All right, everybody--
I spent this week up in Wisconsin working with the horses at a summer camp run by the man who taught me to ride when I was a little kid-- the camp's barn staff are all very good riders, but they're western trail riders who break quarter horses-- so, they asked me to ride a lovely ten year old thoroughbred gelding by the name of Kidron in the arena to see what I could get out of him-- he's roughly 16.2hh, lovely face and build, absolutely gorgeous. I rode him in a too-small-for-my-rear western saddle and a headstall with a tom-thumb bit, which was about all we had to work with, unfortunately. The campers just trail ride and this horse is a bit explosive on the trail, so they're trying to find him a better suited home. I've ridden him before a few times, and he's had a tendency to absolutely blow up and get completely out of control at the canter.
He was very exciteable when I first brought him into the arena-- he hadn't been ridden in months, and before that it was pretty irregular. He's very sensitive, a bit spooky, dances around like a mad man, holds his head like a giraffe, and was starting to throw a temper tantrum. His behavior was escalating and I was about to tell them I didn't think I could do much with him when he suddenly quieted down. He stopped and stood still, completely relaxed, and started listening to everything I asked of him. I was suprised enough as it was, but when I asked him to step up... he framed himself up and went into a gorgeous collected trot! I couldn't believe my eyes. I barely even had contact, and I certainly wasn't trying to frame him up or anything-- he'd just been a lousy trail horse his whole life, so I had absolutely no expectations.
Within minutes he was doing shoulder ins and half passes for me, still collecting himself totally on his own. I'd been warned about his canter, but he was doing so well I tried it anyways-- it was a lovely rolling, animated canter, but completely relaxed and undercontrol. He held his frame and even swapped his leads without me even asking him to. The camp staff swear they bought him straight off the race track, and they certainly didn't teach him any of that stuff-- a few didn't even know what dressage was!
We're all completely impressed with this horse, and they're now going to try to sell him as a dressage prospect. God must've had a hand in it, though, because the camp is a not-for-profit organization and the budget was getting uncomfortably tight-- Kid's now worth at least a small sum, and hopefully we'll be able to find him a home that can put all his potential to work!
I'm SO excited about this.
--Stille
I spent this week up in Wisconsin working with the horses at a summer camp run by the man who taught me to ride when I was a little kid-- the camp's barn staff are all very good riders, but they're western trail riders who break quarter horses-- so, they asked me to ride a lovely ten year old thoroughbred gelding by the name of Kidron in the arena to see what I could get out of him-- he's roughly 16.2hh, lovely face and build, absolutely gorgeous. I rode him in a too-small-for-my-rear western saddle and a headstall with a tom-thumb bit, which was about all we had to work with, unfortunately. The campers just trail ride and this horse is a bit explosive on the trail, so they're trying to find him a better suited home. I've ridden him before a few times, and he's had a tendency to absolutely blow up and get completely out of control at the canter.
He was very exciteable when I first brought him into the arena-- he hadn't been ridden in months, and before that it was pretty irregular. He's very sensitive, a bit spooky, dances around like a mad man, holds his head like a giraffe, and was starting to throw a temper tantrum. His behavior was escalating and I was about to tell them I didn't think I could do much with him when he suddenly quieted down. He stopped and stood still, completely relaxed, and started listening to everything I asked of him. I was suprised enough as it was, but when I asked him to step up... he framed himself up and went into a gorgeous collected trot! I couldn't believe my eyes. I barely even had contact, and I certainly wasn't trying to frame him up or anything-- he'd just been a lousy trail horse his whole life, so I had absolutely no expectations.
Within minutes he was doing shoulder ins and half passes for me, still collecting himself totally on his own. I'd been warned about his canter, but he was doing so well I tried it anyways-- it was a lovely rolling, animated canter, but completely relaxed and undercontrol. He held his frame and even swapped his leads without me even asking him to. The camp staff swear they bought him straight off the race track, and they certainly didn't teach him any of that stuff-- a few didn't even know what dressage was!
We're all completely impressed with this horse, and they're now going to try to sell him as a dressage prospect. God must've had a hand in it, though, because the camp is a not-for-profit organization and the budget was getting uncomfortably tight-- Kid's now worth at least a small sum, and hopefully we'll be able to find him a home that can put all his potential to work!
I'm SO excited about this.
--Stille
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