Okay, I’m going to intrude, but I am invisible, so my post will disappear before anyone can read it.
I thought I’d share with you the first month of my dtr riding her new greenie (#1 is not much challenge lately). He’s a 4 yr old ottb, last raced June 2001. We bought him in August and my dtr has just been working on him gaining weight and bonding. He’s a grandson of Buckpasser and a great grandson of Alydar. I posted his picture recently for some critiques and got some good advice for my dtr to work on his hind end. Anyway, its kind of long, but since my posts disappear, well, here goes (I cut and pasted this from JB’s board so I would not have to type 2x’s):
From my stand point watching outside the arena, everything looks to be progressing even if it has been difficult.
Shadow is not Rio (greenie #1). No easy going, “what do you want me to do now, mom?” type of guy. More of a “I don’ wanna, I don’ wanna, well, okay I’ll do it if we have to and you make me, but…I don’ wanna, I don’ wanna”. He’s too cute and too readable. He’ll be going fine, then a skip and a hop, then fine again.
He is going real well to the left at walk/trot once he settles down and decides he has to work. They always start to the left. But going right…what a workout for my dtr! It’s mostly a fight to keep him going that way with him trying to turn around and go back to the left. Got some nice sidepasses out of it, too! Lots of inside leg and an open outside rein and eventually, she will get a nice couple of laps around. To accomplish this, they have to do some circles to the right several times until he settles, then go down the line. Sometimes he will stop completely and just dance with his front legs, kind of like a small rear (not more than about 4 to 6 inches off the ground) since he sets back on his hind end.
And, he has finally stopped bucking when she mounts. Not to worry, it was only a couple of quick hops of defiance because he did not want to work. Maybe soon he will stand still until she is completely in the saddle. When he has done at least one nice walk and one nice trot to the right, she will then make him stand perfectly still for about 10 secs before she gets off. He likes to drift towards the gate when he thinks they are done, so she will not let him face the gate or get near the gate when they are done. He usually dances around for a few seconds, then settles.
The couple of times I have walked him in the ring for her, he will eyeball the outgate and when we pass it he will walk in front of me and walk sideways facing the gate. He never steps on me or pushes me, but he is definately telling me which way he thinks we need to go. I usually make him circle until we are facing the other way and then continue.
My dtr is getting some assistance from another boarder, a German lady who just graduated from MSU and works as an equine vet assistant. She is a dressage rider who moved here with her American husband. She bought and trained an ottb for herself when she first got here from Germany, so she is familiar with everything Shadow is doing to my dtr. This lady gave her what you guys might call a “gadget” gasp that goes over Shadow’s head, through the rings of his bit and hooks on his girth. Sorry, I don’t know what it is called, I’m not privy to that stuff since I’m just the mom. Since he was pulling against the reins, this makes him pull against himself and he relaxes sooner. He will even reach for the bit once he gets settled, unless of course you are going to the right. She suggested this gadget gasp one evening after watching Shadow spend more time tugging against my dtr than he was listening to her.
Despite all this, he really is fun to watch. He is all legs. Everyone here at the barn agrees he will grow some more, probably one big growth spurt, then he will be done. He is also so lovable. He is starting to respond to the calm and cool supps, although he still gets nervous if he is in the cross ties too long.
Well, thanks for letting me share. I have as much fun watching my dtr with this darling guy probably as much as she is having riding him.
Member - Baby Greenie Support Group, HorseShowMom Clique, and Midwest Clique
