Running water

Rory with one foot in the stream

 The new barn has a stream running across the property.  It's not a real stream, but rather a drainage stream for the lake in the neighbour's field.  The BOs did a lot of work this summer to prepare for the wet seasons and there is now a neat swale running across the property out to the ditch by the road.  All but one paddock has a culvert to allow dry passage to the paddock gates, the other has a gravel base.  When I saw the water rushing along on Thursday I thought it would be a great opportunity to introduce Rory to walking through moving water.  He was very good about it and followed me across easily.  At first he tried to step clear across without getting into the water, but after a few trips back and forth he didn't worry about plopping a foot in.  We went and took a look at the neighbour's lake but didn't go wading as I didn't have suitable footwear.

The next day it snowed and the water was a black strip against the white.  I took Rory out to see that it was the same deal, and this time persuaded him to stop with his front feet in the water.  He was completely unconcerned about the water even against the snow.  Good boy!

Big boy on the cross ties.

We had a bit of longeing practice in the arena on Friday as well.  Totyo hollered for Rory while we were gone, but Rory didn't get upset about being away from his buddy.  Rory's getting pretty good about going around to the left so we did a bit of work to the right as well.  He was a little iffy about "Out" when we started, but improved with a little practice.  I asked him to go for longer without a carrot today, probably too long a couple of times.  I broke up the longeing practice with some leading and yielding, and a bit of trot in hand round the arena.  He was very good and stayed with me even when it was plain he would have liked to kick up his heels.

I borrowed the barn's measuring stick to see how tall Rory has gotten.  He's 15.1 1/2 right now.  I let him sniff the stick before measuring and he didn't mind it at all.

The new rainsheet is rubbing Rory's shoulders a bit - just roughing up the hair for now.  I had thought that might happen since the chest buckles are lower than they should be on him.  I had my needle and thread handy so I sewed a couple of darts into the neckline to raise the front.  Hopefully it will be enough.  It's tough to find blankets for the young horses.  They're neither pony nor horse proportions, and they're still growing.