Rode Magic today. I removed his shoes Friday. It seemed to me that recently he has not been as active under saddle as he was 6 weeks ago. The shoes were loose and I thought they might be putting pressure on the wrong part of his heels. We did have a little better ride today. Magic may need his shoes reset every 6 weeks rather than 8 weeks as my farrier has me scheduled now. I have 8 horses so there are a lot of trims and not so many to shoe. The farrier bill is considerable, possibly my biggest horse expense. The geology on this farm produces big rocks and barefoot is OK here but if I go anywhere we need shoes.
Magic was a little more inclined to spook today than he has been normally. I expect that is a consequence of the big spook from the calf the last time I rode Magic. I like to avoid bad experiences because I think they have a carryover effect. I think it takes a year or more for a horse and rider to build confidence in each other enough to handle difficult situations. Magic is a brave horse and he has exhibited confidence in spooky situations. My riding environment has every spook imaginable. Magic will get to where he can handle them all.
Magic loaded in the trailer today. He was very relaxed about it. We will start loading and driving around a little bit. (Of course, we need shoes if we go anywhere. As Gilda says, it’s always something. I wonder if she had horses.)