Haha yes, I’ve thought about teaching him to target instead but see above re: time constraints…
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How’s he been doing lately? Hope all is well.
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Thanks for asking—other than some spring allergies, he’s doing great! I posted this pic on another thread but we did make it to a schooling show last month:
And here he is being a goofball in the wash rack:
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That is AWESOME to hear!! I’m so glad that things are going so well right now. He’s adorable!!
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It’s been about a year since the initial post, so I thought I would update. Hopefully I don’t jinx anything but the mystery lameness hasn’t recurred and Petey is doing fantastic!
I focused most of my show money on my eventer this year, but Petey did do 7 dressage schooling shows, mostly July-October, and was the high score at the last 5. 
He even won a saddle! One of the judges, who does a lot of young/developing horse stuff, said I should aim him at 6 yo champs at Lamplight next year. I’m not going to rush anything but it’s a fun goal to work towards this winter. Most importantly, he started off the year extremely anxious and revved up off-property, and by October he waltzed into a spooky unfamiliar indoor and kicked ass. I’m so grateful to have access to schooling shows for inexpensive mileage. Here he is at one of the shows:
We also did a “mountain trail course” lesson over the summer. After his initial 20 min of “ZOMG where am I and what’s happening and where are the other horses and should I be worried about what they’re doing?”, he settled down and turned out to be extremely brave, even with the weird obstacles that moved under his feet like see saws and suspension bridges:
He did give me a heart attack and miss a month of work in August by slicing his heel bulb in the trailer. It was casted for a almost two weeks and has healed really well except for some superficial scarring. After a month off I hopped on him (no longeing or anything) and it was like he hadn’t missed a day. I’ll skip the horror pics since they’re already in another thread, but here he is doing some very lazy handgrazing with his cast on:
This past week I had the three best rides I’ve ever had on him. He has a huge canter stride with a very active hind leg, but we’ve worked through some stuff and suddenly he can stay balanced on his hind legs in the canter! He’s starting to get some walk-canter transitions and play with countercanter (which had been tough in my 20-m wide arena with his length of stride). Two rides ago he surprised both of us by nailing a canter-walk transition with zero trot strides. He filled out so much in the past few months that I went to hack him in a jump saddle for the first time in a while and couldn’t buckle the girth! This is with only 3-4 days of work a week.
He’s also still my favorite goofball and best snugglebug:
(Fancy and handsome AND good with kids!?)
Maybe he has EDM and this will all end in tears someday, but right now he feels like a superstar and all I can do is keep enjoying him and hope for the best.
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Love this update so much! Petey looks amazing!
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Wow. What an amazing update. I love to hear this and glad you included photos. Keep kicking butt, Petey!! 
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That’s about as good as it gets for an update!
I’ve learned a lot about neuro horses from this conversation. My takeaway thanks to your diligence is that far more horses than I ever suspected are “neuro.” But it’s also something you can and should address.
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Petey is one gorgeous, sweet, gregarious hunk of horse! I hope he carries you with joy until at least the age of 30, when suddenly it occurs to you, oh, we NEVER DID see any more of that EDM stuff, did we, old man?
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Yay Petey!! (And Libby too of course!)
Now that IS impressive for a dressage horse! Was it a prize for the highest score at the show?
I’m so glad he is doing well. You deserve it 100%!
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I love this so much, thank you! (It made me a little teary-eyed actually.) Here’s hoping!
I know, right? It was for the most high scores in a dressage schooling show series! It’s not the most premiere saddle brand obviously, but still!
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I’m so happy for you and Petey. You’ve really been through it for a while now. Glad to see some good things happen for you!
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