5/5/08 He wore a supermask today and I have been treating his eye with antibiotic. It looks a lot better tonight. Treated again.

5/4/08 Took him out for a hack and had a grand time. His left eye is watering on and off and I am wondering if it is that blocked tear duct or something else. Started treating with meds today. He is quite well otherwise.

4/30/08 He was looking a bit bored in the pasture and pretty much following me around and snuggling up to Jay, so I had to take him out today. Trail ride! Speck's favorite. He was a complete pill, in a good way. Just happy to be alive and out. He gets an "F" for adjustability within his gaits today, but the "F" also stands for "fun" because, even though he might not have been doing exactly as bidden, it was exuberance, not malice and when I really asked he did fine. He's a goof with a bad case of spring fever.

4/22/08 Worked in the indoor and did a lot of transitions, which went very well. He is a little thin these days, but spring grass is coming...

4/7/08 Took him to Walnut Creek xc course (15 minutes from home) and schooled him. He was spectacular. After some easier introduction he ended up doing a drop into water over a log jump, 3 strides across and jump a brush coop. He also jumped barrels and a rolltop and some reasonably biggish stuff. When we were just puttering around at the end we missed our distance to a vertical showjump, took the top rail and both did a faceplant. Nice. The ground was soft and we were fine. Got back on, lowered the fence, rejumped it, raised it back up, rode it correctly and did excellently. Despite the vertical, we both had a very fun time.

4/5/08 Jay hunted Speck at Grand River. As you may recall, Jay hunted him at Coal Valley in KS a few weeks back and it was a fair disaster. I had hunted Speck twice in the meantime and he was settling somewhat. Jay and Speck had a lot of fun hunting this time. Speck is not great at standing and relaxing, but he jumped beautifully and was polite at all times when his feet were moving. They got a real gallop in and there is a picture that I hope my friends will send me to post. I was on a much slower horse in the back so I was behind a hill when they were going, but by a few accounts they were a red blur with 2 big grins. Speck had fun.

4/2/08 First time for Speck to take a hack around the block. He was, as usual, so very interested in everything. "Hey look a mailbox! Did you see the tractor?! Birds!" While he notes it all, he doesn't shy at much. He is, however, most decidedly, not "cowie". He does not approve of cows one bit. We had to pass some longhorrns and he trotted as FAST as he could. On the Heart of Iowa Trail, a flat mowed stretch, I let him go about 85 percent. He likes to run downhill, so I didn't let him really gallop. I want him to get in the habit of running more uphill before we really go. However, he went fast enough, for sure. Big trot on the mile home and then a walk break and some quieter canter and then a walk home. He had a blast and was very good.

3/30/08 Took him to the hunt schooling hunter jumper show. We got there just in time for the warmup class and he figured out the flowers and the weird looking jumps. He won the schooling jumper class and came in second in the regular jumper class. The heights were not high, but it was a great experience and he handled himself well. He had a lot of fun and was very good.

3/26/38 Have I mentioned I like this silly horse? Tonight we did dressage and he was a pill at first, but every time he got tight in his back and short-strided, I just put him to work in lateral work (shoulder in, leg yield, whatever). He loved it. Got better and better all the time. Goofy little red horse.

3/19/08 Four mile road hack. I hacked along the road in the ditch to get to the gravel road. He was not so into the huge culvert that is at the end. It is wide enough that when the horses are in the ditch they can see daylight through the other side, and every horse I have ever ridden near it is suspicious He did not overreact and dealt with it well. We trotted and cantered, with some walk, the four miles. At one point I let him gallop as the footing was quite good. He's pretty fast, and I've ridden a fair amount of OTTBs. But I notice that he breathes very shallowly, which might explain why he tired so quickly on the track. Eddie used to do this and once I got him to relax a little more at the gallop, he breathed much more efficiently and could run better, longer. Speck and I had a blast.

3/17/08 The Irish would call it a "soft day", but most midwesterners call it craptastic cold rain. All horses in for the day today. They're not happy about it, but mud and rain outside wouldn't make them any happier. They got cookies and petting.

