Magic and I went for a short ride today. This is the first weekend of the 3 week deer season with guns. We did not go into the woods or very far from the barn. It was very windy. Magic is a very brave horse but did spook just a little today. Well, considering that Magic so seldom spooks it was noticeable but considering how most horses react to a spook, it is almost not wort mentioning. For my needs, He is a very good horse. We rode a little in the arena and then around the Oak Pasture. We are working on bending by doing serpentines, figure eights and circles at the walk and trot. I think I will mark off the 16 and 20 meter circles with ground paint and try that again. I feel that we are progressing in general but we don’t seem to be making much progress with bending in particular.
Since the last time the farrier was here I have been cleaning Magic’s hooves thoroughly and tapping with a hammer similar to the blows necessary in shoeing. Wanda Graham suggested this when I mentioned Magic’s shoeing problem. I do it every time we ride. It does not seem like much but sometimes repetition like this solves big problems. Magic does not exhibit the bad behavior when I do it but I do it anyway. We need a solution to this problem. I need a sedative that I can give if this does not work. Tomorrow will be 6 weeks since the farrier was here.