Happy Birthday Comrade!!!

My pony partner has turned 9 years old today. Where has the time gone?

Isn't he looking athletic? No more chunky, bad fat. He is nice and sleek. Weight loss, joint medicine and chiropractic has done wonders for him. And just today Peggy found out from Lisa his breeder that Comrade had a tough birth. He started coming out the wrong way and Bess, his dam had to get him repositioned. That could have been when he became crooked. So just like the chiropractor said, he has been crooked since birth. I am so glad he is feeling better now.

Yesterday we did some ground work. I started out working him loose, but even though he looked super, he was not really listening. So I put him on the line and did some true work. After a session where he responded quickly and only had a few "I know what I am doing" moments, we went for a walk in the woods. We jogged down the trail, hopped over a couple little jumps then stopped for some desensitizing. Then I decided to play. Connor, his full brother, got to play on banks recently. We don't have any bank jumps, but we do have a spot that was graded leaving a ledge. I walked him over to the ledge and asked him to go down. Ha, no problem. Then I asked him to go up. Again no problem. I was really happy with him and love that he trusts me enough to do what I ask.

We of course had to brag to Peggy. With all his great work, Peggy deemed his birthday was a great time for a trail ride. Sunday brought great weather for the trail ride. I rode Addie for her first outing of the year. She looked down some of the hills and stopped to look for any short cuts. When none were in sight she finally made the trek down. Peggy led us to the creek and surprisingly we walked in it for a length. Addie splashed so much, Comrade and Peggy got wet. They both were great in the water handling the rocks and sand. Then we climbed a muddy bank to find we had to go through brush. These Cobs are amazing. We ducked branches and the horses kept right on going. After going back up the big hill, Addie was huffing but Comrade was like "I'm just warmed up." Gotta love a fit pony. Peggy gave the Birthday Boy a rub down and treats. It was a great day.