Well, yesterday was an interesting day, to say the least.
I trailer Patrick down to this girl's barn so that she could take a lesson on him someplace unfamiliar and give her trainer a chance to see him. Regardless of whether or not they buy him (and I really hope they do. He's the perfect horse for her), I am so proud of my little guy. He stepped off that trailer like a champ. They gave him very little time to settle in. I think the trainer took one look at me and decided it wasn't going to work out, and really wanted to prove the parents wrong in their choice. So they threw his tack on and led him on up to the ring.
Not once did he do anything bad. He was a little forward, which I expected, but the girl wasn't intimidated in the least. A few quick corrections from me would have set everything right, but this particular trainer is very 'new world' hunter: upper body 30 degrees from the verticle, no direct rein contact, low hands, etc. Patrick wasn't trained this way, but I did do a few quick schools to get him acclimated to that type of ride, and thank goodness he's a quick study. It wasn't the perfect ride at first, but I was such a proud mom. Then he proceeded to jump around the horribly ugly jumps (thankfully, mine are uglier!) without a second's hesitation. Any distance at all, he took, and boy were there some bad ones!
Once it was all said and done, the trainer determined that come February, when it's cold and the wind is whipping, he may be too much horse for her. I really wanted to interject that if she isn't good enough at her job to have this girl comfortable on her horse after a year then maybe they needed to find a new trainer. However, they decided to write me a check contingent on this weekends' rides and a vet check on Monday. So she's going to hack him around today and take another lesson tomorrow morning and then they'll let me know if they're going to go through with the vet check. Cross your fingers!
On another note, Fiesta contracted the early stages of aspiration pneumonia yesterday. She had a really bad episode of choke, which has never happened to her before. Then yesterday morning when I went to feed, she hadn't drank anything, wasn't eating enthusiastically, and seemed kind of out of it. At first I wanted to just assume she didn't feel good after a long choke episode and was upset that I turned her breakfast into soup. But something kept nagging at me, so I had my mom call the vet and let him know what was going on.
He drove right over.
He said if she had gone 24 hours like this, she would have been beyond saving. Thank God I followed my gut instincts! So he gave her mega-doses of a few antibiotics and put her on a heavy dose of Doxy. Almost instantly she perked up, so hopefully that means we're on the right path! I'll keep you posted on her progress.
Anyways, I have to go wolf down some coffee and muffins and hold horses for the farrier. Then it's Derby Day!
Saturday, May 7, 2011
Wednesday, May 4, 2011
Oh, Weather...You never fail to ruin my plans
Still no pictures from Culpeper...apparently printing them, stuffing them in an envelope, and labeling it is VERY difficult...
So the trial on Sunday went fantastic. Patrick was a doll, though I did have a moment when I was a bit worried!
Despite driving up in a brand-spanking-new beamer and touting that their daughter attends private school, the poor girl was riding in the most god-awful saddle I've ever seen in my life. When I mounted up and asked Patrick to walk away from the mounting block, he started hopping like he wanted to rear...wonderfullll. So I yanked the saddle and stuck a riser pad underneath of it, and that helped. You could tell he still wasn't happy, but he didn't do anything bad.
Whew.
The girl hopped on after me, and you could tell she was nervous and tense. Patrick, once again, did nothing to take advantage of her. He. Was. A. Superstar. He hopped around a few little crossrails for her, and seemed really happy with her. I'm a little worried that he might be too much horse for her until he's back in work, but he seemed happy with the match. I know if she had tried him last summer when he was fit and in training, they would have been absolutely perfect for one another.
So they asked to take him on trial, to which I told them that won't be happening. I don't know them or their trainer, and I've never had a good experience with a trial (and neither had my consultant; thanks Steph!). So we compromised. I'm taking him to their barn on Friday so the girl can take a lesson on him. If it goes well, they are going to cut me a check right there, and consider him sold pending a vet check. Ahh!!! So I've been working really hard these last couple of days to make sure he's ready for her. I would really love for him to go to this girl. It would be absolutely wonderful for them both. She's 15 and 4'11". She fits him beautifully, he's quiet enough for her to do the 2'3" stuff on now, but he can jump around a 3'6" course and take her up the ranks. Plus, he's 5 years old! She'll never need another horse. Plus, my boss's farrier knows the trainer very well, does the feet at her farm, and says he'll have a great home and that she's a confident enough rider to school him up for the girl if necessary. Doesn't this sound too good to be true? I hope not! That money would fund the rest of my show season and really jump start Bailey's future.
Cross your fingers for me! Hopefully I come home with an empty trailer Friday afternoon!
So the trial on Sunday went fantastic. Patrick was a doll, though I did have a moment when I was a bit worried!
Despite driving up in a brand-spanking-new beamer and touting that their daughter attends private school, the poor girl was riding in the most god-awful saddle I've ever seen in my life. When I mounted up and asked Patrick to walk away from the mounting block, he started hopping like he wanted to rear...wonderfullll. So I yanked the saddle and stuck a riser pad underneath of it, and that helped. You could tell he still wasn't happy, but he didn't do anything bad.
Whew.
The girl hopped on after me, and you could tell she was nervous and tense. Patrick, once again, did nothing to take advantage of her. He. Was. A. Superstar. He hopped around a few little crossrails for her, and seemed really happy with her. I'm a little worried that he might be too much horse for her until he's back in work, but he seemed happy with the match. I know if she had tried him last summer when he was fit and in training, they would have been absolutely perfect for one another.
So they asked to take him on trial, to which I told them that won't be happening. I don't know them or their trainer, and I've never had a good experience with a trial (and neither had my consultant; thanks Steph!). So we compromised. I'm taking him to their barn on Friday so the girl can take a lesson on him. If it goes well, they are going to cut me a check right there, and consider him sold pending a vet check. Ahh!!! So I've been working really hard these last couple of days to make sure he's ready for her. I would really love for him to go to this girl. It would be absolutely wonderful for them both. She's 15 and 4'11". She fits him beautifully, he's quiet enough for her to do the 2'3" stuff on now, but he can jump around a 3'6" course and take her up the ranks. Plus, he's 5 years old! She'll never need another horse. Plus, my boss's farrier knows the trainer very well, does the feet at her farm, and says he'll have a great home and that she's a confident enough rider to school him up for the girl if necessary. Doesn't this sound too good to be true? I hope not! That money would fund the rest of my show season and really jump start Bailey's future.
Cross your fingers for me! Hopefully I come home with an empty trailer Friday afternoon!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)