Okay, I know I hate the summer sweats... But I don't actually dislike Summer... I just dislike humidity. Because today was 75 degrees! December 27th! And it was glorious!! I sweated a little bit. ha ha. I can handle a little bit though. Poor Dan was hot in that full winter coat of his. I almost wonder if I need to test him for Cushings as he's so long and thick! But I think it's just because I didn't bother clipping him this year. Hopefully!
I had time this afternoon after taking Funny to Jacels' and helping her get on her baby horse for the first time!! So, Dan and I headed to Ashland. It was too beautiful of a day not to! Plus, tomorrow is Mike day. I figured I would take advantage of the "holiday" vibes and the gorgeous weather. Because... meh, I can finish painting the hay shed later... I can organize the barn later.
So we headed out. We chatted with Kathy when we got there.. she was finishing her ride so they left as we headed out and we had the whole place to ourselves. I put Sharon's hackamore on him because I could. We started off and I pretty much let him pick where he wanted to go. I did decide to only trot in the grass and not on the trails because I think that his feet hurt. And sure enough, he was much happier to trot today, so... I really do think that might be some of his problem. I'm sure his stifle is still bothering him, but... he feels pretty good at the trot. We even got some really nice round fancy trot in the field, especially uphill. He was lifting his back and getting some suspension. And then, he totally face planted and almost went down. Ooof! I don't know if he was rounding up because he was trying to sneak a bite of grass or... ha ha! But he caught himself. Perhaps his atrophied shoulder just didn't cooperate for one stride. He was fine and I was fine. He caught himself and basically just fell onto that knee I think. It was over before I could really process. Then he trotted off nicely again. We also walked a few ditches and the up bank and walked over two small logs.
They were shooting guns somewhere off the property but they were so loud and you could hear them everywhere. And they weren't consistent. Sometimes they were single shots, sometime rapid fire shots... it was a bit annoying and unnerving. And then the dredging equipment was in the big pasture by the big hill and that was spooky. So Dan was a bit wide eyed and decided NOT to go towards the dredging stuff. Given the gunshots and the hackamore, I didn't push it. So we did some unusual paths, but... we hit a good bit of hills and did some trotting. And we splashed in the lake for a little bit. It was a good ride. 
He seemed quite happy and content and didn't seem quite as slow, although maybe it's more because I didn't have anyone behind us to gauge our pace with. But he was definitely more willing to trot so that made me happier!
He was a bit sweaty and so gross and it was still so warm, I ended up hosing him off. I'm hoping he dries within 2 days. ha! The temps are going to plummet Monday night (maybe Sunday night) but he should be fine tonight.. the low is only 60! Of course he was still wet when we got home and rolled and rolled and rolled. Oh well, he didn't get that clean anways... just not quite as crusty. :)
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