3/16/08 More work in the arena as it is the only place with decent footing. He is getting so much better about touching his belly, now we are helping him accept a leg on him while riding. Did a lot of bending in shoulder in and leg yield which is hard for him but if I wait him out he starts to relax and respond. Canter work is really quite good. He's really fun to work with and he did well today.

3/15/08 Quite the busy week. Finally time to play with my horses on Saturday and the footing is finally half decent in the outdoor. Speck and I played a lot with him allowing me to put a leg on him and ask him to bend a little more than I have been asking in the past. There was first a fair amount of tenseness and resistance, but I waited him out and he figured it out. When we moved on to canter, we did spiral in and spiral out on a circle and he said that was hard, but he got better and better at it. He's a peach.

3/7 and 8/08 Hunted with Coal Valley Hunt in KS. He was very good, didn't get light in front once, manged himself well in the field and generally represented himself well. We are working on having him canter with his neck up, which is coming along.

2/13/08 Speck didn't get ridden Saturday when everyone else did (the front came through and made it miserable), so I made him a priority when the weather gave us a chance to ride at home today. I suspected he might be a bit of a pill, but I was wrong. He stood great for mounting and was a true delight to ride. Got him to let go in his back in trot and breathe and relax in canter. It was riding in 20 degrees in the snow in a circle and it was great.

1/26/08 Actually got to ride today. Went on a walk in the pasture, that is too icy for anything faster. Worked on him letting go in his poll with moderate success. Then found a 20m circle that was relavitely ice free and did some trot and canter work. He was tight, but got better and better. I think he enjoyed it.

1/6/07 A break in the weather! Yay! When I was grooming him for riding, I was reviewing for him the fact that he should allow people to touch his belly and his nether regions, to which he objects. In fact, he kicked me after I botherd him enough about it. I was standing to his side and he just grazed my knee for no lasting harm. I did open-handed smack him on the ribs, though, which I have never done to him, and he was quite upset. Well, he should be. After that I messed with him some more and he was pretty much and angel. He was very good under tack too and earned much praise. He felt sound, but I note that when he stretched out to urinate he doesn't put as much weight on the right hind as the left, but even that is improving.

12/21/07 At least all the other horses have to be in now due to nasty weather. He is doing fine, but ready to go out.

12/18/07 Speck came hobbling in this morning, with his right hind owie. This has been brewing for a while as I noticed that he rests thathind leg more often than the other. Took him to the vet school. Radiographs clean, no heat, ultrasound good. Probably sprain of something, probably hock, in all the goofing around he does in the pasture and the ice doesn't help. They said rest him (pasture rest), but I had a dream that 5 days of stall rest would do wonders for him, so suffer he must in a stall. I put a horse in an adjacent stall at night so that he isn't too lonely and love on him all the time. He'll deal for a few days, the sassy pants.

12/12/07 Speck was really super good today, considering how long it has been since I rode him. Turns out I shouldn't have ridden today either, as the bit of ice on top of the 3" of snow we have cut his coronary band slightly. He'll be fine, especially with the time off he will have waiting for a thaw. Dangit.

11/26/07 Took him for a walk trail ride focusing on letting go in his poll and relaxing. He did very well.

11/20/07 Fetlock looking good. Blanket on tonight as it is windy and not supposed to be nice all through the weekend.

11/14/07 Windy cold night so extra hay and a blankie.

11/13/07 He is still slightly favoring that fetlock, though there doesn't seem to be heat. He is a little thin and walked in with Claude today when the other goofballs trotted in. I'm monitoring him carefully to see if I notice anything out of sorts. He is eating well and seems happy.

11/7/07 Fetlock looks good.

11/6/07 Speck got new shoes with borium all around. My farrier does such a nice job. Speck's fetlock is still a little swollen, but much improved.

11/5/07 George was out to measure his feet to get the borium shoes for hunting to put on him. He said his right hind fetlock was swollen. It was a little swollen when I got home, but nothing serious. He is in the barn tonight resting, partly because of his fetlock and partly because of the high wind. We'll check it in the morning.

