The Repurposed Horse

I have a conundrum. This graceful, attractive beast has -possibly- the WORST registered name to have ever been a name.  It's been mentioned before. Are you ready? Doctor Jim Bob Allegedly, the name of the vet in KC when he was born was Doctor Jim Bob.  So that's what his owners named him when he was registered.  In the sale videos that I have found of him on YouTube, he went by the barn name "Blaze."  For, I think, relatively obvious reasons. dat blaze. When I bought him, he was going by "Splash." I think we technically qualify as a pinto with dat chrome.  And then Leo was chosen by random selection/popular opinion/I liked it the best/it suits him.  Barn name settled. BUT WHAT SHOULD HIS SHOW NAME BE???? Popular opinion at the barn is to keep "Doctor Jim Bob" as it is, and I do think that engraving it in fancy-ass script on things like a show halter would be hilarious.  But do I really want to show "Doct...

It's about that time again. I lassoed a friend into helping with the pictures - initially she held the monster and I shot, but when he proved to be particularly annoying, we switched places.  Thanks, K! I met Leo on June 19th, and he came home on the 23rd.  The first set of pictures I have are from that first day, almost 3 months ago.  It feels like it's been waaaaaaaaaaaaaaay longer.  3 months is not a long time at all.  How has it only been 3 months?! Ahem. Yes, I know he is facing different directions.  I feel like the overall shape of him has begun to change in a leaner, more badass way.  He's always been on the scrawny narrow side, but I feel like when you see these two pictures side-by-side, he looks a bit...puffy in the original.  Although that could be how he is standing; I definitely need to remember the angles of the original pictures, and which direction he is facing in them.  And he needs to learn  I need to teach ...

Desensitization to the farrier shed is fun. I mean, doesn't that eye just look thrilled? Our pasture-boarded ponies all eat out of feed bags, so I borrowed one and forced  allowed Leo to eat his dinner in the farrier shed the other night. Mom. Mom. Moooom. LOOK. He was hyper-focused on this corner for some reason.  The forge is over there (the silver box), which is a main source of burnt smell during shoeing, so that may have been part of his apprehension.  Also the door being open, maybe? OMG MOM!!!! He would then turn back to stare at me with his crazy  totally chill giant bug eyes. Out..outside? We then ventured back outside, very carefully... Antelope much? And headed back to the barn to finish dinner.  Maybe not the most successful of ventures - he never really seemed to relax, and was too anxious to eat in a time-effective manner, but it definitely led to some fantastic photos of my pony's exceptionally expressive face. ...

Most important things first - LILY HAS COME HOME!!! I found her this morning - my neighbor's cat actually led me to her.  She was gone for two days, and they have been a very stressful two days.  The main focus of life for the last two days has been trying to find my cat.   However, I was able to pull it together for my second ever and Sherlock's first ever DRESSAGE LESSON on Monday afternoon!  I don't have any pictures, but word on the street is he was starting to look (almost) fancy by the end.  We did a lot of directional transitions and a lot of work on corners - he has a tendency to cut them.  And a LOT (x132984093750487) of turning straight down the centerline. The biggest challenge I expected to have was actually making my circles correctly - at my last (and only) dressage lesson, most of it was spent with Dressage Trainer L sternly reminding me not to turn my head to the center whilst circling, a concept that is basically unheard of in ...

Things that I should have done today instead of driving for 2 hours to go to the tack store(s): deep cleaned my house (my mom is coming to visit on Friday) cleaned my car (I'm giving the dressage trainer a ride home on Monday and it's a disaster in there) taken my dog for a hike spent time with my boyfriend slept before my overnight shift (I'm sure there are more things, but those are the big ones) Things that I did today:  drove 4 hours round-trip to go to the tack store My town doesn't have its own horsey store, so shopping in real life involves a lot of driving.  I found out yesterday that there is actually a closer tack shop - only like 40 minutes away - but as an extreme creature of habit I decided to make the trip to STL anyways, because it's familiar and I've been to the two there before and I was pretty sure I'd be able to find all of the things that I was hoping to obtain.  Shopping list: consignment tall boots, or at least ...

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!  ...

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...

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...