Wizard Rides 490, 491, & 492: Heat Wave

Tuesday, 5/28/13

Before work, Wizard and I went on a short and sweet trail ride. We covered about 3.3 miles at a walk and a trot, in a reverse and shortened pattern from Monday’s ride. We have a heat wave on the horizon, so I was glad to get a few cool-weather rides in before we see temperatures in the 90s.

Monday, 5/27/13

Wizard and I went out for a trail ride with Christie and Brigid. We covered about 4.3 miles at a walk and a trot, down the big long field, around the edge of the Horse Park, and up the back of the bowling pin field. This was our first ride with a good amount of trotwork in the company of another horse this year, and Wizard mostly handled it really, really well. He scampered into a tense canter once up a hill when the horses were more bunched together, but he was great the rest of the time, and even let Brigid ride next to him and pass him for a few moments. Baby steps make a great trail horse.

After the ride, Wizard got a bath and I took some conformation photos. I also found some %&$*%&$* ticks at the very bottom of the dock of his tail, where I missed with the Frontline spray. I need to be more thorough next time.

Sunday, 5/26/13

Wizard and I rode in the outdoor arena with Christie and Brigid. We did a less thorough warmup than usual, because I did not want to do jumping work at the very end. We walked on a loose rein at a productive walk, then trotted on large circles, then worked on transitions from walk to trot to walk. We did some shoulder-in and then trotted two trot poles to a cross rail, followed by a leg yield to the edge of the arena to keep him focused. Then, we took the same jump line from last time, trotting a placing pole to a cross rail and cantered one stride to a small vertical. I was hoping for a nice approach to the jump line due to all the nice flatwork we’ve been doing, but Wizard exceeded my expectations and gave a round, balanced approach to all the fences. I was really, really happy with the way he jumped, and ended on a good note.