11/3/07 Hunter pace at Dexter. He did the three mile course 3 times, with a rest break in between. He jumped all sorts of wacky stuff and did well. Jay rode him the last two times and was reminded that tbs actually require you to ride, or they will just gallop on all day. Um, yeah. ;-)

11/1/07 Since Speck was clearly disappointed in himself yesterday, I decided to take him out today for a treat. He loves to trail ride, so we went on a hack, and then had a nice gallop on a harvested soybean field. He had a great time and so did I. Good little Specky.

10/31/07 Worked on the flat and then over a jump in the arena. He was tight in his neck for the flatwork, but got better as we went on. The jumping was very good over the arena jump and the log pile. I sent him to the rolltop today and he said no three times. I decided not to push it. In retrospect, he needs more mileage over strange obstacles before he goes back to that rolltop again, which is 3'3" high and 6' wide at the base. Just a blip on the radar screen. Cold night tonight, extra hay.

10/30/07 Had a short morning school. He is letting go better in his neck. He's really a fun horse.

10/29/07 Took him for a 2 mile hack out in the big world. His trot is getting so much better, he is really coming through. Fabulous. Had a nice gallop, too. Great fun

10/18/07 Forget everything he ever learned and was a real piece of work. Could be because he was in the stall overnight due to nonstop rain. Blip on the radar screen, I'm sure.

10/17/07 Very nice dressage school.

10/14/07 Speck forgot how to politely load on a trailer, so we spent some time on that skill. He now self loads. We schooled XC at Catalpa Corner. He was excellent. We started out on the BN stuff and by the end, jumped around much of the training course, including the double banks and water. He did his first corner and did well in the water. Meanwhile, here is a picture of him in Burwell on the foxhunt last weekend.

10/10/07 He has a series of bug bites or something on his left cheek, that got a little infected. I cleaned it up today and treated it and we will see how it is tomorrow. It doesn't seem to bother him much.

10/5-7/07 15th Anniversary Burwell Foxhunt weekend. He was a unmitigated success. He did the parade (marching band and all) and managed not to rear, though I have to admit, there was some riding involved. But he did it and got more relaxed as it went on, so that is great. Then we hunted on Saturday, a very difficult hunt with a lot of terrain and jumping. He was great and enjoyed himself. He also drank almost 10 gallons of water when he got home. He's a sponge! Sunday was another pretty challenging hunt, and he did great. He even walked when asked, which is the hard part for tbs learning to hunt. If he has a fault, it is that he is just figuring out how to relax at checks, but that will come and I couldn't be more pleased with him.

10/1/07 Hunted the two day Tipton weekend. He did very well galloping in groups, jumping and all the other things, with the noteable exception of standing still at checks. It is all so exciting that he can hardly help himself. He did great and got somewhat more relaxed standing as the weekend went on.

9/28/07 Flawork and some jumping. He gets better and better and likes the work. Good boy.

9/25/07 Trail ride with Claude and a student. He was quite good and enjoyed himself.

9/24/07 Took him to Opening Hunt, which was quite warm and a slow hunt with a lot of standing around (no fault of the hounds who put two coyotes to ground, well done!). Speck was very good in the group, but three times during the standing did a Hi-ho Silver that was easy to ride, but a bit disconcerting. He is simply anxious and will figure it out.

9/19/07 Feeling lucky, so hunted him after having 10 days off. He was stellar. Only thing I would ask for is a flat footed walk at the end, which is a little beyond him. But he was polite, jumped coops, crossed a small creek and was generally just a lot of fun.

9/9/07 Mock hunt trail ride with Jay and Claude. He was stellar. Jumped a little at the end.

9/7/07 Trail ride with a group. Denise rode Speck and he was enthusiastic, but quite good. Lots of fun.

9/3/07 Hunted the Grand River country today. He was quite good, if a little nervous at first. His first coop was not properly weed whacked and with his inexperience he had some trouble with the ground line, but he managed to slither over. No harm and he did well the rest of the day. One anxiety levade, but all in all very good.

