No new shoes for Holden!

Holden standing like a gent while we (I) get organized.

Today, I spent some time really getting Holden spic and span. I curried him, brushed him with all three brushes, and then swabbed him fore to hind with a damp wash-cloth. I've noticed he has a fair amount of dandruff -- which is fine, but he never looks clean!

Our hand-walk regime today was much the same as it was yesterday, save today we had many distractions. Mike came to the barn and brought Genova (our dog) into the indoor and at first Holden was suspicious of this new indoor-play participant. I elected to walk him around the arena a few times in both directions before clipping the long-lines on and walking him from behind. I'm glad I did this -- while Holden didn't spook, he wasn't very convinced that Mike or the dog were there for his well-being.

We spent today working on straightness. Lots of straight lines down the indoor, as well as straight lines across the diagonal. For once in his life Holden did not try to gravitate towards the entrance/exit -- though I suspect this has a lot to do with the two denizens that were perched there speculating us. 

Holden's beautiful walk beat!

Holden was fab as usual. He demonstrated a nice, easy walk the entire time and seemed to be enjoying the "work". He listened very well to voice commands and there was a definite improvement over yesterday on our straightness. Mike was able to snap some precious pictures of him; some of which I think are flipping adorable!

I briefly worked on walking along-side him as he walked, just to get him acclimated to the feel of the rope around his haunches. He took this well, and I do note we need to work on getting him to turn when there is pressure applied to the bit through the line. However, I don't want to do small circles -- so for now, we will settle on walking straight lines. I figure the steering is something we can work on gradually as to not upset or aggravate his old injury. 

We didn't walk for very long before the farrier came. We were in the indoor just shy of fifteen minutes before Holden's appointment. We untacked him quickly and the farrier spent some time palpitating Holden's hind leg -- which naturally lead to some dubious outrage on Holden's part! The farrier speculated that Holden's angles were not as bad as I thought (collective sigh of relief) and that he thought Holden should go barefoot if he is in a stall all time. Okay, he's the professional -- so Holden is now sans shoes on the front! I am betting tomorrow he might be foot-sore -- but I'm hoping he takes to the change swimmingly. Luckily for him, he is only ever in a cushy stall or walking in the cushy indoor -- which I may request be dragged in the next week or so. 

"Is there something on my nose?"

On another note, I'm running low on the porridge partition of our Platinum Porridge. I am contemplating getting alfalfa pellets and the alfalfa/oat cubes at TSC. His grain has a fair portion of oats on it and I imagine he was fed oats at the track anyway -- so hopefully this will help him put more weight on for the winter. Anyway, have one last picture of Holden. Like I said, isn't he CUTE?