Another New Horse - It's Bo!

[Bluey]

Wonderful first ride, both of you gained much confidence on each other there.

If he really is a western ridden horse as his story goes, just wearing spurs can make a difference on how amenable an older trained horse may ride, don’t even need to use them.
Spurs are just a different, more refined leg aid they respond to paying more attention to the leg, if they are used to listening to it.
When I first was told that I dismissed it, leg is leg, is how you use it and spurs one more aid.
Having seen that in enough western and school horses I can say it does seem to be true.
Some horses can discriminate what kind of rider and ride is coming by the gear to a point that us humans may not think it really matters.
Wear spurs and some horses automatically prepare for a different, more attentive ride than if you don’t.

On the other hand, once had a friend with a horse, Hobo, that if you had spurs on, no matter who rode him, he would spend his ride trying to cowkick your leg with his hind leg as if a fly was biting him every time a spur just touched his side.
She swears she never used them but rarely and lightly, just wore them always on her boots as all do here and didn’t have a horse ever object to them before.
He did the same with others, she gave me the horse and I was not wearing spurs, have super short legs so don’t use spurs regularly and he only did that cow kicking with me once, not sure why then.
He also was a super quirky horse in other ways, he didn’t care for other horses or them for him.

One more to try eventually, if you feel is appropriate, you may find a more forward horse.

Looks like the saga of Bo has reach now new highs, Bo the riding horse is here.
You both did great, bet you had a big smile for long time after that ride.

[findeight]

He speaks western. Probably wonders where the other half of the saddle is. Likely not understanding why you keep clucking, kissing and bumping when he is giving you a lovely, balanced, smooth jog. He let you know he don’t know nuthin bout no trot and can’t figure out why you want to bounce up and down up there instead of just sit still. So he rather politely let you know.

It’s an adjustment for them.

[hoopoe]

hard to tell for sure .

Next time you Pivo, put a yellow sticky dot in the middle of the cantle. Occasionally it looks like it is twisting side to side ( pivoting)

I am also wondering about his mouth in general. I think your ride here is so tactful and sympathetic. I ( personally) would be really preoccupied about his mouth health and bit fit. He does not seem fussed with your hands here so perhaps a non issue

overall I think you are doing an amazing job. Muscle condition strength and bulk are really going to change, He looks like a great candidate for a lot of easy trail walking to build those muscles up.

[Heinz_57]

@2DogsFarm

Forgive me asking, but why no work to the left?

We did do some work to the left after the first clip, it just happened after the Pivo battery got so low that it stopped following us (and filmed about 10 minutes of grass), so I cut that part.

@Bluey thank you, my goal for first rides is always confidence building and careful exploration with lots of reassurance. As for spurs, that thought had occurred to me. I figured I’d give him a go without spurs the first time around, plus I generally avoid wearing them on ‘unknown quantity’ horses. I am generally pretty good at feeling out where the training is without ruffling feathers, but you never really know if a horse is broke until you ask it to move off. and doing so in the wide open spaces is not for the faint of heart.

@starsandsun thank you. First rides are always a bit awkward looking, and I am not in the habit of sharing videos of myself riding with the whole wide world overall I am pleased with him, we didn’t die and we’ve got a lot of tuning up to do but he did great.

@findeight he was just trying to quit on me. The 10 minutes before the video started was spent unsticking his feet from the ground and encouraging him to move off without bluffing. All I was asking for at the trot (jog) was for him to keep going instead of trying to quit. I have ridden a fair share of western (mostly reiners, some gaming and roping and a few show-pleasure horses) and he didn’t seem confused, just a little rusty. I got the distinct impression that he’s been able to bluff his way out of work before, so possibly ridden by a beginner or fearful rider in the past?

@hoopoe thank you, I try to be very tactful (sometimes to my detriment!). Lots of long walking is definitely in the cards, once we get that forward button sorted out. His mouth seems OK, I did not find him to be overly fussy or objecting and he was happiest with a light contact. The bit he’s in is a Fager Sara eggbutt, which is a titanium mullen mouth with a slight upward angle to it for some tongue room, very soft and steady. We will experiment with other bridles and bits - I also have a hackamore we can try.

