Wizard Sessions 447 & 448: Six Months in a Leaky Boat

Saturday, 3/9/13

Wizard had a little unplanned time off because he managed to throw his left front shoe twice in three days. My always-patient farrier tacked his shoe back on both times. My friend and I found the shoes in the paddock, one up on the hill and one in a galloping footprint. My best guess is that he was running with Buck when his paddock buddy Cisco was out for a ride.

On Saturday, he had all four shoes back on, and we went for a short hand walk in the Assunpink, accompanied by Kris and Sunny. We walked up the “bowling pin” hill and back down the hill, past the hunt club, and back home. At the barn, I longed Wizard in the indoor with our customary two lines. On the longe, Wizard was REALLY soft and relaxed. His trot was stretchy and his canter might be the nicest I’ve ever seen, cadenced and balanced. Now if only we can translate this to his under saddle work. That is, if the saddle EVER gets here.

Sunday, 3/10/13

On Sunday, we repeated our same trail walk with Kris and Sunny, and then I set up one line of trot poles all the way across the indoor arena. This meant that with each rotation around the ring, he crossed the pole twice. Wizard free longed the walk, trot, and a little canter. Knowing that it tires him more quickly than the regular long line work, I kept the session very quick. He flubbed the canter over the pole a few times, but once he got the hang of it, I saw him relax and settle into a rhythm.

On Monday, he got a new set of shoes (we waited til seven weeks since he was not growing a ton of foot over the winter. The farrier was very happy with how the sole and heel looked on the left front, and, as expected, the right front was not as impressive, but looked pretty good.

I started Wizard on a month of omeprazole at the beginning of the month (made SO MUCH EASIER by using this method)- I wonder if that could be part of what I’m seeing in our wonderful ground work. Only time will tell, and hopefully that saddle is being shipped by plane and not on the Titanic.