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...

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 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...

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...