My boy has come so far:)

(The first longeing pic is August of 2008, the month I got him! Check out the difference in his NECK and the way he carries himself:) Please ignore the crappy pic I managed to snap today!)

Remember how I said I'd be sore today? Uh ... YEAH! I'm so sore that stairs are quite torturous! Wimped out today and longed the Muffin Man. It was so hot and steamy today that I longed him in his pasture in the shade of a huge tree. It was a good work out for him because there was a nice little incline that he had to work on. I worked on keeping his rhythm consistent, and keeping him working hard on the uphill trot. Had him do some transitions, shortened the side reins until the contact was equivalent to regular rein contact, and made him go FORWARD.

He was very good. Super quiet, yes, but good. I like to use simple, simple, simple for longeing, so I put him in the hunter bridle with the hollow D-ring. Definitely will ride tomorrow, just have to decide if it will be in the dressage saddle or the cc saddle. I SHOULD make myself do cc saddle with stirrups tied, then dressage saddle on Saturday. Debating getting up at O'dark thirty on Saturday to ride BEFORE lessons.

Even though it's worth noting that I HATE cleaning 12 stalls 5 days a week, I do really enjoy doing my ONE horse's stall;) I like keeping an eye on him; I always know if his tummy is fine (had diarrhea at one point; Joyce had put him on beet pulp). I keep an eye on his water intake (He gets Sr. feed and Joyce is now wetting that. His water buckets are now cleaner, and he's actually drinking LESS); I'm able to see he's not dehydrated because he has the same, normal amounts of pee. It's good for me to be out a MINIMUM of 5 days a week, because I get to see him sleep every day (where he got the nickname, "Squeaky Tiki", lol!), and get to make sure he hasn't torn himself up playing in his pasture like a dum dum (he currently has lost his flymask in the pond:(). I'm grateful for the opportunity to get to care for him during the week:)