The Repurposed Horse

This week's lesson - after the flat, Trainer K took our saddles away. And it was a freaking blast! Halo is a 7ish y/o appaloosa/paint cross, and he was such a good boy. On Thursday, Spring and I have a private lesson with Trainer K! If all goes well, we'll be jumping a bit - although she's letting me keep the saddle for that.

In case the title of this post alarmed you, never fear - this is not about Spring! It's also not about Leo, who is still getting the winter off before hopefully starting his own rehab journey in the actual spring. Both my babies are happy, healthy, and sound *knocks on all the wood*. This post is about Nigel, the horse I'm rehabbing for Trainer K! Nigel is one of CEC's two single-eyed horses Nigel is a 21 year old lesson horse. He's a TB cross of some sort - the kind of fancy mover with auto changes and a heart of gold that has always made him a lesson favorite, and he's spent the last 6 years packing riders of all levels and ages around lessons and lower level hunter shows.  He came up lame in the summer, and has spent the last six months growing fuzzy and fat as his tendon injury healed. Before he lost his eye to an infection, he was a talented upper level show horse. Two weeks ago, the vet cleared him to start his rehab.  We got to skip the hand wal...

Last night, B and I visited Leo at my neighbor's, where he spends most of his time right now - they put a round bale out, so he, Saja, and the donks have been spending most of their time on that side of the property.  He was happy to see us, but soon after we reached him the donkeys wandered off into the woods, and homeboy was LIT when he realized they had left him behind.  What followed was a ridiculous but highly photogenic display of herd sourness as Leo galloped circles in the sunset, wanting to follow the donkeys but not wanting to leave Saja behind.  Sadly for Leo, Saja was not interested in relocating, despite his repeated urgings and saddlebred stallion imitations.  Eventually he settled down, and I got some pretty fantastic photos. Also, there is no longer any hint of lameness - he hasn't taken an off step in months, and his antics only emphasized his soundness.  I don't want to jinx anything, and I don't...

Hello, hello, hello. It's not quite been a month since my last post, but I'm getting dangerously close. I do most of my posting at night, at my job, and all fall my down time at work has been taken up entirely by online classes, because I decided that taking a few would be fun. For some reason. To make up for my absence, this post is heavy on the mini-donkey pictures, because their adorableness cannot go unshared. Spring's 20 days of groundwork went by quickly, and the improvements were definitely noticeable - not just in how she was moving and carrying herself, but also in her ground manners, which weren't terrible but definitely needed improvement. Her appointment with the chiro was last Monday, and while it wasn't all rainbows and unicorns, it was definitely better than her first set of adjustments. She went from "completely locked up in her back" to "tighter on one side." She had a trigger point on one hip, and her neck was tight,...

My jumper show was (tragically) cancelled due to rain, making it the sixth consecutive jumper show that I have signed up for and summarily been unable to attend due to cancellation. I have come to the conclusion that I'm most likely never going to show jumpers. Spring seemed to recover from the Hunter Pace well, and we had a beautiful ride the Saturday after where she was holding herself up at the canter,  not motorcycling around turns, and trotting poles like a boss. Two days later, we had a slight incident during the warm-up of our weekly lesson - walk/trot was fine, but when it came time to canter she just...couldn't. She'd hold it for maybe 2 strides before crossfiring, and then would start crow hopping repeatedly as she attempted to switch it back. We tried the other direction and it was the same thing, and as I halted to talk to Trainer K about what was going on, she backed up fast and reared before I had time to think.  Spring has never offered to rear...

Snappy hind end - that rail actually stayed up Pic - C.P.  This past weekend was the annual Haunted Hunter Pace! It was the first "show" I took Leo to , and this year it became the first "show" for Spring and I! And it was so much fun! Pic courtesy of Leah! Barn BFF S and I teamed up again this year as Wonder Woman and Superman. Spring was Wondermare, and S's horse Wally was Super Wally! We didn't put a ton of effort into our costumes - although S definitely put more into hers than I did mine, and they looked great!  She was such a good sport Months ago, before the date of the hunter pace was officially announced, my mom and I had planned to spend this past weekend hanging out in Southern Indiana. Because I am nothing if not determined, I decided to make both the weekend with my mom and the hunter pace happen - and although it was exhausting, it was definitely worth it.  My mom and I spent Friday and Saturday hiking, shopping, and drinking w...

Aloha, blogosphere. I am still here. Life has been quite busy, and posting has been...not happening. But I have been riding, and Spring has been progressing, and Leo is...well, let's just say that retirement seems to suit him. Ahem. Spring is really looking good these days. She's building topline, and her booty is muscling up nicely. She looks much healthier, and although it's getting fuzzy, her coat maintains a nice level of shine.   Month One Neck - skinny. Shoulder - disproportionately huge. Back - almost flat. Ribcage - uncomfortably prominent. Booty - would look best in mom jeans. Spring was a collection of promising angles, all bone and dull coat and awkwardness.  Month two For a while there, it seemed Spring was reverting to her former racehorse self. (note that she had just been hosed off when this picture was taken) Neck - still skinny. Shoulder - more filled out, less disproportionate. Back - somewhat more muscular. Ribcage - less alarming. ...

When I started riding at CEC, I had roughly zero experience with riding horses that anyone in their right mind would consider "hot." I was a pretty timid rider as a child, and anything that moved too quickly was too much for me. As a teenager/young adult, my confidence grew, but I still rarely rode anything overly forward - no longer by choice but simply due to a lack of availability, as more forward and more difficult horses often don't make it into lesson programs at barns where most clients are owners and the focus is hunters. Hello, mud. It's been a while. My third lesson at CEC was my first ride on Izzy, the mare I would eventually go on to half lease, and it was not pleasant. That mare was many people's definition of hot, and she was coming off an extended period of rest following an injury. I had literally no idea what I was doing, and spent most of the lesson fighting tears and trying to get her to calm down, please, and just walk (In a circle. Witho...