8/19/07 Hound exercise/hunt. He had some moments of tension (rear/lung forward when he could not handle the ticklish weeds against his legs any longer!!!), but all in all was polite, biddable, fun and jumped very well. Great day.

8/18/07 Mock hunt. He led the S-L-O-W group, so had to walk and lead across terrain. He did very well and got to school some coops too, and he did very well.

8/16/07 After a warmup, started jumping a cross rail when that went well, moved it up to 2'9". Trotted and cantered that and he did just excellently. Then jumped the log pile in the pasture which went well. Extremely good. He is a very tidy jumper and seems to enjoy it. Great fun.

8/15/07 Some work in the arena. He has mostly figured out stop and stand now and we did some jumping. In the process he even had a flying lead change. He is coming unstuck in his neck and generally just starting to relax. Wonderful

8/10/07 Warmed up in the arena and then out for a trail ride. He is concerened about things touching his legs, but getting over it. Saw his first deer, which he was facinated with, and also experienced his first flushing pheasant, which was reason to briefly "run away". He recovered well though and we enjoyed ourselves immensely. Oh, we also worked on just standing still. This is a challenge for him. I just asked him to stand still and then allow the reins to be slack. If he moves or twitters about, we do a small circle and try again. He improved rapidly. Much praise.

8/8/07 Ring work. He is starting to consider letting go in his neck. Did very well, with some lateral work. "Shoulder in is haaaaaaard."

8/6/07 Trail ride with Claude. Did pretty well, though unsure about footing color changes. Silly...

8/1/07 Worked in the arena a lot on flexibility. He has some tension going on, but it is getting better. He has a great work ethic and quite the sense of humour.

7/30/07 Woked in the arena with a lot of discussion about releasing in his neck and relaxing in his back. Did quite well. By the end I could actually rest a leg on him without him scooting away. Fabulous.

7/26/07 Rode him out in the pasture and did a lot of flexibility things and much cantering in 20 m circles letting him figure out that he doesn't need to be in a hurry to get anywhere. He did very well, despite the fact that at one point going to the left in transition from walk to canter he felt the need to buck. What a goof.

7/25/07 Trail ride with a student on Claude. Speck was a little freaked out about the tallish soybeans at first, but he got over it. He had a blast and did well.

7/23/07 More of the same and it is coming along. Getting better at standing (what? and breathing at the same time? Crazy talk.) Canter work coming along, most importantly starting to let go in his poll. Good boy.

7/22/07 Much work on softening and relaxing. He did a really funny thing when I mounted. I have been working on him standing still when I get on and he did pretty well the first time. I praised him, then got off and mounted again. This time he stood perfectly and then when I put a leg on to ask him to go forward, he JUMPED about 6 feet. No clue what that was about and he got over it quickly. I gave him a reassuring pat, did the mounting again and it went fine. Silly goose. Then did a lot of slow serpentine work, asking him to let go in his throatlatch and back and breathe. Had some nice work all around.

7/19/07 Lots of slow work on flexibility in the arena. He breathed a couple of times and by the end was doing a fair rendition of trot leg yield. He's very tight in the poll, but it is coming along. He is extremely smart and a very good athlete, a real treat to work with.

7/17/07 Back at it and he is ready to go! Even shared a few good-natured bucks, but managed to play well most of the time. Worked on relaxing in the poll, bending and then walked through some cavaletti which went fine. Then attempted to trot through, but he very neatly cantered the 4'6" width poles. Handy little sucker. Mostly just fooling around today, so I didn't drill it, just glad to have him back in work.

7/10/07 I think Speck is officially out of the woods. It has been a road of antibiotics and time off, but today he came skipping in from the pasture when I brought another horse in and he is starting to follow me around again. Back at it starting next week.

6/25/07 Got the CBC and his numbers are better, but not out of the woods yet. Gained 5 pounds. Put him on sufla for another 10 days. Looks good in the pasture and eating well.

6/20/07 Took him to the vet school to get a CBC, the results of which we will see tomorrow. He looks very good and is back up to only 5 pounds below where he was when this started this whole debaucle. Great. Roached his mane (!) to get some mane dermatitis under control. Scabby stuff. Treated it with betadine shampoo, which he said felt good. He promptly rolled when done, of course.

