All the boys are at the farm, the girl is in town

I worked with Billie yesterday afternoon, having not worked with her in months. It's almost like starting over, but not quite. She's testing me to find out if I remember the rules. We did okay, and I had her go both directions in the round pen free lunging. I want to work back up to getting a halter on her and eventually lunging/ground working her for starters. My ultimate goal is to get her ready to be at the farm with the boys. She'll have to be a lot more broke before we will do that; it's all baby steps.

The boys at the farm got peddies today. Decker got a new set of shoes, and Al, Bo, and Ghost got trimmed. Bo also had to make a trip to the vet for a swelling on his jaw. The vet is pretty sure it is an abcess caused by the splinters of the cactus plants that end up all over these guys. What a pain. But he loaded on the trailer like a trooper--we haven't loaded him since we brought him to the farm over a year ago.

Thought I'd try riding Decker today after he got his shoes. He's learned to fit in at the farm and seems quite happy. But why did I think that he'd be ready for a ride? When I got on his back he started prancing around and tossing his head right there next to the barb wire fence. Yikes! I dismounted quick as I could and gave him a lunge. Guess I'll have to try riding next time when we can be out there for a bit longer, including a lunge.