Without making this too long, I’ll give quick background. I raised my 13-year old gelding from a yearling and have done every bit of his training myself. Literally no one else has ever been on his back other than my mother for two quick walking/pony ride type situations just to say she’d sat on him.
Never in this horse’s life has he every offered to buck, rear, or “play up” under saddle. He’s done his share of spooking, spinning, and tiny bolts (never goes far), but even those instances are very rare. His MO when ridden has always been slow, slow, slow. Like he has the emergency brake on at all times. “Whoa” has always been his favorite gait, and getting him forward has always been a challenge but we’ve been working on it.
I started him on a new joint supplement about a month ago, and he seems to be doing well with it. He’s the picture of health right now and happy as a clam.
Today we were working in the big field up by the covered arena (he prefers the field, so do I), and he was quite forward. There were a few factors here: the weather is cooler/less humid than usual today, the BO was mowing pastures and a couple of horses were running when I was taking him to the mounting block, and he was mistakenly left in his stall after his breakfast today despite it being nice enough for him to go out (as he has for the past two days). He only stays in when the weather gets too hot/humid because he’s prone to anhidrosis.
Anyway, he was forward during our warm-up walk and I could tell he was going to be forward in general today which is always a welcome surprise!
Again, this horse has NEVER gotten bouncy and playful under saddle IN HIS LIFE. Well, today we were trotting along the fenceline near the road. He normally ignores the traffic unless it’s something major like a truck with a tarp flapping or an unusually loud vehicle. A car went by that was making a little bit of an odd noise, but nothing major. His usual response to things like this (if he’s going to respond at all) is to kind of scoot forward a little like “yikes” and then he recovers almost immediately and is back to “ho-hum” again.
Today he humped his back and started bouncing and shaking his head like “Yahoo!” I couldn’t believe it! It wasn’t hard to ride or anything, but it was just so shocking because he has NEVER done anything like that before (have I mentioned that? LOL).
He was fabulous overall today, really felt good and forward, ears up (even during his antics). Was this just “Whee! I feel good!”? And should I be happy about it? Without getting any longer winded, I feel like he’s always been borderline stiff/sore/reluctant for most of his riding life. Maybe he finally feels good enough to throw in some goofiness under saddle? I’m not complaining. He came back to his senses quickly and finished the ride well.
I don’t know if I should be happy for him or worried about him, LOL.
