The Repurposed Horse

Leo has been doing really well with training so far.  After the first fateful trainer ride, he has been worked twice from the ground.  The first session was on Saturday, and Trainer K focused on flexion - getting him to accept contact and move underneath himself.  By the end, he was able to work quite well at the trot, but the directional inconsistencies that I've felt while riding were becoming very apparent.  Trainer K pointed this out - that tracking right he seemed almost physically incapable of bending and moving his hind end properly.  My first reaction - would he benefit from seeing the chiropractor? Much leaning. Strugglebus for the little dude. On Monday, Trainer K took him outside on the lunge to see how much (if anything) he had retained from Saturday's session.  She was extremely impressed.  Not only did Leo not need to spend time re-learning the exercise, but he actually seemed to show some improvement.  He was moving into the...

Leo has had his feet done once since arriving at the barn. I was out of town, but from what I've heard, he is NOT a farrier favorite.  Which honestly isn't too surprising, considering the fact that he may have legitimately tried to injure my vet when she was out to give him vaccinations.  So, because his feet are due for shoes in a couple weeks, we spent some quality time in the farrier shed today.  The unsuspecting victim The destination. Truly, a terrifying place. And it SMELLS funny.  Straight bribery.  Leo is obsessed with these things.    Slow entry - letting him smell ALL of the THINGS and take his time. Looking around.  ARE YOU SURE IT'S SAFE IN HERE?! - Leo Such Saddlebred.  Much Giraffe.  aka the wild beast caught in crossties. Note scraggly mane Treats, you say?  For me???? Giraffe at rest.  NOTICE his mane.   Not done by any means, but better! Overall, it was pretty succ...

Guys.  Guys.  The magic (hehe) boots fit my pony!!!! I was seriously worried that they wouldn't.  Horse size Eskadrons were a smidge too big, and cob size professional's choice were a smidge too small, and most manufacturers don't make cob size boots anyways, and pony size was TINY, but these boots totally actually work! and they look good with the bell boots Leo didn't seem to mind them at all, and actually stood still while I put them on - something that never happens when I try to strap him into the SMB's that I've been using. Don't worry, the lead rope was secure, this angle is just very, very strange. I absolutely LOVE them, and am probably going to use them on whatever horse I end up showing this month/next month.  If they fit.  Because I want to use them.  Because they are beautiful.  Also, I can't review them if I don't try them out. Speaking of showing, I (hopefully) will be going to my first jumpers show next Sunday!  ...

As I mentioned yesterday, today was the day that Trainer K was scheduled to ride Leo for the first time.  We were then supposed to have a private lesson.  One of those things happened. Once she started working with Leo, she didn't stop until the full hour was up.  They did walking and trotting, working on adding leg and counterbending and circling.  She explained every single aid in detail, and the logic behind why she was doing what she was doing.  Unfortunately, my phone was in the car charging, or there would be pictures and possibly video.  They did not jump.  They did not canter.  They worked on the basics, and eventually he 'got' just about everything she was asking him to do.  There was a moment of terror when a giant scary truck dropped off some round bales, and he became a spook-monster (unusual for him these days, but as she pointed out she was a new rider and he probably didn't have a whole lot of trust in her hay-bale-slaying ab...

I work overnights Wed, Thurs, Fri, and Sat, and that is when I'm usually able to blog because work tends to be pretty slow.  So, Sun-Tues I don't usually post because Sundays are for sleeping and I tend to spend ~12 hours a day at the barn on Mondays and Tuesdays.  Also my dad was here this weekend. On Sunday, we headed out to the barn.  My trainer had given the go-ahead for my dad to play around on Pepper, the oldest horse in the barn (approximately 30), and perfect babysitter of all parents and boyfriends, who also doubles as a challenge for small children with tiny legs.  We don't have trails, and Pepper is notorious for, well, walking in a determined fashion towards the barn despite all attempts to dissuade him when in the outdoor, so we stuck to the indoor.  Luckily, my dad thought that this was pretty great; he's actually never ridden inside before.  They toodled around at the walk and I gave a bit of a mini-lesson and by the end of it, my dad was a...

I didn't go to the barn at all today.  I slept, cleaned, and then my dad got here.  We went and saw Pete's Dragon because when I was a kid it was one of the movies that we watched a lot, and then we went to dinner.  It was great, and tomorrow we are heading to the barn so that he can meet his grand-pony.  Since I have no new Leo pics or info, I figured I'd take this opportunity to introduce the creatures that I share my home with. Lily Lily has been with me for five years now.  I've had her since she was six weeks old, back when I was still in undergrad.  She moved with me when I left Indiana for grad school, she's moved around the new town in Missouri, and she is wonderful.  She hates outdoors, loves food (seriously have never met a more food-motivated animal in my entire life, except maybe the bf's beagle), loves being a silently judgemental creep, and may or may not kill us all in our sleep someday.  She also gives the best snugg...

