We like our future and enjoy it presently

"Gurgle, hiss, snort, grumble

Wake up..I'mz hungree"

How bad can a day be when it starts out with this wrinkly face?

Ooops.

No, not a rescue on Craigslist.

Just Laz treating his skin to a mud mask

One good thing about snow, is there's no mud.

Damn...but I'm NOT going to say anything bad about a 40 degree day!

Laz standing quietly while I attempted to remove the mud.

As I was currying, he flinched at one spot and gently swung his head at me.  I stopped and looked, and sure enough he had a dollar sized patch of hair missing from a love bite.  The skin wasn't broken but he obviously didn't want my rubber curry going over that now bruised part.  How sweet for him to gently tell me and not try to bite, balk, kick.  He is kind.

Playful too, as he kept rummaging through his grooming bucket and picking out each brush one at a time.

"Use this one...now this one...I hatz that one"

Lately instead of lunging only to begin, we do some Parelli games.

If he needs to run around and buck, I allow him too but he has been so calm for a long while and not showing  want/need to run around like a crazy man.

(of course I just cursed that)

I try to introduce some new things at least once a week.

Today, I worked on cracking my carrot stick (whip thing) on the ground to try and desensitize him to the sound and action of it.  It's been a while since we've worked on this.  At first, he was a little worried and starting trotting around me in a circle, not frantic but he definitely wasn't confident. I stood there, looking down at the ground, body relaxed while repeating to crack the whip enough to get a sound on the ground, over and over and over.  After a few minutes he came towards me asking to come in.  I stopped and allowed him too. I always want him to think I'm a safe zone for him.  I ended it there and moved on to other games and praised him for being brave. I know it may sound trivial but it's not. I see our progress and where we need work. It's nice having sight on that.

We end those mental games with a nice ride where we translate some of the ground work, through riding.

It's helped our riding and our partnership.

Another wonderful thing about blogging is I get to go back and compare notes from our past, to our present.

This post was from last March, a year to the day

A lot has changed for the better.

March 2010 was when I decided to fight one last time, get a barefoot trimmer and try a more holistic approach to healing his laminitis.  What a leap of faith but luckily I had a lot of readers that helped us down this path, and we are so so so so happy to still be heading in a positive direction. 

Physically and mentally....for us both! lol

Laz's health continues to improve and his feet are growing and we are still trimming and allowing his horn grow at the rate it does with no severe rushing.

His stance has changed. He used to have his RR stand underneath him, not putting much weight on it.  Now he stands square and I catch him often resting his LR which was something he never did. Surely a good sign as he improves in his muscling and balance.

Some annoying things I noticed is it seemed warmer a year ago and drier.  Oh well, I needed that for him when he was healing, so thanks. ;)

I have to say, riding him today, was peaceful success.

He was peaceful, sighing and walking confidently on a loose rein, picking up a trot with my slightest cues of gathering up the reins and thinking of a 'Trot'

Our games/training have helped us improve our communication.

I am learning that the more I trust in him, the more I should.

What a lovely boy he is.  

How lucky I am to still have him!

Love you Laz!!!

And my sweet Mason...my little chocolate co-pilot.

Who snoozes in the sun on our way home, after walking around with us during our ride.