I rode Newt to the Oak pasture. Lunged walk, trot and canter in both directions. He was calm at the canter until his foot slipped (dew on the grass). Then he must have been embarrassed for slipping so he bucked a little. Whenever they slip or stumble, they do not like it. I would like to find out what is the best footing. I am riding Newt barefoot with no problems and I want footing that will allow barefoot. I expect shoes would help his traction but then he gets tender-footed when the shoes come off. We rode the needlepoint, oval and circle. He did the exercises better today. He did two good canter circles. The next time he got to the “barn draw” area, he started drifting that way, I applied corrective aids and, whoops, that was too much so he did a little bucking. (obviously not hard bucking or I would not have stayed on) That was clockwise. On the other rein he slipped on the canter depart and did a little more bucking. We are making improvements. We rode the trail all the way to the west end of the pasture.
Magic’s problem with tender feet or whatever gets worse each day since he lost the shoe, off front. He went six weeks and one day before he lost a shoe. I need to get him some boots for a situation like this. I hauled Magic to Sherri Ricketts and Dale put on new shoes. This time he got eight nails in each shoe and Dale liked the results much better. The sore foot did not seem to be sensitive to hammering and only one sore foot. So this time was better. Dale thought the leg was sensitive to lifting up and suggested that we do that foot last next time. This was Magic’s first haul since he got here. Loading at my barn was no problem. No problems while hauling like last time between Diamond T and Conway. He was reluctant to load at Sherri’s. He would not respond to the target or the treats. Response to asking for a step forward with the lunge whip was not good either. He did respond to a rump rope. I make a big loop tied with a bowline, slip it over his rump and pull from the front where I also have the lead rope. It worked. He loaded in about 20 minutes. I was happy to see him respond to pressure. If he does not respond to the clicker target or the treats and does not respond to pressure, then he will not load. I had plenty of that in February. I expect that after a few days, I will be able to ride him again. I hope so.