I mentioned a few posts ago that a horse had stomped on me and broken my littlest toe.  I decided that it wasn't bad enough to go to the doctor, and have settled for regular ice sessions, elevation, and trying to remember to tape/vet wrap it.  I've also been avoiding wearing shoes because, well, swelling.  AND IT WAS GETTING BETTER!  Still painful to walk on, and painful to ride with, but it was starting to look like a normal toe again. I just want to mention really quickly here that the horse who stepped on my foot originally is the only saddleseat-shown saddlebred in my entire barn (seriously, we have eight saddlebreds, one is retired, one is saddleseat, and the rest are eventers or training to be eventers), and therefore the only horse in the barn with those monstrous weighted stacked wedge pad shoe contraptions.  Which is probably why she was able to inflict so much damage despite my boots. Ahem.  Wearing close-toed shoes at the barn is importan...

Serious question - should I change my blog name to "Adventures of a Prancing Giraffe?"  Except the goal is to not be that any more, so maybe not. So.  Leo and I had a great lesson last week.  There was video evidence.  Then MY BRIDLE came and that was super exciting and wonderful - I researched bridles for ages when I first realized how incredibly sensitive my pony's cute little face is, and decided that the Dream Bridle was a PS of Sweden High Jump.  And then promptly decided that I would never in a million years buy one because they're crazy expensive and I need a lot of Things for my horse and buying a cheaper bridle would clearly allow me to also invest in other important items like tendon boots and saddle pads and bits and all that jazz.  As a joke, I sent a link to the bridle to my parents, suggesting they purchase me a 'horse-warming' present.  And because they are the most wonderful humans ever, they actually agreed to buy me one - with the a...

Guys.  I had my lesson today, and we jumped an oxer.  AN OXER!!!! Okay, it was a 2-2'3 baby oxer, and we had a refusal at one point at a different jump earlier in the lesson that was mostly  entirely my fault, but seriously today was the best lesson/ride that I have had on my horse so far.  He was incredible.  He was jumping 2' like he'd been doing it for years (he started jumping 2 months ago, and until today we've pretty much only done crossrails and nothing more complicated than a diagonal line), but today we jumped all of the things, and for my baby birdbrained pony, 2' is a pretty big deal at this point in his life. We started off outside, and I was a little leery because I haven't ridden out there since before my vacation due to the weather - even though we lunged outside yesterday, he was kind of an ass towards the end and I don't entirely trust him to not be a dick.  But to my delight, he was being really good.  Tense and giraffe-like, b...

We worked on our glamour skills today. After last week's success with Leo, my plan was to ride every day this week.  I was really excited to find out if my last ride was just really good luck or an actual breakthrough.  Unfortunately, Gigi the saddlebred had other plans for me.  I was moving her so that I could clean her stall (I clean stalls 3x a week at my barn), and she ever-so-politely decided to step on my foot with her stupid giant weighted saddlebred shoes (Gigi is the only saddlebred at the barn that actually does saddleseat).  I've been stepped on about a million times, and it hurts for like 5 minutes, tops, and then goes away.  Unfortunately, this time it didn't - it actually got worse, and now my poor pinky toe is swollen and discolored and significantly more painful than expected to walk on.  I'm pretty sure it's broken, but having had broken toes in the past I'm saving myself a medical bill by buddy taping (okay, buddy vet wrapping), icing...

When I decided that the time had come to get a horse of my own, I had a whole list of criteria that said horse needed to meet.  I didn't care about color or sex, but I knew that I wanted something big.  Like, 16.3 or taller.  I wanted an OTTB, because I love them and they tend to be budget-friendly, preferably something with a year or more off the track and with some talent for jumping. I wanted a puppy dog personality and a solid brain.   I actually did find a horse that met all of those qualifications.  His name was Bing, but I was going to call him Corr.  He was gorgeous, just under 17 hands and built like a warmblood.  He had raced for six years and then jumped big things for three. I went to try him out twice, fell head over heels in love, and brought him home for a trial.  I was POSITIVE that he was The One.  I was ready to buy him the day that he got there, but because he had a vague history of injury and a sketchy string of past ow...