Hobo the Retired Rescued Racehorse

I got to ride my new favorite horse this past Tuesday! I got to ride a racehorse! Okay, his last race was 13 years ago... But still! It totally counts!

This is Hobo a 17 year old OTTB gelding that my trainer rescued from the kill pen.

The kill pen.

Look at him. Should this horse be in the kill pen?

His crime? Nada. He was used in a college equestrian program. Because of that he is extremely well trained. His canter cues are gorgeous. Yet for some unknown reason this particular college did not retire him properly. And come one guys its not like that would have been hard. Sure, he's 17. But his is beautifully trained and still completely ride able! So why didn't the college take a few extra days to re-home him (and his buddy) properly? I don't know. There are obviously some idiots running that program, because he and another older thoroughbred were auctioned off to the kill buyer. My trainer found just in time. They were about to be shipped down south when she heard of them and knew they didn't deserve that. Hobo came through the whole ordeal pretty well considering. He was only a little under weight. But the other horse Okie is extremely emaciated, and is having trouble gaining weight despite their best efforts.

Why would someone do that to these beautifully trained horses? Okie even used to be an upper level dressage horse! And they both raced back in the day. They are not lame. They weren't sick until treated badly. 

Horses like this should not be in the kill pen. 

They served people so well throughout their lives. They deserve to be treated with respect and dignity in their later years.

Please retire your golden oldies responsibly. 

Gone But Never Forgotten

Its been a little over a year since I said goodbye to Mya. I still miss her a lot. But I am happy because I know that I made her last few years the best they possibly could have been. She was always a happy horse! I've yet to meet a horse that has her gentle and sweet yet spunky spirit. She was one of a kind! I could not have asked for a better first horse.

 Even though she is now gone, she will never be forgotten. 

She has forever placed a hoof-print on my heart. 

Rescue Horse to Lesson Horse

In my two previous lessons I got to ride a new horse named Boomer. He is a rescued thoroughbred gelding. One of the things I love about my new barn is how the owner likes to bring in rescues and the typical underdog horses. And some of them, like Boomer, have turned out to be really great lesson horses!

I also got to jump for the first time on him!!

The Joy of Sharing Pony

There is something really fulfilling about being able to introduce someone to horses. Since horses are such unique animals, there is really nothing quite like watching someone experience a horse for the first time.

My new sister-in-law was up at my place a few days ago. I was about to go out and groom Lady and tend to her feet, so I asked her if she'd like to come out and help me. My sister-in-law has had next to no previous experiences with horses so it was a lot of fun to tell her about Lady.

I started out by giving her the generic safety instructions. (Don't do anything sudden, don't walk in there blind spots with them not knowing, etc.) And then since she is so artistic and enjoys that sort of thing, I showed her how to brush out Lady's mane and tail. Which she seemed to get into, and Lady looks so much more lady-like now with her hair all silky smooth.

After that I showed her how to pick out Lady's feet, and I was impressed at how quickly she picked that up! (Pun intended. haha) Lady was perfect with her and immediately let her mess around her hooves. Then I brought out the hoof oil and let my sister-in-law paint her hooves with it. I don't know about you, but I thinking painting hooves is rather fun. It could just be that the stuff smells like bacon though... (Anyone else use Rain Maker who also thinks it smells interesting?)

Then we ended with her giving Lady a treat (which the pony greatly appreciated), some fly-spray, and I showed her how to untie Lady's halter and take it off. In the end I think she really enjoyed being around my horse, and I think Lady might even have liked her a little...

There is definitely something magical about being around horses.

No one can deny that!

And then I fed pony for the evening, cause she would never let me forget that...

Heat and Horses Don't Mix

I went out to the barn for another riding lesson on Tuesday. But it turned out to be unbearably hot. I do not know if it was the heat or what, but Anna and I could not communicate with each other. Lately I've been working on improving my leg. I have a terrible habit of only using my hand to steer a horse when I ride. I believe that comes from me learning to ride on gaited horses. Needless to say I have a terrible leg when it comes to riding. So we spent pretty much the entire lesson trying to get Anna to move off my leg. Which never really happened. She kept veering off course and running into things. And the freakishly hot weather did not help. Towards the end we were both just hot and frustrated.

We both needed a major cool down by the time the lesson was over, so I ended up taking her out into the field and went on a mini trail ride. It gave us a chance to relax and just enjoy the ride a little which was super nice.

But we also decided to switch to evening lessons the rest of the summer to try and avoid the heat. One can not enjoy riding when they are afraid they are going to get heat stroke...

I've Discovered the World of Instagram

Yes, I signed up for an Instagram account devoted solely to my horsey friends. You can find me over there as myhorsenextdoor or https://www.instagram.com/myhorsenextdoor/

I'd love to follow you back! 

Riding in My First Clinic

I had a bit of an interesting experience last week.

I rode in my first clinic.

Not that that was weird or anything, on the contrary, it was quite exciting. Mostly just to be invited to ride in the clinic in the first place was exciting, since I'd only been riding at this barn for about a month.

The barn was hosting a schooling show, and the judge was sticking around to teach a clinic the next day. There were a variety of sessions. I decided to go with a group session since I never really get to ride with other people. There ended up being three of us in my session.

I rode the adorable grey pony I talked about in my last post. Apparently I get along with her really well or so I'm told. I do like her. I have a thing for ponies and mares. Weird, right? Most people avoid that category like the plague.

Anyway, the clinician had us start out my demonstrating what we knew about the rising and sitting trot and two-point. I've pretty much got my bases covered there so I did not receive a whole lot of instruction. Mostly just some stuff about learning to feel the correct diagonal instead of looking down for it. So Anna and I worked on completing some nice circles at the rising trot whole the instructor focused on the other two girls.

Then the instructor decided to work over some cavaletti next. Which I had not done with the horse I was riding. This was only my 3rd ride on her after all. But I was incredibly impressed with Anna because she took it like a pro. And honestly working over cavaletties is honestly one of my favorite things to do. It's fun. I don't know why.

But then the instructor decides to work us at the canter. Only, here's the thing, Anna doesn't canter. At least none of them had ever cantered her before. So they did not know if she could canter. But, alas, me being the willing brave soul that I am, decided to give it a go and try cantering the horse. Sometimes I think I'm crazy. But, hey! Guess what! She actually picked up a very poor but nevertheless real canter! Everyone gave a cheer for the pony. You couldn't help but be proud of the girl.

But this wasn't the end to this clinicians madness. She then decides that we ought to try cross-rails. I'm sure you already imagine my response. "This horse doesn't jump. At least I've never seen her jump...But its only like a foot off the ground, so it can't be that bad, right? Why not. We'll give it a go." Now in Anna's defense, she took the cross rail the first two times absolutely beautifully. But the third time around, well, she nearly face-plants over the thing. Said pony got a little bit clumsy. She trips over the jump, catches herself at the last minute, and it I instead who face-plant into the dirt. I'll admit. It was rather comical. She kinda just stopped and stared at me with this expression of "what happened to you?" on her face. You really can't blame her. She tries her best. So I climb back into the saddle, and we try it again. She is a good girl and remembers to pick her feet up this time. So in the end there was no harm done. Except for maybe my pride. After all I did fall of in the middle of a clinic with some wheres around fifteen people watching. Yeah, mildly embarrassing... But I reckon I'll live.

In the end, though, I learned a ton, and it was a lot of fun. Even though I fell off I'd still call the clinic a success.