4th of July (Observed)

I took advantage of the College Holiday yesterday to sleep in a little bit and then go ride Jester. I'm thankful I did, because it was a bear of a hot day. We rode for a little while in the sun, looping back to the one shady part of the arena if we needed to stop. I think we're going to try some morning rides before work and his breakfast and see how that goes.

Today was also the day to introduce Jester to the Carrot Stick and Savvy String (Parelli tools) and see what he thinks of me when I carry a large stick. Honestly, either because we had already ridden or he's just that kinda guy, he really couldn't have cared less. For most of it, his response was "a little to the left - ahh, that feels good" when I was rubbing him either with my hand or the stick. He seemed to find the string around his legs a little annoying, but didn't care if I draped it over his body. At one point he walked away, but he wanders a bit whenever I'm there anyhow. His roommate seems more interested in me than Jester does, but then again, I demand less (nothing) of the roommate.

Finished picking up the rocks in the paddock (for now) and have quite the pile for the rock collector whenever they come around. I like the paddock without so many rocks, especially if we're going to do some Parelli there instead of the arena. It shouldn't be too much of a problem - Jester just pushes the other horse out of the way.

Need to get through my reading and CD listening before we do more, but given the heat we've got today, this shouldn't be a problem. Water and shade are my friend.