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06/25/2003: "Summer Is Here!"
I DID say I wanted it to be warm, didn’t I? Well, it’s warm. In fact, yesterday and today it’s downright HOT - air temps in the 90’s with the humidity pushing the heat index up to about 100. However, I am NOT complaining! These two days are the only really uncomfortable days we’ve had so far, and it’s supposed to cool off by tomorrow anyway. No, you won’t hear any complaints about the heat from ME!!
My foot is about 99% okay now. It’s still somewhat tender across the middle - where Indy’s foot actually came down - but that’s about it. Even my ankle is back to normal, or at least what passes for normal with my right ankle. I’m sure I could ride now - if it weren’t so hot. Indy and I did ground work yesterday, but I doubt we’ll do even that today. After all, we have nothing but time and tomorrow is supposed to be quite a bit more comfortable.
Indy is doing splendidly on his groundwork. :o) We’re still working in the rope hackamore, and I think that will be great for hacking out and goofing off, but for REAL training, I feel much more confident with a snaffle. Perhaps it’s just because that’s what I’m used to, but the rope hack just doesn’t give me the precise feel that a snaffle bit does.
And therein lies another story… Since Indy never seemed truly comfortable in either of my snaffles, I decided to stick with the hackamore until I had his mouth checked again by my vet dental specialist. It was almost time for both the guy’s yearly dental exam anyway, and a horse Indy’s age can have a lot of changes in his mouth in that length of time.
My vet, Dr. Conley, was out last week. He did find quite a few points on Indy’s teeth, and he also said the teeth had grown in quite a bit over the year as Indy’s mouth matured. He said there was nothing intrinsic in Indy’s mouth that should make bitting a problem, but he DID say that Indy’s mouth was a bit wider than average. When he measured, Indy’s mouth turned out to be a FULL 5 inches across, and Dr. C said he felt that Indy would not be really comfortable in a bit less that 5 ½ inches wide. Well. I was pretty sure mine were the “standard” 5 inches, and sure enough, when I measured them that’s what they were - and a scant 5 at that. No WONDER Indy didn’t seem comfortable - he darn sure wasn’t! So, I’ve ordered a wider bit - a Myler Comfort Snaffle with a D-ring. When it arrives, I will post Indy’s opinion. :o)
Meanwhile, we’ll keep refining our work with the hackamore. But not today. TOO HOT! LOL!
