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.