The Amazing Shape, and an Update

I have been riding Odie maybe 2-3 times a week, with some lunging tossed in, and hand walking down the streets and old paths that used to harbor railroad tracks. He rarely does anything strenuous anymore. In the beginning of the season, I used the heat and wet saddle blankets to give him manners, rather then work against a young stallion's energy, and since then I have far tapered off the work, as he is good. Now we can work on quality.

Two Saturdays ago I decided to take him to a show to chill out, and I wanted him quite tired before I ever put him on the trailer. I decided I'd breeze him around the hayfield, with some trotting, for maybe a half an hour and he'd be good to go, as most of are riding sessions are walk/trot with lots of breaks and max out at the thirty minute level. I've never let Odie run, and never canter anything but a large circle, so I was excited to have a good time and let him relax into a rhythm. What I found out:

Oh my lord. Odie may not classify as a hot breed of horse, but he is in SHAPE. I don't even know how he got there. I guess you could say that from tiring him out he's gotten better, but it's been so long since I had him really tired, and the last two weeks I've maybe ridden him twice. I don't want to overwork his body, young as it is, so since I worked him hard at the beginning of the season, he's been on a taper for at least a month, if not more. After an hour of riding, my legs were sore and he was hot, but barely breathing hard (as I wrote this, I could see him trotting outside the window. JERK!! IT'S 100 DEGREES!).

I do a lot of dressage, riding wise. I'm sure you guys know this. But I had SO much fun pointing him down the straight away, kissing, and watching him fly. I mean, fly. He was galloping, and I was grinning, and then all of a sudden that horse was like, 'this is silly', and we hit gear five, and I knew that he wasn't even at his limit. We went from fourth gear to fifth in half a second. I felt his legs gather underneath him and just eat the ground away. Now I know why the eventers do what they do! I honestly don't know why he's so fast; he's 1/4 Percheron, 1/4 Friesian, and 1/2 German warmblood. Maybe I am ignorant, but none of those things scream 'hyper speed' to me.

Before I got Key, I was riding racehorses off the track with a jockey. Off the track as in, 'raced on Tuesday, get on him on Thursday'. We never let them unwind, we just got on and started. And yeah--sometimes they took off just to blow out steam. I've raced Clyde and pushed Key to his limit down the straight parts; I know speed. This was just something completely different.

And from such a young horse, who's never done this before, he was completely ratable. No bucking, no bolting, no 'OMG WHAT'S IN THE WOODS' spooking. I will be the first to say that's not my training; he's just listens. Got to love a mind like that.

When we finally stopped, we walked maybe 100 yards and I unsaddled him, let him drink (out of a kiddie pool for the dog. Yes, we're sophisticated), hosed him off, and put him on the lunge for another ten minutes. And the jerk still wasn't breathing heavy! I've never worked him over 30 minutes.

Now, he was tired, but I wanted him TIRED-tired. And by time we walked to the hose to cool him down again, his respiratory rate was just a hair off normal. After the bath he just looked like he had a good workout--no excess energy, but plenty of energy if I so asked. Breathing normal.

He'd seen me drink out of the hose once, and the jerk still had the audacity to try to do that too.

It was going to have to do, and I loaded him up and took him to the show. I don't have much to report--he was loud (he talks. A lot.) but he never once decided not to listen to me. He stops, backs, etc. off of a suggestion; didn't rear, paw, or jig. Honestly even though he was loud I was really proud of him--he didn't spook at the loudspeakers or the bleachers or the barrels--nothing scared him. He was completely safe.

I have worked with stallions before, but I've never been the person to introduce a young one to the show scene. I've heard so much conflicting advice--let him call, punish him if he calls, etc.--and have tried my own. I've tried ignoring it, which works to a degree--he's not quiet, but he doesn't get worked up. I've tried punishing him and this typically makes it worse; he doesn't get aggressive, he just gets louder as he gets more nervous. I've tried trying to keep his attention, and if backing him up took his mind off the fact that other horses were calling to him, I'd say he was probably a few cards short of a full deck.

I've decided he just needs more shows + more outside-of-the-arena time. We've been going on longer trail rides, and watching him call to cows is always amusing (they think so too). Today I decided I was tired of riding in breeches and tall boots, so I pulled out a Big Horn synthetic saddle and literally just threw it on him, no questions asked. It fits him really well, but it is not my saddle so it is about four times too big for me. I'm going to shop around for a smaller one--I've heard good things about the Abetta Endurance saddles, any information on them from you guys? How about tips on saddle pads? Abetta has saddles with 'Arabian trees'--what's the difference?

I must add--I LOVE trail riding the big guy. He's so forward, and had already handled a ton of trail oddities: kids on quads, big mac trucks, baby turkeys!!, loose dogs, etc.. He's so good. I wish I had more trails closer, but it looks as though we're going to be stuck to the road for most of the time. We do minimal arena work, but as of now, he is becoming a strict trail horse to learn that not everything must be talked to (This includes me, the kids next door, grandpop, deer, cows, etc.).

I also am rasping his hoof wall as it grows in, as he has a lot of flare up front from the previous farrier so I'm trying to get a hold on that. However, the rasp takes FOREVER to get anywhere--anyone have good recommendations on rasps and hoof knifes? I'd like to do maintenance on the boys feet until the trimmer comes back out. I didn't mention him previously, but he's really good and I'm Much happier, as are the boys! Key's thrush had gotten to a standstill, and after taking his heels down, it's almost gone. :D

Continuing the rambling theme of this post, the family had a goat show down in Boone, North Carolina last weekend. Brie and Brandy, the two new babies, took first in their classes; our buck took reserve junior champion buck (second best buck out of all of the 1st/2nd junior bucks), and our doe Brooke took second in a nice class. A good weekend and the goats were all well behaved. I'll try to get some pictures up!

Lastly, I opened a twitter account, and it's over on the right of the page--I'll be using it to update when I'm away or with silly things that just aren't big enough for posts.

Alright, I think I'm done with the nonsense!