Red injured himself about two weeks after he arrived at the new barn - around June 21. In that two weeks, we did some walking around, including making an excursion to the outdoor arena for a hand walk. That's the last time he'd been out there, a long time ago. Today, there was a lesson being held in the outdoor - it's visible away up the hill if you look out the door of the indoor. Red was very interested in what was happening out there. So, after we'd done some good walk/trot work in the indoor, I dismounted and led him outside. He still has some difficulty going down the very steep hill - he drags his hind toes and isn't really able to sit down and use himself, but does fairly well walking uphill.
He looked around when we got out to the outdoor, and I led him on a couple of laps around. Then I just led him to the mounting block - he stood perfectly still on a loose rein - and mounted up. We did a bit of walk/trot work all around the outdoor arena, and he was just wonderful. He looked at things but didn't do anything except what I asked. Although we did a little bit of trotting, the footing was really too deep for him to be comfortable.
I couldn't have been more delighted - he stayed with me and listening, even in a strange place under strange circumstances. He seemed pretty please with himself, too.
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