Are Things Looking Up?

The last two times I took Cruiser on his half hour walk, he didn’t cough at all. The two times before that, he only coughed twice. I have gradually reduced his steroids by 20 percent, too. Can I allow myself to have some optimism? This is the best he has been in months! I’ll see how he is tonight. The farrier is coming out. I am going to have him pull his shoes since I’m not riding him, anyways. This will give me the option of walking him in the snow, too. The more I keep him out of the arena, the better.


Cole is learning to park out on command in the arena. For some reason, when I ask him to bow with a verbal command, rather than doing his dog bow, he parks out—like a proper Morgan. It is so cute how when he hears the command, he gets this look on his face (the thinking look) and slowly stretches his legs out. In the stall, I can wait until he squares up before clicking. He hasn’t gotten that good in the arena, and quits when his front legs are still uneven. I’m sure he will fix that in time.



He will now keep his lovely trot as long as I can keep a my seat. Eventually, I get tired and have to stop. Sometimes I forget to breathe—and that doesn’t help. I am building up my strength. I follow the instructions of Mary Wanless of Ride with Your Mind fame. The stuff works, but it is tough. I was dripping with sweat last night—and it was cold out.


I have to get Ellen to video us this weekend. Usually, she is riding Ranger when I’m riding Cole, so that makes it tough.


Ranger is doing well. She is cantering him, now, and there is still no sign of lameness. Whatever it was, it seems to be better. Maybe the vet was wrong and it wasn’t arthritis. We know he has it, but maybe that’s not what was making him lame. I sure hope that was the case.



It’s so nice to be able to write a more optimistic blog. Maybe this will be a good year, after all.