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.

Roadtrip! AQHA Show - Perry, GA

Diego shown by Wendy

 Last weekend,  I drove down to Perry to see my horse Diego show.  Now, I'm trying to sell him, so I had someone scheduled to come look at him show.

There were only 15 classes (all Trail) before Diego's Ranch Pleasure class, so I wanted to get there around noon since his class would be roughly around one.

I pack up in a hurry that morning with some snacks and drinks - its supposed to be a small show so I should be back home before dinner.

I drop off the dog at the kennel just in case I'm not back in a few hours - he digs enormous holes in the yard if he stays by himself and he gets way too bored at the horse show if he comes alone - and truck it on over to the fairgrounds.

It takes the usual 2 1/2 hours down 75, dodging the road tax collectors and the one major wreck to get to Perry, where I find to my surprise (though I REALLY SHOULDN'T BE SURPRISED ITS A HORSE SHOW) they have 70 Trail entries and are only on the 3rd class.

The showbill wasn't lying when it said it was a "Trail Specialized" show. Good grief.

I meet up with Wendy, she tells me she got up at 5 to bring down Diego and her Mom's horse to show, so she's already been there long enough.

After 4 hours of handgrazing my horse with a few water breaks (didn't bother to get stalls since it was a SMALL SHOW), finally time to watch Diego in Ranch Pleasure. 

 

For his first time showing in this class,  I'm pretty darn happy with him.  He had been shown in reining so much he was a bit confused (you want me to trot? We never trot in a reining pattern!) but he listened (up until the end, where he was SURE Wendy wanted him to rollback and got pretty mad when she told him to spin instead) and I was REALLY happy he went over the poles perfectly.

He did well enough for 2nd and a half point and that was plenty good enough for me!

Of course there was a another 4 hour break before the reining class, so Diego had time to get rinsed off and eat his grain and then be handgrazed for a few hours.

Sometime between Ranch Pleasure and Reining the woman who wanted to watch him disappeared (apparently a 9:30 show time was too late for her...whatever) and Wendy and I found out there were only 3 entries in the Reining class - which was not good considering two of them she was showing.

The Show Secretary nicely found a couple of Trail riders who agreed to show in the Reining so it would be a 4 point class (4 judges, 1 point each) and hopefully one of the horses would get those points.

And it was Diego! with 2 firsts and 2 seconds (2 points for 1st and 1 point for 2nd)! I was really happy with how he performed, Wendy's done a great job making him a show horse.

The other reiner in the class worried me a bit since she had enormous stops, but there are other maneuvers that get judged as well.

So all in all, even though the show day was a long one for just a day trip it went really well for Diego's show record (67.5 total points in reining).

This was the last show of the year for Diego, so for other than a few day trips to work cows he's on break until next spring.  Hopefully I'll find someone interested in buying him between now and then.

Until next time!