Playing Catch-up

     If any of you live in the Midwest you haven't missed out on the fact that it's not fall at all, but rather second summer.  It's been hot and miserable.  On top of that, Mort cut up his front legs running around in turnout last Tuesday.  All things considered, he had a pretty easy week last week.  I did a bareback ride that was 90% walk.  I did a walk along the fence line with a little trot and canter in the grass at the end.  He had a couple days off.  Yesterday morning, I got out there early (I do chores at the barn Sunday mornings), so I got to fit in a ride that had a little bit of actual work.  

     I was prepared for a kinda rough ride with all of his time off and lazy rides, but he was a super good boy.  I started with a ton of lateral work at the walk.  We did bend and counter-bend, leg yields, shoulder-in, etc.  His first couple of trots were a bit tense and upside down, but we did more of the same lateral work and he loosened up quite quickly.  I threw in some counter-canter pretty early in the ride and he handled it wonderfully.  He wanted to stretch but was still happy to collect as well.  He was just a really good boy.  

     It was unfortunately still fairly hot, even at 9:30 in the morning, so Mort was leaning toward being lazy.  He's started to develop a head tilt sometimes instead of bending.  It's been happening the last couple months.  Luckily, as long as I notice it and apply some inside leg he steps up and bends properly.  Definitely something that I need to keep in mind, especially when it's hot and he's feeling lazy.  

     With him being wonderful and it being hot we kept it short and sweet.  I played with a few things and ended the ride fairly early.  A fellow barn-mate was riding and I invited him to "trail ride" the fence line with me so we all got to enjoy a nice, easy walk.  Mort got a cool hose-off and I left him to enjoy his hay in his stall.