transition home

It’s been a busy week since Koda & Nemo made the transition from Iron Horse, to home. They were in training a month longer then we had originally planned. It made such a huge difference, and was worth every penny. It allowed us to hone what we learned, and so much more. We feel fortunate that we were able to give our boys 120 days of incredible training and care. Let me tell you the training shows.

The transition home really couldn’t have gone any smoother; they eased right back into a familiar routine enhanced with riding. We brought them home last Sunday night, and started riding Monday. Much to my surprise they both did everything we asked. I was expecting some attitude, but neither one showed any. Instead, they really look forward to us riding them as much as we do. It’s a great feeling!!


















 

Koda's back home, still a curious hungry boy.



















 

Nemo's back home, and keeping track of everything.

We’ve had a couple very minor issues, such as the need to start tacking in the same area (for now) so it’s clear when it’s time to go to work. Not a surprise with the location change. We don’t have a barn or aisle mat for them to relate to what they are being asked. It quickly became a non-issue when we designated an area, they figured out when play time was over on day 1. We have since had a few high-headed moments, that quickly subside. I’m sure as we continue to ask more of them things will pop up. 
 

We haven’t finished our outdoor arena, so we’ve been riding in the pasture. Even if it was done, it would be too wet. As many of you know, WI has had a ton of daily (or better said nightly) hard rain – and we all know what that brings. Mud. We haven’t been able to fully work the boys like we would like to, it’s too slippery. Regardless, we miraculously got four rides in last week. A couple ended with sprinkles as we got into the truck to leave, which soon changed to heavy rains later in the evening. We’ve been doing the typical short lunge warm-up, progressive riding, and then started adding a short trail ride on the path where we used to walk. As we all know another thing rain unfortunately brings is mosquitoes; the nasty’s end one's desire to trail ride in a hurry.
I really miss Iron Horse, especially the camaraderie. But it's a trade-off, we love taking care of our boys and seeing them daily. Hoping to ride together sometime soon.


















 
Too hot, and slippery, to run and greet our humans.

The boys got the past weekend off between the rain, hockey tournament, and going to a grad party (3 down, one to go). Little time was left for anything more than feeding and hugs. Today however it's back to the new routine, and then we added barrels (walk/slow trot) – that was fun!!