What a great month for Cody this has been so far. He expanded his horizons to strange new worlds. So far this month we've been to Little Manatee River State Park and Duette Preserve "Headwaters" in addition to GW Griffin Park. His gait is more consistant with every ride.
At Little Manatee River State Park, he encountered alot of water logged trails and had to trudge through black water, filled ruts, green water and flooded grass fields. Once he got his first good boy he went LOOKING for water to walk through so he could hear "Good boy" again. He's such a suck up.
He also went down close quarter trails for the first time. Up until now it has been roads, wide trails and open fields. He was jumpy at first when the vegetation brushed his side and belly, but he quickly adjusted and again, after finding out it would get him a "Good boy", he went looking for opportunities to go "off trail".
We went over logs, around snags, through deep dirt and sand, mucky mud, palmetto stumps and shell roads. He handled it very well.
Peg and I joined Myakka River Riders Saddle Club and took our first ride with a large group at Duette Headwaters. Cody was very excited and ansy at first. While waiting for the others to finish saddling and mounting up, I had to take him off to the side and do a few circles until he finally stood. After the first 15 minutes of the ride, he had calmed down and was moving out nicely.
He's doing fantastic with his gaits. Slowly but surely he's becoming consistant coming out of the dog walk into the flat walk and even into the running walk. I'm so proud of him.
The bugs are really coming out as the trails are heating up. It was muggy like a sauna and flies and gnats and mosquitos were looking to gnaw on us.
At Little Manatee River State Park, he encountered alot of water logged trails and had to trudge through black water, filled ruts, green water and flooded grass fields. Once he got his first good boy he went LOOKING for water to walk through so he could hear "Good boy" again. He's such a suck up.
He also went down close quarter trails for the first time. Up until now it has been roads, wide trails and open fields. He was jumpy at first when the vegetation brushed his side and belly, but he quickly adjusted and again, after finding out it would get him a "Good boy", he went looking for opportunities to go "off trail".
We went over logs, around snags, through deep dirt and sand, mucky mud, palmetto stumps and shell roads. He handled it very well.
Peg and I joined Myakka River Riders Saddle Club and took our first ride with a large group at Duette Headwaters. Cody was very excited and ansy at first. While waiting for the others to finish saddling and mounting up, I had to take him off to the side and do a few circles until he finally stood. After the first 15 minutes of the ride, he had calmed down and was moving out nicely.
He's doing fantastic with his gaits. Slowly but surely he's becoming consistant coming out of the dog walk into the flat walk and even into the running walk. I'm so proud of him.
The bugs are really coming out as the trails are heating up. It was muggy like a sauna and flies and gnats and mosquitos were looking to gnaw on us.
No comments:
Post a Comment