Gack!

More Cricket drama.  Wayne went out and rode in the arena alone yesterday and said Cricket was more or less back to his PITA self.  I offered to give another lesson today and Cricket was definitely back to his old self.  Sigh.  I'm frustrated because I know there's got to be some key to getting Cricket to act like a decent horse, but I haven't figured it out yet.  And it seems to change from day to day.  I hate that this horse gets to me so much, and have talked with Wayne about putting him on the market and waiting to see if another horse comes along.  I'm just afraid he's going to get hurt or hurt someone else in the whole process.  He's pretty determined to stay the course, but I'm at the end of my knowledge.  

I took Jasper out by himself again today, but it wasn't as successful as last time.  I hadn't realized how windy it was before we left, so by the time we got out to Eagle Island, the wind was blowing pretty well.  He was pretty full of himself and didn't want to stand for mounting.  Considering his willingness to spook at everything he could find, I decided to stay in the parking lot and just doing a basic flatwork schooling session.  He was still full of it after trotting and cantering around for a half hour or so, and I called it a day.  The footing wasn't good enough on the trail to deal with a spook monster.  I'd like to think I didn't leave defeated since we still got a nice workout.  What is with the horses today?

I'm also not happy with Jasper's weight.  He's hungry and eating, but I think the hay we have here in Boise is not good enough with him being ridden 3-5 days a week (Lord knows it's good enough for the other two--they're fatties!).  I stopped at D&B on the way home from Eagle Island and picked up a couple of bales of compressed timothy to supplement while he's here.  I'd really like to plant him in front of a trough full of hay and have him eat for a few days.  He's also getting 3/4 of a pound of Ultium and two cups of beet pulp a day.  He's getting his teeth done later this month, but I really shouldn't be having so many problems.  He's even blanketed, but that's more for my laziness than anything else.