Another good week for Roam. We hit the gravel roads early in the week & briefly took a stroll through the pasture to wrap up our ride on Wednesday. On Thursday, Jen made a follow-up visit. The urinary issues that Jen had noted during his first session have disappeared after his round of antibiotics. Jen worked on his head & neck a bit more as well, but overall, it is normal horse-in-active-training things at this point.
Today, we ventured out into the meadow to check on the cattle. He did well. Had a little bobble when Rozzyn thought she needed to chase after a couple of calves which had the cows running toward us, but once Roam realized they weren't coming for him, he was content to approach & push the cattle around a bit. We spend a fair bit of time trotting. & loping. Some noodly tendencies since he didn't have a path to follow in the open pasture, but that will improve over the next couple of weeks. We also ventured down to the creek the first time. He nearly walked right in. Once in, I could feel that he was a bit unsure. Maybe he wasn't sure what to think of the crystal clear water when he's used to rolling in the mud. Thankfully, he must not have thought I smelled bad as he didn't try to give me a unwanted bath in the creek. He did get started once when Rozzyn came running over the bank (seen in the video), but a very minor reaction. For the first time, he did great & he'll only get more & more confident.
Next week, we'll continue to ride in the pastures & venture through the trees stepping over logs, etc. He'll also get to go out & about during the Ranch Retreat. Since I will be busy Wednesday through Sunday with the retreat participants, we will return to our regularly scheduled updates on Saturday, September 30th. However, I hope to send a text at the beginning of next week to let you know how he's done but don't be alarmed if it doesn't come until Tuesday. I imagine I'll be exhausted come Monday. That week, we'll continue to work on Draw to Walk Transitions, Shoulder In/Out, Sidepassing, & potentially Turnarounds.
- Lexy Nuesch
Next week's update will be posted on Saturday, September 30th.
I do my best to get these updates posted in a timely manner, but it's not uncommon for me to be outside until after dark, depending on the weather, my schedule, & who gets worked when, so updates will sometimes be posted quite late in the evening. Don't be alarmed if you don't see your update right away. In rare cases, I may have to push them until the next morning, but I'll reach out & let you know if so.
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