Friday was going to be all about our first ride together. I'd planned, gotten excited and even posted it on the blog. Well, then our farrier came Thursday for a couple of the other horses and we decided to take those toes back a bit more since he wasn't quite comfortable yet.
Bad news is he is very sore. Good news is that this is the first time he has stood up square since he's been here. He even pointed the right one when grazing. So much for our first ride, though. It's great to see him moving more evenly, and he got comfortable with a little bute. A couple more days and we're starting the saddle time.
He is eating better and really enjoying farm life.
It would be easy for me to get lazy with this one. In a little less than two more months, he's expected to be going walk, trot, canter both directions, free-jumped to see how his form over fences is and jumping little stuff under saddle.
After getting to know him a bit better, I plan to have all that done by the first week of October. The last three weeks will be spent getting him ready for a little training level dressage test and he will make me look like the incredible wonder trainer. Which I am so not.
It's been so long since I rode in a horse show, and never in a dressage one, that I'm certain to be the subject of all the critical comments on the scorecard. Good thing he is so cute that no one will notice me besides the judge.
Saturday, September 13, 2008
Wednesday, September 10, 2008
One month's progress
Sheesh, it has really been a month since he got here and with any other horse I'd have to say we are way behind schedule. Not that I'm a 'take em off the truck and throw a leg over em' kind of gal, but things are going a little bit slower than usual.
The weather hasn't helped any, either. First there is going to be a storm, then there isn't, then there is. Reminds me of an old Donovan song. Drove me crazy when it was on the radio. Blame me if you know the one I'm talking about and now can't get it out of your head.
Then there are the frogs! Had a million tadpoles after Fay. Now have carpets of tiny little bitty frogs. Trust me, it would not be a good time to visit if you are a Buddhist. If your Uncle Harry happend to come back as a frog at our place, well, odds are good that he's on to the next life by now. We trample dozens on an hourly basis and the hawks are getting fat just sitting in the field picking up from the moving froggy smorgasbord.
That's not to say we haven't been working with the big guy. He's out in the arena on the longe or the long line every day. His feet have been trimmed twice, he's had his shots and been wormed once, and his teeth are scheduled for floating next week. He isn't eating as well as we would like, but his metabolism is changing.
Traces of steroids were shown in his initial blood work and that's not so unusual for horses coming from the track. It's not like they are fed the 'pump you up' variety, more like the 'help you keep condition and be hungry after grueling workouts' sort. Not that it's easy to imagine him ever having a grueling workout. He still shows evidence of why he didn't win more races. He is just not an agro kind of guy. His philosophy is more like, "hey, if they want to get there before me, that's OK, I'm just out here having a good time."
My partner in him came out and visited on Labor Day. She took a couple sweet pictures that I'll post as soon as she sends them to me. She really wants to help him reach his potential and is anxious to get on him, too. This is the week for me. On Friday he'll have the first ride of his new career. If it goes as well as I hope, then we'll start getting him prepped for a little dressage schooling test. Not that I'm the best dressage rider in the world. My use for it has been flatting jumpers. And I'm not the very best at that.
We'll see if I can live up (or down) to my old reputation. I've been know to take a Roemer baby in training with Kathleen Raine and make him look like a hunter the second my seat hit the saddle. It's sad. Oh well, my old brown Stubben dressage saddle is coming out of the mothballs anyway.
The weather hasn't helped any, either. First there is going to be a storm, then there isn't, then there is. Reminds me of an old Donovan song. Drove me crazy when it was on the radio. Blame me if you know the one I'm talking about and now can't get it out of your head.
Then there are the frogs! Had a million tadpoles after Fay. Now have carpets of tiny little bitty frogs. Trust me, it would not be a good time to visit if you are a Buddhist. If your Uncle Harry happend to come back as a frog at our place, well, odds are good that he's on to the next life by now. We trample dozens on an hourly basis and the hawks are getting fat just sitting in the field picking up from the moving froggy smorgasbord.
That's not to say we haven't been working with the big guy. He's out in the arena on the longe or the long line every day. His feet have been trimmed twice, he's had his shots and been wormed once, and his teeth are scheduled for floating next week. He isn't eating as well as we would like, but his metabolism is changing.
Traces of steroids were shown in his initial blood work and that's not so unusual for horses coming from the track. It's not like they are fed the 'pump you up' variety, more like the 'help you keep condition and be hungry after grueling workouts' sort. Not that it's easy to imagine him ever having a grueling workout. He still shows evidence of why he didn't win more races. He is just not an agro kind of guy. His philosophy is more like, "hey, if they want to get there before me, that's OK, I'm just out here having a good time."
My partner in him came out and visited on Labor Day. She took a couple sweet pictures that I'll post as soon as she sends them to me. She really wants to help him reach his potential and is anxious to get on him, too. This is the week for me. On Friday he'll have the first ride of his new career. If it goes as well as I hope, then we'll start getting him prepped for a little dressage schooling test. Not that I'm the best dressage rider in the world. My use for it has been flatting jumpers. And I'm not the very best at that.
We'll see if I can live up (or down) to my old reputation. I've been know to take a Roemer baby in training with Kathleen Raine and make him look like a hunter the second my seat hit the saddle. It's sad. Oh well, my old brown Stubben dressage saddle is coming out of the mothballs anyway.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
