Drought.

That is both literal and metaphorical. I haven't posted in...a while. I haven't had the time to work with Ernie and Stella on a regular basis. Ernie and I have been doing some hill work on the 1/2 mile racetrack to strengthen his back end, and you can definitely tell he needs it; a few short walks up and down and he's struggling. I've progressed to doing 1 full lap around the track and the walk on a loose-ish rein (it depends; he really needs to be kept on the bit, otherwise his mind wanders and he gets distracted/spooked, but if he offers to stretch, I take it), followed by two shorter 1/2 tracks on contact, and then a 1/2 track at the trot up the hill. It's a gentle incline, but it's the PERFECT degree of difficulty for him. He's starting to develop an actual butt!

Stella has been good, although she's been given a few days off. Starting on Monday, the heat has been INSANE. Last week it was 60-70 degrees during the day and 40 at night. I was blanketing both horses, for crying out loud! Then, all of the sudden, we got up into the 90's with full sun and it's been that way for 4 freaking days. Stella does not tolerate heat well, and though she's never come in sweating or sticky, you can tell she is definitely drained after being out at pasture. I've been turning them out around 7AM and bringing them in at 2. They both always suck down water like it's gold, even though I leave two buckets out there, and both are slow to go to their hay. Donnie told me he was patting Stella's neck the other night, and she pinned her ears a little and bared her teeth. SO not like my mare. I've left her alone for the last 3 days and just kept an eye on her.

Other than that, things have been quiet on the horse front. I've been swamped with with work and practice and work and work and my job and work. I'm finding any time I can to see the horses, but it's just sucky when you run around all day, sometimes the last thing you want to do is ride...