Polka Dot Ponies

This will most likely be just a collection of my ramblings. I ride and train horses, so there is bound to be a lot of horse stuff. But I also just like to vent and this seems the perfect place.

Thursday, April 30, 2009

Pony update!

Ok so there has been a load of changes in the horse pasture during the 2 months I have been 'internetless'.


Titan is as lovely as ever. I am riding him. For those about to freak out that I am riding a 2 year old we are just walking. We work on stops, turns, moving away from pressure, etc. I plan on taking it very slow with him as there is no point in rushing a baby. We don't do very long rides- about 30 minutes 3 times a week. He is a bit of a giant as he is already 15.2 (at the withers and is still a bit hip high) and that was about a month and a half ago that I measured him so he may have grown a bit more since then. He is an absolute joy to work with I completely love him and I don't know if I will ever be able to sell him like I originally planned to do. He still does the 'why mama' head tilt and I haven't managed to get of a picture of it to date.


Blue now belongs to T. The more I worked with him the more she fell in love with him and so they bought him from me a few weeks ago. He is going to continue training with me until sometime this summer. He is doing very well. He has an awesome floaty, flat kneed trot and extends like I have never seen. His canter needs some collection work but he is now picking up his leads correctly 90% of the time and without cowkicking! We have had him over some low jumps and he really seems to enjoy that and it keeps his attention quite well. He is still a bit pushy on the ground (generally just trying to itch his face on you but he is huge and so that is not ok). T is looking forward to taking him to the open shows in our area this summer and eventually seeing how much talent he has over fences.



Biscuit is doing great! He lunges and we walk/trot with no problems. His ground manners are pretty fabulous most of the time. He gets a bit frustrated with me at times I think but I get annoyed with him as well just because he is a stuborn pony. He is actually quite a cute little guy. His owners are looking forward to this summer when I have a girl coming out from NJ to train with me. She is 16 and I will refer to her as KP from here on out. Once I get Biscuit settled at the canter then he really just needs a lot of time in the saddle but their daughter is not strong enough or advanced enough to put that time on him. So owners have asked if I thought KP would be willing to ride him for them for the summer to earn a little extra cash. Will be a bit cheaper for them than my training fee and will give KP a project to work with a bit while she is here as well.



More on the rest tomorrow.... I need to go to bed.

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4 Comments:

Blogger Jean said...

No problem with me about your riding Titan. As long as you are not stressing him, it's fine. I doubt you are too heavy and he does sound like a big boy. A little trail ride now and then with super good footing would be nice too.

There's a lot of controversy about riding young horses, but the two I've had that were started at 2 remained sound for a good long time--and my Tucker still is. Some vets say putting a little work into a young horse actually makes their joints and bones stronger.

Good for Blue and good for Biscuit. It sounds as if you have found ideal situations for both of them!

May 1, 2009 at 1:51 PM  
Blogger Andrea said...

"He is a bit of a giant as he is already 15.2 (at the withers and is still a bit hip high) and that was about a month and a half ago that I measured him so he may have grown a bit more since then."

Man we grew up in different worlds! I interned at a big name warmblood breeding farm and one of our yearlings was 16.1hh, several of our two year-olds were just at or slightly below 17hh, and one of our three year-olds was 18.1.hh. SERIOUSLY. Dutch warmbloods, not monster Clydsdales! It was a little scary.

May 2, 2009 at 10:57 AM  
Blogger Jean said...

I was thinking about the "giant at 15.2" comment as well. *lol* My Tucker is nearly 17.0 (Thoroughbred). Toby is 16.1 and I thought my Chance at 15.3 was small. Guess we do all live in different worlds.

May 2, 2009 at 3:10 PM  
Blogger Leah Fry said...

Hey! Where are you?

May 14, 2009 at 5:06 AM  

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