Paolo in Training Update

A few weeks after sending my pony off to Wendy Gray in Colbert, GA, I made the 2 hour drive over there to see what he's learned.

I had ridden him for about 18 months in a bosal, so riding with a bit is a new experience for him!

And yes, looks like he's dropped a few pounds.

He understands pressure on the sides of his mouth so it hasn't been too difficult getting him used to it.

All the circles and serpentines we trotted have made a difference, as he's already turning around a bit.

Wendy uses a lot of inside rein to help him cross over in front, and she sidepasses him as well to encourage him crossing over as well. 

All of this can be seen in the video above.

Enjoy!

Sending a Pony to Fat Camp

Reminics San Paolo - 2 weeks old

This was my 4 year old gelding as a baby. 


Probably the only time his ribs were ever visible.


Paolo spent the first 3 years of his life under 13 hands, and the only growing he did was sideways.


As a result I didn't put a saddle on him until way past his 3 year old birthday (when x-rays showed his knees had FINALLY closed), and didn't lope him until he was almost 4.





Winter of his 3 year old year he finally grew to over 14.2 and he may make it to 14.3. Who knows, he's been such a slow grower no one thought he'd be big enough to ride at all, never mind as a 3 year old.

A month ago I got my friend to take a video of me riding him and yep, he's still pretty darn fat.  I finally sent him to my reining trainer Wendy to take some pounds off him and get him used to riding with other horses that aren't his girlfriend (another post for that one).  She was a bit leery of the hackamore but was pretty surprised at how well he guided with it.

So hopefully, he'll come back to me after this winter svelte and ready to work the cows that continually push down the fence next door.

Reminics san Paolo, cowhorse or goathorse?

Reminics San Paolo

Hello, and welcome to a Georgia Suburban Cowgirl.


This blog is about dealing with horse ownership in the middle of a rapidly growing city in North Georgia - especially when 90% of all horse owners in this region ride dressage or hunter-jumpers.


The picture on the right is of my horse, Paolo.  He's the youngest one I own.  I figured I'd show a baby picture first of when he was adorable.

Who am I kidding, he is still adorable, but he has his moments of ... not being so.



I primarily ride trail horses now, for fun and for my friends who don't have time to ride themselves.  I also own a successful show horse, but that's another post.

I just wanted to take the time to introduce Paolo and the quest to make him into a cow horse. In the middle of dressage country. And suburbia.

And if the way he watches the goats next door is any indication, he'll be pretty cowy.  Heck, he might prefer chasing goats since they have climbing trees in common.

Yes, this horse attempted to climb a tree - a persimmon tree to be exact.  Why this horse likes those super sour persimmons is beyond me.  Last year I caught him rearing up, bracing his front legs on the tree to eat persimmons off of it.

Persimmons are sooo not good for horses.


The property owners didn't want to cut the tree back, so I got to pick off all the fruit (?) he could reach before he could colic/founder/God knows what on them.

He's too big to get up there now, I hope, but the offending tree parts will soon be gone, now that the property owners are tired of their farm vehicles hitting the low branches.