Sweating Away

It's summer!  In Texas!  Again!

That means time to whinge about the weather!  Luckily we aren't in Houston so avoided the disaster that Beryl caused, however I was sure with the storm that we'd get a few days of rain and cooler temps.  Instead we got two separate days of rain for the first time in a month and are back in the high 90s again.

Not going to lie, I enjoy reading about how all of you out there deal with heat in your different ways.  Ride in the mornings?  Skip riding altogether?  Move your horses to another country?  Freeze yourself and your horse in an ice block until fall?  For us, each horse has multiple high velocity fans in their stall and they are all brought inside during the afternoons.

Mae has now been barefoot for an entire year!  We weren't sure that this was going to be the right move for her (especially with those delicate TB feet), but so far, they've actually held up really nicely throughout the seasons.  That being said, Mae has very clearly announced her preference for working in the outdoor uncovered arena with the fancy fiber footing vs. the covered and much cooler arenas with the red Western footing.  So we will roast out in the sun for the next few months I guess.  The tan lines that I've accumulated this summer are horrendous.  At least Mae is a good egg when she's out there and we keep the rides to ~20 minutes or so (otherwise I'd probably fall off from heat exhaustion).  Yesterday two guys were buzzing back and forth on their dirt bikes behind the arena and the most she did was cock an ear in their direction.

Can't you tell how thrilled he is about the heat?

I've approached riding Dalton differently this summer.  Whereas Mae is an "ask, don't tell" ride, Dalton is a "tell, don't ask" ride.  From start to finish, when he's working in the arena, there are very firm instructions on what he's supposed to do.  Without that instruction, he was testing me to see what he could get away with.  Such as... feeling a little fresh and adding a few bucks at the canter.  Or not using his body correctly and only using his front end.  Until he learns some self-discipline and the difference between work time and play time, I'll ride him this way.  It's HARD to manage every single part of a ride, but I'm hopeful at some point, he'll get it.

With these "summer adjustments", we've got good working partnerships with both of them (thank god) and everyone is pleasant to be around.

We've got some fun news coming up, visitors coming in town, and a few trips planned over the next few months.  Not trying to leave y'all in suspense but it's shaping up to be quite an exciting year!