6/19/07 Speck is improved and coughing only infrequently. He lost a good deal of weight which I am working on putting back on. He is active and bright-eyed and back up to his usual sassiness which is a good sign!

6/13/07 A bit improved today and the big news is that when he came in from an hour out in the paddock in the cool evening, he did not have a fever and was interested in eating and drinking. We aren't completely out of the woods, but things are looking better.

6/12/07 Speck still is pretty droopy, though stable it seems. Some coughing and spiked a temp the last two evenings. Respiration up to 54 when he was at his worst. Yikes. Came down pretty quickly with hosing. Keeping in touch with ISU and monitoring closely.

6/10/07 When we got home from the horse trial Sunday night, Speck was very droopy and had 104 degree fever. Ack! Cold water rinsing to get the fever down, banamine, and watch all night. Took him to ISU vet school in the morning. He had probably aspirated something when he choked and now he has pneumonia. Drat! Poor dear. Much wet coughing. Put him on penicillin and gentomyacin. Looked pretty good during the day, but then turned out for an hour in a small paddock with his friend and he enjoyed it and grazed, but it made him very weak again and spiked him back up to 103. Cold rinse and back in teh for the evening. Monitoring...

6/7/07 Speck choked so got to spend a few hours at ISU. With some sedation it worked itself out naturally and he was home in the pasture by 10.

6/4/07 In hand work and then in the tack. Work on suppling. Very good.

6/2/07 In hand work and then under saddle. Starting to come unlocked in his poll and breathing, even in canter. Good boy.

6/1/07 In hand work followed by a lot of walk and trot work with softening in the poll a major focus. Much release, some backing in softness, a little canter. Much breathing and relaxing. Good boy.

5/29/07 In hand work. He got better at the circle work and backing and even came unlocked in his poll at times and relaxed in his neck. Very good.

5/25/07 In hand work. His feet are "stuck" and he is very stiff in his body. We made some nice progress. Good news from the vet, who looked at Speck's eye while he was out to give shots. He said that the small cloudy spot he has has good new epithelium over it and I can stop with the triple antibiotic. The spot should disappear over the next few weeks. Yay.

5/19/07 A bit of a pill in a 20 mph wind on a trail ride with Jay and Claude. Bucked. beastie. Got over it. Did a sheath cleaning when we got home about which he was a pill, but he figured it out. A bit of a drama queen about it. We'll do more desensitzing here soon.

5/14/07 In hand session. I wished for my rope halter, as he was surprisingly happy to lean rather than bend. I had anticipated that with his general sensitivity, he would be coachable in a nylon halter. Um, not really. But we got things started and also did work with the flag all over his body and working with letting hem relax while I touched his ears, not his favorite. He did very well.

5/6/07 horse trial at CC. I led him around on a halter so that he could take in the party atmosphere. He thought it was facinating. He was a little fidgety, but polite.

5/5/07 Schooled at Catalpa Corner. I rode him while I taught a xc schooling session. Jumped over a lot of tiny obstacles and also did water and banks. He was a star and many people commented on how amazingly well he did and were stunned that it was his first school. Of course, he did rear once early in the day (cool, windy...), but he got over himself.

5/2/07 Vet was out to look at Speck's right eye. He has a small ulcer on it. Supermask, continue treating with triple antibiotic.

5/1/07 Solo sunset trailride. He was extremely pleased to be out and was a little light on his hooves in general. A little tight in trot, too, but I note that a lot of horses were "happy" today for some reason. Did a down hill canter which went amazingly well. He is remarkably naturally balance in canter. Did some work on getting a flat footed walk, by circling him each time he offered a jig. He figured it out quite nicely and walked on a loose rein home, happy as a lark. He gets an A+ for attitude. He has a slight injury to his right eye, a little scratch right in the middle of the eyeball which I am treating with triple antibiotic which he tolerates very well.

