Settling into summer

 School is winding down, projects are stacking up, and the heat is just beginning.  Normally at this point in the year the weather is wet and warm, however despite the oppressive humidity we are not getting the rain we need, and it is HOT!

WTF

Uno worked really hard last week and was demonstrably tired at the end of our lesson on Wednesday.  He had worked 6 days in a row!  So I gave him Thurs - Sat off and let him decompress and process what we had worked on.  Our big take aways are SLOW.  Start in the walk, he must keep a regular slow rhythm. We do not move on until he can stretch and pick back up the contact without loosing the rhythm.  The other is helping him with his footwork so he can be more confident at the base of the jump.

There is no reason he cannot just step over something like this.

I picked him back up with a lunge on Sunday and a ride Monday and he was REALLY good.  Today I will take both boys out for a quiet hack through the woods just to keep us moving.  Then we may head to a jumper show on Sat - I am really not sure about the weather.

Meanwhile, Dutch is slowly getting better on his feet and is ready to pony out (at a walk only) again.  He is cast in front with soft pads and anti-thrush packing.  Time will tell if he will ever be able to live in boots, but for the moment they just bruise his heels too badly.

This weekend we also built a new chicken coop in the back of a shed we do not really use, so the chickens will have a much bigger and well ventilated space.

Added a rug because we are fancy!