing on lateral work to help him learn to use his hindquarters. After initial dead-sidedness, he did quite well. Also did some work on downward transitions.

5/9/06 Worked on transitions which went well. Introduced shoulder in to encourage him to step under himself in trot. His leg yielding is also coming along.

5/6/06 Cedar Run Hunter Pace. He did very well and Jeff had fun. Stopping much improved, jumping pretty good. Need some work on balance on hills.

5/5/06 Beauty Shop day for the hunter pace tomorrow. He enjoyed the massage. Looks smashing.

5/2/06 Jump school. When I presented him to the small log for warm up he acted like he had never jumped before. When I explained to him that I knew he already jumped, he got over it. He wants to rush a little bit and run off afterward. We did a lot of jumping and halting in a straight line shortly on the other side of the jump. He did very well. Much praise.

5/1/06 It was terrifying bird day on the conditioning hack today. We trotted out the first half mile and came upon some free range chickens in a pasture. I kid you not, and JJ was not impressed. Despite the fact that the chickens were living up to their names and choosing to "free range" rapidly away, JJ was sure they were attack chickens who eat bay horses. He continued to go forward throughout the ordeal, but not by his choice. He had some nice trot and canter work following that and some balanced transitions, but those come and go yet. On the way home while doing 15 strides of canter followed by 10 strides of walk, repeat, we flushed a pheasant which about put him in apoplexy. He got over that too and did a very nice flat-footed walk home after a discussion about the wisdom of jigging. All in all a good day.

4/28/06 Worked in the arena on transitions which went very well. He started out in walk transitions stopping with his forehand, but by the third time I asked him to stop and then back up he remembered the plan. It carried over in to trot and then canter. The habit of using his hind end will need to be reinforced (I'll show you how at the hunter pace) before it becomes really ingrained. He has the right idea and he seems to like it, but old habits die hard until new ones are firmly in place.

4/26/06Two mile road hack. The trot out was good, especially when he acquiesced to stretching forward in his neck. Then he started to swing in his back and carry himself in trot. Very nice. When we turned around to walk a bit, he was really tight in his neck and wanting to walk fast or jig. I spent a great deal of time discussing with him the wisdom of staying relaxed in his neck and swinging in his back. He got it after a while. Then we did some canters and halts and then walking. Each time I had to reconvince him about staying relaxed in his neck. It improved, but there is much work to do.

4/24/06 Yay, the breakthrough carried over! His transition work remains good. He definitely figured out how to use his back end to stop himself rather than leaning on the reins. We had a nice workout. This is fabulous and will carry over to his other work. Great.

4/20/06 Worked on transitions. He had a breakthrough day, figuring out how to bring his hind legs under his body and front end up in a downward transitions. Much work follows to ingrain the habit, but this is just excellent.

4/19/06 Picked up and administered JJ's vaccinations and wormed with ivermectin.

4/18/06 Worked outside in the large paddock on transitions. Started out with walk halts, moved up to trot halts and finally canter halts every 10 strides. This is harder than it sounds physically and mentally for horses, and it is very helpful for helping them improve balance and tuning in to riders. He did fine.

4/14/06 Worked JJ in the arena on staying balance in downward transitions. First walk halt then when that went well, on to trot halt and canter halt. Many transitions. Did fine.

4/13/06 Went out to get JJ and he had somehow sprung his left front shoe. I took it off so that an errant nail wouldn't injure his hoof, and will call the farrier. I'm no farrier myself, but looking at that shoe, it seems a little small. I will ask my farrier, when he puts the shoe back on, for his comments. On a larger question, I wonder if he could go barefoot in summer. It is good for their feet to go barefoot at least part of the year, and since we need borium in winter, summer is the time. He has very hard feet and would probably do fine. Thoughts?

4/12/06 Picked up JJ at home. He loaded well and travelled fine. I rode him when I got him to Rhonda's in the indoor. We did a lot of work on walk halts and halt walks. He wants to brace against the bit and not let it travel through his body to his back end. Got started on straightening that out. Then on to trot halts and halt trots which went predictably better. Then we did some canter halts back and forth across the arena, letting the wall help with the stop. He needs to come through from the hindend more and this exercise is good for that. He made reasonable progress. He's a good boy. Ran around like a nut in the paddock when I turned him out and later when he met the 2 mares he will be staying with he was appropriately and wisely polite. Good boy.

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