4/28/07 Trail ride with Jay and Claude. He did extremely well, including some adventrue riding when Jay decided we should follow a game trail along a creek. Speck was unsure, but game when given some encouragement. He did manage to buck once when going up a hill, but it was pure exuberance, not malice. Also cantered down a gentle slope and managed to stay balanced. Great fun.

4/22/07 Trail ride with Jay and Claude. Crossed the water, cantered with another horse (usually just too much for OTTBs to handle the first time and he did usually well) and crossed a new water that was moving quickly, which made him unsure, but he was very brave and did it with only mild encouragement. He had a blast and so did I.

4/16/07 Dusk trailride. He was excellent. We did some walk, trot and canter and even some slightly downhill trot. His attitude is just wonderful. Happy to go, but rateable. I would like him to stop a little better, but that will come. I am asking him to back up after stopping, but mildly, so that he doesn't become afraid of the bit. The neighbor's fence was open to his tractor water crossing, so I took Speck over and schooled it. I got off and led him across the first time, then got on and rode him through 3 more times, with much praise for his bravery. He was very good!

4/9/07 Ok, so its been a week since I rode him last (mud...), seems like we should go for a trail ride! Despite the long time off, the ride was a big success. He looked hard, but crossed two simple ditches. Had a nice trot in the big field and even a very balanced canter on the way home. I made the mistake of continuing to canter down a slope and he got unbalanced, but didn't panic and we just glided to a trot and walk to let him figure it out. It wasn't much of a slope, which is why I didn't consider it. He is so balanced usually, that I forget that these track guys aren't used to slopes at all. He did great.

4/2/07 Pasture trail ride. On the way back he saw fit to do the tiniest canter I have ever ridden. Now I know what the jockeys are experiencing on the way to the post. It was very rateable and most made me giggle. Since I didn't tense up, he eventually came around back to walk. He did just fine.

3/29/07 Mr. Smartypants sneaked out the gate when Jay was closing it from horseback. He had a gallop around the neighbor's (unplanted) field, until he figured out that he was alone and then came right back through the gate. Of course we had a crazy few minutes as I ran to teh barn with the other horses so that the gate could be left open and Jay could encourage him to come back in. Goofy horse. :-)

3/28/07 Warmed up in the arena. He was very good, still with some tension issues in his neck and a bit of a question about the necessity of actually stopping politely when asked, but good enough and relaxed enough, that I felt like today was the day to do a nice walk trail ride. We went out and down around the small creek we have near us. Did very well! Went past the collapsed grain bins with only a head tilt, relaxed, walked through last year's fountain grass patch, which is still 3' high and tickles horsie bellies, and enjoyed himself immensely. He did the quintessential things that OTTBs do on their first trail rides -- tripped over the smallest undulations of ground (what? It isn't a groomed track or an indoor?) and didn't lock on to the trail, had to actually steer him when it wavered. These funny things disappear quickly, so I have to giggle at them in the short while they will be here. Very impressive display of good sense today by Speck.

3/26/07 Worked in the arena and had a discussion concerning relaxing in his neck and giving in his poll. When he did, he started to come through his back and actually tracked up in trot, which is great. Had some nice canter work, if a little tight in the neck, but he is very balanced. He did well and was proud of himself. Good boy. Got his rhino flu shot.

3/25/07 Flatwork in the arena in 20 mph winds with higher gusts. He did pretty well considering, but between the winds and the muddy footing, it was reasonably unfun, so we kept it short.

3/24/07 Flatwork in the arena which went very well.

3/22/07 Worked in the arena. Started out with just waiting for him to stand after I mounted. Wanted to wiggle around a lot, so I just sat there and let him until he stopped and took a big slow breath. Good boy. We did a lot of trot work, just asking him to stretch down and relax in his poll. Did very well. Did several canter transitions to each direction and some walk leg yield. Yay.

3/19/07 Worked in the arena, mostly on getting him to soften in his poll and come through from behind. We did walk warm up and then went straight to canter, since he likes to be tense and short-strided in trot until he is really warmed up. This strategy worked well. In his canter work, he had some very nice moments, though he is still tight in his neck and back. A couple of wrong leads to the right, but we all get to be a little less than ambidextrous now and then. He did pick it up just fine a couple of times. Then on to trot work, which was his best to date. Some actual reaching from behind. Excellent. He is shedding like crazy. Likes carrots too.

