Shenanigans!!!

Mr Dan was fully ENJOYING the day of no rain!!! I love when he gets the crazies!!! Oh he just cracks me up. Of course... he managed to pull his shoe. The therapeutic one.... sigh. But it's the muds fault :)

You still love me right Mom?!? :)

Merry Christmas!!!

It was a most excellent Christmas!! Despite the fact that I was a little too tired after working all week/night to go on that "Baby's first trail ride" with Mike on Fleck like I was planning. Maybe New Years! 

But I did get Danny snuggles!! He was on Santa's nice list and got carrots and apples and a alfalfa cube/beet pulp/peppermint treat mash :) 

 

Hee hee... i thought Daniel needed the "irish" hat :)

First XC School!!!

Wheeee!!!! It wasn't meant to be as exciting as it was. ;) 

Danny and I had another lesson with Beth at Ashland. I jumped Fleck first and Danny was a gentleman hanging out on the trailer eating his hay. He didn't fuss at all when Fleck and I went up to jump. Then it was Dan's turn. Fleck was not quite the gentleman when Danny left. ;) Poor Uncle Fleck.

We got Danny tacked up and I lunged him briefly. He was very playful. We added the side reins and he didn't care. We even tightened them up a hole or two and he was fine with it. (They were still pretty loose). Danny is developed quite a lovely canter!!! We were trying to trot ;) We realized he was just bored and playing. He's a smarty pants. He will remember something he's learned once and then he's "got it" and tries to play instead. So I went ahead and got again and he was good but obviously being silly and wanting to play. Beth decided to test the smarty pants theory. So, while I was still on the lunge line but on Dan, we walked out to the cross country field.

Oh my!!! This guy was BORN for XC. He puffed up and got all dancy on his tippy toes. We marched right into the water, no hesitation at all and he took a big long drink. Then he started to play so out when we went. It was a bit too chilly to be going for a dunk. Then we went back in and he immediately starting pawing, so out when went. We walked over to the ditch and asked him to walk quietly through the half ditch. He sort of bounced through it but on the second attempt when I slowed him down more he walked through it. Both directions twice each. Then Beth told me to walk him through the BN ditch. WHAT?!?! I said "Really? You're sure that's not the training level ditch?" Hee hee. She did tell me BN would start to look really big. :) So we walk up to it and Danny LEAPS over it like it's a 4' trakehner! Holy Smokes Danny boy... we're WALKING!!! Not jumping.. .not until you're 4 Ding bat!! Doh!!So on landing he was all proud of himself and starting getting humpy. I got him moving along and we came back to it. I do think I tried to get him to walk it more this time and again he leapt over it and this time he bucked out while doing it. Once Beth could pick herself up off the ground from laughing at me, we tried again. :) I did manage to stay on. Go me! So this time I walked him towards it, stopped him. Walked him to it and stopped him. Then he calmly walked over it. Phew! No more jumping with me on board for another year and a half! We made him walk over it a few more times and then we headed to the banks.

Well, Mr. Hot Stuff was all snorty and prancy and proud of himself. :) I was too, but made him settle down. We got to the bank and this time I was smart and stopped him in front of it. He calmly walked up. Then we walked down and I stopped him again. He sort of slid down it and got mad. Luckily I was a little out of the saddle because he let out a ferocious buck upon landing. Oh wow!! He's gonna be FUN!!! So up and down again we went and then I hopped off and told him how marvelous he was. We made him walk up and down once or twice more without me to secure it in his brain. Then we headed back up and he was done.

I so love this guy. He's going to be sooooo much fun. His personality is so big and his bravery button is WAY bigger than mine. ;)
Now to force myself to take it slow with him. :)

And poo... NO pictures :( I'm not sure why I didn't think to use my helmet cam either. That would have been awesome. Drats!

Baby's first shoes

Sniff sniff... My baby is growing up!! 

Danny was lame the past few days. I'm a bad mommy and had skipped a trim on him and then we skipped a second trim because of timing with Fleck and a missing shoe, etc. So.. his feet looked awful. And that caused the crack to grow up from where he had the chunk taken out of his lateral heel awhile back. So it was like a hang nail and being spread apart every time he walked. Poor kid. So... the farrier came out and I was expecting to just trim it back like last time. But with all the mud and rain... we decided it would be better and heal quicker if we put on a bar shoe. So.... Dan got shoes. He was a fidgety little guy for the whole trim session, but other than that, he was great. He didn't freak out about the forge and he didn't even react when the shoes were nailed on. It was more just fidgety bored baby. :) 

So... I'm hoping we can pull his shoes off once that heals and he can go back to barefoot for awhile. I can't afford both him and Fleck!