Visit to Easy

On Friday, Jan. 25, we drove up to Merlin, OR, to visit Easy. It had only been two weeks since we dropped him off, so we can't expect too much. He was resistant to having the bit put in his mouth, but Liz says he has never done that before. Maybe he just thought since we were there, he wouldn't be expected to behave. Just like kids! She got him saddled, and took him out to the round pen, where she lunged him briefly before getting on. It was pretty cold out, probably right around freezing, so we got COLD standing around watching. She only rode him for about 15minutes, mostly at a nice trot, but he was breathing hard and sweaty by then! Just like any couch potato, he hasn't become an athlete overnight. But boy howdy, could we see the difference in him! He is so much fitter looking, and I could feel the muscle when I stroked him along the sides. Next she took him over to the hotwalker for a lesson (Liz has a very clever way of teaching him to use the hotwalker). He was cooled off in 5 minutes or so. She didn't want to hose him off since it was so cold, so we just curried him a bit to fluff up the damp hair. He's looking so handsome!

Then on Wednesday, Jan. 30, Liz called to give us an update. Easy is now loping (cantering) in the round pen, and soon she'll have him out in the arena. He has learned to walk on the hotwalker by himself, although Liz still stays right with him to make sure he doesn't get scared. She says he hasn't offered any trouble again on being bitted up, so I guess he was just misbehaving because his "parents" were there!

No progress on getting Koko down to the trainer in Los Molinos. We have been snowed in most of the time for over a week, and now it's practically a blizzard out there. Come on, Spring!