Horses Playing in Mud after 2 Days Inside

The horses were happy to be outside after all the rain this weekend!

Even if it was only 2 days, they (well, just one horse in particular) were getting cabin fever and were happy to be OUT.

I put them in the small pasture since they were only going outside for a few hours - they definitely would have run from me to come back in otherwise.

It had dried out a little - 5 hours earlier there were puddles all over the field.  There wasn't much running other than what I filmed.

The horses were much more interested in all the new grass that had popped up overnight.

Reining and Dressage, Side by Side

Love, love, love this video. First one I've seen showing Reining and Dressage together where riders switch horses. You can see the dedication and hard work it takes in training both animals. Both disciplines have surprising similarities when shown side by side. Both riders are Austrian, and I think the Western rider started out riding Dressage, but don't quote me on that.

Now this being a western blog, I do appreciate the western horse and rider just a biiiit more.

Hint, guess which horse is swishing its tail all over the place. Not the western horse. And also for once, the western horse doesn't have a blocked tail. Hallelujah.

The other thing I love about this video is the size differences in the horses. When they're sidepassing together, they prove the detractors in both disciplines wrong. I've heard both English and Western riders claim that only a horse of a certain size can sidepass/any other maneuver. Not in this case!