3/16/07 Yay, the arena is finally mostly dry, and at least enough to work in. Tacked up and out to ride. He is so much better on 24/7 turnout. He was actually able to flat footed walk right off the bat. He is quite tight in his poll, so we did a lot of walking around, subtly asking him to let go by sending back to front. He had some very nice moments. Then on to trot work which was quick and tight. When we get him unlocked, that will improve. Canter work was quite good, though he prefers the left lead, but will take the right if he is set up right. Wants to keep his ribcage to the right generally, so when we get that moved, he does very well. Very good day. He was proud of himself, as was I. Cookies.

3/12/07 Very muddy out, but wanted to take him on a ride out of the arena, so went out and walked around the pasture. He walked about half the time, did a jiggy trot the other half. If the footing would have been half decent, I would have let him trot and canter around to get that out if him, because he tends to relax and walk well after he gets to move a bit. I like a horse who likes to move, so all good. Good footing will come.

3/6/07 Rode him in the indoor and worked on relaxing in his neck and back in all three gaits. He is getting it. Did very well. Then popped him on the trailer and took him home as his month at the cushy place with the indoor is over. All good as he gets more turnout at home and the footing will improve soon and we will be able to continue in the outdoor.

3/4/07 Did a lot of slow work asking him to unlock in his poll, relax and slow down the metronome. Made some very nice progress in walk and trot. Very good.

3/3/07 Speck had been in a stall for 48 hours straight due to a blizzard. He got to go out in the morning to play for a while before I brought him in to ride. He had a lot of fun outside in the morning, playing with Cielo. Much galloping about. It was a sunny and windy day, though and bright with all the new snow. He had a little tearing from his left eye, not a lot. When he is home, I think I will put a supermask on him on days like this and probably in summer. I tacked up and rode him. We did a lot of walk work because I wanted to help him get unstuck in his poll and I've found walk work best for this. I also didn't want him to get too warm becaue I wanted to turn hiim back out to play after the ride and I didn't want him to catch a chil. He was very good and made some good progress. We did the cross rail a few times and he did very well. Yay.

2/27/06 He had been inside the barn during the weekend's storm so was still a little tight. After we warmed up, we did some crossrail work and ended up cantering over a small vertical. He was very good.

2/21/07 Longed him to warm up and then longed him over a cross rail about which he was fairly anxious. Then I got on and did some flatwork and we went over the poles on the ground, working on just relaxing. Had some very nice work.

2/16/07 Just did flatwork today to help with some of the stiffness in his neck and take off the pressure of jumping. He did very well and is learning to relax his neck and let go in his body. Wonderful! He got his feet trimmed yesterday.

2/14/07 Katie rode Speck while I rode Cielo and we set up a ground rail 9' in front of a small cross rail and walked, trotted and cantered over it. The goal for the day was relaxation which we achieved quite nicely. Lots of fun was had by all.

2/11/07 After a warmup, rode him over a small cross rail with a placing pole 9' in front of it. He had some pretty hilarious attempts at it--some over jumps for sure--- but always tried hard. Very good. About halfway through the process I stopped and asked him if he knew about sidepassing because I was getting tired of riding just off rein aids and having little input on his ribcage. After a brief reminder of just a few seconds, he remembered what had apparently already been taught to him because there is no way he could pick it up that fast, even as clever as he is. We also did some walk leg yielding, some tension, but great start. Then back to the small cross rail with the placing pole and he did very well. Even managed to jump it out of canter a few times, where we had been walking and then trotting most of the time. Most excellent.

2/10/07 Had the vet out for some unrelated things, so asked him to look at Speck's left eye, which often has tears. Found that he had a blocked tear duct and treated it, which Speck did not appreciate, but was fairly tolerant of. I rode him in the arena, and after a warm up, did some trotting over the small vertical again. We're just going to spend some time at it until he is completely relaxed about it and there is enough other ground work things to work on, so we'll just sort of play with everything. Did some standing still, as he wants to sort of drift about after halting. Also did some canter work and I mostly let him alone, encouraging him to relax. Very good.

