Cole's Christmas Gift to Me

Looks like we are getting a thaw next weekend! Hurray! Hurray!




It was a fine Cole weekend. Wednesday evening, I started out lounging him, and he was a lunatic—airs above the ground—bigtime. I nearly didn’t ride him, but he suddenly settled down. He has been settled ever since. I rode him that evening, and 4 more days—and no spooking. It was a big event to get through one ride in the arena without a spook, but more than 2 never happened before this weekend. Five rides? Heaven…



We rode with other horses being led or also ridden. Other than trying to drift their way, he did fine. The transition to a grown-up horse was the best Christmas gift I could imagine—and I certainly didn’t expect it. But then, that has been how Cole has been all along. He improves suddenly and permanently. He just needed to get used to the arena, and now that he has, he is ready to work.



I am also way more confident riding him than I was just a week ago. I’m sure that is helping, too.



I rode Cruiser, too, each day, but he just doesn’t have any enthusiasm for arena work, anymore. Right now, I am just making sure he is getting enough exercise to help with his insulin resistance. After all these years, if he doesn’t want to work hard, I won’t make an issue of it. We’ll be back on the trail soon enough. He is getting nervous in the corners going in one direction. (Eyesight? He is getting a cataract in that eye.) He is reluctant to go in a collected frame, and I suspect his thyroid tumor, which has really grown in the last year, may be interfering.



Cole likes his new stall. It is larger with 2 windows, and maybe we can open them next weekend during the thaw. He and Cruiser definitely like each other. We will be putting bars up between them. Right now, it is solid wood with a 3 inch gap between 2 boards that they can see each other—and nibble noses.