Erik at the Ranch

On Monday Erik came home to the ranch. Michele Roush was at Oak Tree Farms when I went to load Erik, she gently tapped him with a leaf rake until he jumped into the trailer. Prior to the trailer I needed to have a vet measure Erik for a listing in a German stud book. He measured 16 hands barefoot, 8 7/8" cannon bones, and a 74" girth.

Once at the Ranch he was put into his new corral. All 6 of the other boys came running to visit. It was kind of scary as they screamed and kicked at each other through the corral panels. Withing a few minutes all was fine.

On Tuesday I saddled up but no way he was going to let me get on. We walked for two miles doing the one rein stop while I tried to keep him still enough to get on, which I finally did. We then rode for another 2 miles.

We ended up with 24 miles for the week. He improved 100 percent everyday. We trotted and cantored and walked some hills. He mostly recovered to 60 in 10 min upon our return.

His lowest Heart Rate pre ride was 30 BPM. Highest was 205, but only for a few seconds. He seems to be able to trot on level ground in the mid to high 90's.

On Thursday he had size 2 shoes put on both front and rear. This made a big difference as I think his feet were a little sore. He seemed to move out much betteron the gravel roads he has to travel.

So far so good. He is pretty much unflapable on the trail. Goes through brush, over logs, nothing seems to phase him. He even stepped into the mud at the edge of the lake without protest.

Longest ride was 6.5 miles and shortest was 4 miles and he had thursday off as it rained and he had his shoes put on.