A nice weekend

So, after a few stressful weeks, I had a great weekend!  The weather was cooperative - which is a big deal this time of year - and I was able to get in three rides . I rode Rusty twice and had a lesson on Saturday afternoon.  We also came close to finishing some minor renovations in the basement too! Now that is my kind of weekend!

My ride on Saturday morning wasn't great - Rusty was a bit stiff or just not in the mood to work. So, we just had a nice quiet hack around the property, with a bit of cantering down the long hay field and called it a day.  Saturday afternoon was another lesson. I was only doing one lesson a week, but the barn owner offered me a second ride for free on Saturdays! I jumped at the chance, seeing as how she has a nice indoor arena.  It will be a great way to keep riding most of the winter. 

With daylight savings this past weekend, it is a bit brighter in the mornings, so I found myself wide awake at about 5am. I did some housework and by 7:30am I was ready to get out to the barn to ride.  (yes, I am an annoying morning person!)  We have a small 1/4 mile grass track at the farm, so I used that as my warm-up. (we don't have a fenced riding ring) On the way up to the front of the property, we worked on some trotting pace control - that type of exercise seems to help me work on my balance and rhythm and it keeps Rusty busy.  I had fun working on some of the stuff I have been practising in my lessons.  I also had some really nice canters, as well as turn on the fore/haunches.  I was even able to work on a canter transition from a turn on the haunches - which in my mind is kind of like a slow-mo rollback. It was pretty fun.   We then walked back up to the barn on a nice loose rein. 

Rusty's thrush is almost gone - there is still a bit hanging on in one hoof - anyone have any treatment ideas? I'm using Kopper Kare (the green smelly stuff) and I was wondering if there is anything that works better?