–
Full disclosure, I did lunge him (with saddle on) before I got on and there was a bit of a rodeo, a couple half circles worth of slow crow hopping before he settled down, so I was proceeding with some caution.

Other notes: he is fairly slab sided, and even though that’s my saddle and that same stirrup length feels fairly short on Elmo, I felt like I could have shortened them at least a hole if not two on Bo for more security. He also gives me a bit of that ‘nothing in front of you’ feeling - which, when combined with him throwing his head way down and crow hopping, um… it could be interesting. LOL I realized the other day that I haven’t ridden another horse besides Elmo in some 3-4 years now, so this is an adjustment period for both Bo and me. I used to be riding strange horses all the time, but I am now a bit rusty too!

[hoopoe]

I would not expect him to give you the “front of the leg” feeling until more condition established

I am so enjoying this journey

[Heinz_57]

@hoopoe

I am so enjoying this journey

As am I! And I am grateful for all Bo’s supporters here, it’s been wonderful to share his updates and track his progress. I didn’t have any sort of plan or expectation when I bought him, so it’s been a treat to see how far he’s come. And we’re not done yet!

I just realized it’s Monday. Picture day!

[Bluey]

I didn’t mean for you to try spurs your first ride, just a thought to add to what you were experiencing.
Yes, I too would have been very careful and get all I could in my favor, in case things didn’t go well.
At least you can see that when he wants to feel fresh he doesn’t seem to want to try to jump the moon, but just limber himself a bit.

You did a wonderful job for a first ride under the circumstances and he seems to show to be an awesome horse.
Can’t wait to see what he looks like by mid summer and how you get him riding by then.

[Heinz_57]

Monday pics, now 16 weeks. He looks like a baby bird, trying to grow some feathers but not quite there. I swear I am attacking him daily with every shedding tool I’ve got, he’s just shedding in a really patchy way.

I also have a wee video to share from ride #2, but it hasn’t finished uploading yet.

[Heinz_57]

I might have more clips to share later, but for now…

Going for a Monday lope. Go button less rusty than yesterday

Bo's ride #2

[JBCool]

Holy cow, that’s a freakin’ cute canter! I bet yesterday he was just going, “Huh? You want me to wha???”

[Posting_Trot]

That’s a sweet canter.

On the shedding front, have you tried adding some flaxseed to his diet? I know he’s incredibly picky, but the flax might help him shed out a bit more quickly if he’ll eat it!

[Maythehorsebewithme]

Lovely canter! He can cover ground!

The shedding/coat thing may take a season or two to resolve.

[findeight]

Have had a few in their 20s and they tended to hold onto their coats longer the more years they added. Vet said it was not unusual in his experience. Certainly not unusual in horses recovering from long term malnutrition. May be awhile with Bo.

[Horse_Daft]

Good boy Bo! That’s a lovely canter and he looks really happy giving you that.

[Heinz_57]

@Posting_Trot

On the shedding front, have you tried adding some flaxseed to his diet?

He actually gets 1C of ground flax with E (Omega E, from Custom Equine Nutrition) spread out over his four meals. That’s one of the few add-ins he isn’t offended by but he’s not begging for it, either.

[2bayboys]

I love Bo’s canter

[atr]

Wonderful! Following this story has been such a tonic through this long, miserable winter!

[BatCoach]

wheeee!!! that looks like fun. Oh he’s gonna be such a neat horse. It looks like you guys are having so much fun figureing each other out. Maybe he wants to be a nice trail/husband horse - you know one of those horses who are worth their weight in gold since you can put them in any situation and they get you home safe.

[Bluey]

I had to watch that little canter several times.
It warms your heart after all that has been happening, thank you.

[Jenerationx]

Wow for a horse that’s been malnourished and not ridden for a while, he looks pretty well balanced there.