2/9/07 Set up a 6" vertical in the middle of the arena and walked over it and a pole on the ground after a walk and trot warm up. He was pretty unsure about both obstacles and rushed them both. Yes, it is possible to rush a jump in walk. We simply repeated the exercise until he was bored with it and relaxed. Then we got up to trot over over 6" pole which was pretty rushy at first, but we stayed calm and repeated and he settled nicely. Some canter work, too, but not over the obstacles. Very good.

2/8/07 When I arrived at the barn, Speck was munching hay with the group outside like he'd been there all his life. I brought him in and tacked up. My working student was supposed to be there about that time as I wanted her to walk with us the first few minutes to help him settle. But she (very unusually) wasn't and Speck was being relaxed, so I just got on and walked around. He was a little on his toes at first, a bit jiggy, but we just walked around and I breathed until I finally got him to take a breath. Great. Went on to trot which went well other than being a little bracy in his neck (not a big deal) and then on to canter. Made the mistake of asking him for right lead canter first, which is an amateur question to ask an off track guy, so he predictably picked up the left lead. No biggie, just brought him back down to trot after a while and then cantered on a left circle and he did great. Then reverse, ask for a little more right bend, shape him into it and off he went in right lead. Very good. Some walk and done for the day. He was very proud of himself and definitely should have been. Peppermints...

2/7/07 Due to a misunderstanding, Speck was kept in his stall today rather than turned out with the group. When I got there at 1:30 I turned him out with the geldings in the 5 acre pasture and relatively few fireworks ensued. He did manage to wipe out once flat on his side when he was trotting and turning across a patch that he did not supect had ice under it. He landed halrmlessly on his right side with a "whump". Got up ok and seemed annoyed that it had the gall to be there. I meant to ride him today, but since his turn out time was so limited, I opted for tomorrow. Quicktime video of him playing at home.

2/6/07 Moved him out to KMJ so that I can ride him in the indoor. They stayed inside today because the weather was atrocious. I turned Speck and Cielo out in the indoor to play and they had a great time running around and being wild thoroughbreds.

1/28/07 Turned him out with the group again as I had all day to watch them. It was very cold, so I spread out the hay all over the place so that he could get some no matter what. Things were remarkably quiet. Just a few incidences of chasing here or there, but he doesn't have a new mark on him. He is very smart about herd dynamics.

1/25/07 The Speck name is sticking. It seems to work for him. He went out with all 4 of our residents today and two of them were less than obliging so that had to go in the paddock while Ed, Sauvage and Speck were in the big pasture. In the evening I measured Speck for a blanket and I found him a new everyday halter.

1/24/07 Took him out to the outdoor to longe. He is really a good sport. He didn't know what I wanted, but was willing to try. I didn't ask him to work very hard in the deep snow, just a little intro and he did well. While I rode Ed, Speck called to him and trotted and cantered around his paddock. He was quite pretty, not really upset, just sort of showing off, but missing Ed. They were reunited after supper, to both of their relief.

1/23/07 He's been hanging out with Eddie in a paddock and it is like old home week with those two goofballs. Brought him in and spent some time brushing him and picking up his feet. Taught him about cookies, which he now approves of quite emphatically. Trimmed his mane. Tail is the only thing left that needs some major attention, but he'd had enough for the day. Did very well, even in the cross ties.

1/22/07 Spent the morning in a paddock and met the other horses over the fence and no problem. Pretty sane guy. Cute too. Likes to move. Took him to get chiropracted in the afternoon. Teeth floated, coggins blood drawn. He was a peach through all of it. Turned Eddie in with him in the paddock in the evening and they were fast friends. Not one squeal. Together for the night.

1/21/07 Picked Speck out from a group of off track thoroughbreds at a freind's in Nebraska. He loaded perfectly and hauled quietly home. Settled in without drama in a stall.

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