What's Up Wednesday

 

Holiday weeks are always full of all kinds of things, aren't they? This one is no different! I spent most of Wednesday morning at the car dealer picking up Betty's replacement. You've all heard my car woes all summer, and last month I finally took the plunge and ordered a new car. She arrived Wednesday. Everyone, meet Beatrice Mila Winthrop:

Yes. I bought a green car. And it's a convertible. I think it's clear to all of us that I'm having a pretty solid midlife crisis, what with the horse and the convertible... It sure is fun though!

But you're not here for cars. You're here for horses! Most specifically Al. 

Stands for hoof picking like a champ!

Since he had surgery, then a month of recovery, and then he flew here, we're taking things slowly, letting him get his fitness back. We've mostly just been flatting. But on Sunday, I managed to get on during a quiet time in the ring (VERY rare on a weekend!) and the assistant trainer was riding the barn owner's young horse and having a little school. Barn owner had set a little pile or rails on the ground, and I asked if I could join. She said sure, so I followed the baby horse over the poles. Eventually it became a little vertical and barn owner said to keep going too. So I did! And you guys... Al is wonderful to ride. He's adjustable and feels pretty brave. It was a plain white rail with nothing really under it, so nothing spooky. Not really a bravery test. But he didn't worry when I made him add one too many or kicked up for the long one. He was just like, okay yeah, cool. 

I know you're not supposed to compare horses to each other. But I have to tell you guys. This horse rides EXACTLY like young Rio. Al is a touch more green, but Rio was 8 when I bought him, and Al is just 6. So that's expected. But everything else feels weirdly familiar. Even how he acts when he's fresh. The same. It's crazy! They're not particularly closely related so I'm pretty surprised by the similarities. I mean, I had a feeling watching the videos and seeing how he carries himself. But it's a little mind blowing. I'm feeling VERY excited for the future. We'll probably mostly flat this week, and then maybe start jumping small next week. I don't see any reason to rush into things. We have all winter to get to know each other. 

He's been so cooperative for everything we've thrown at him since he got here. He goes out in the med paddocks next to mares and doesn't misbehave in the slightest (phew). He got worked on by our body worker last week (which I've already talked about, I know) and then on Thanksgiving morning he got shod. 

The farrier took his time, since not all of Europe hot shoes, so who knows if he's had that done before. He wasn't concerned about it, so I'm guessing he has. My farrier pointed out something interesting. Al's outside heels are kind of scrunched up behind. He says that's very typical for stallions (due to um... them doing their job... and also how they stand to accommodate "the jewels") and it will correct itself now that he's gelded. Al will see the vet I think next Friday so they can meet and get a baseline for how he goes and feels. 

I got on Al first yesterday morning. Unfortunately, I was in a big rush because I had to run my dad and stepmom back to the airport, so there were two horses getting rigged while I was trying to ride. Al came out FRESH, so being stuck on a small circle wasn't such a bad thing... lol! He settled down though, once we trotted for awhile and had a nice, albeit short, ride. I put him down for a free lunge today so hopefully he enjoys that and gets some fresh out. I really like how sensible he is, even when he's feeling wild. I hope that feature stays with him!

Everything is going well with the other two also! Eros still hasn't jumped. I need to sit down with the lesson book and find a spot for him. Shiny didn't jump last week either. She normally lessons on Thursday and with the holiday we missed out. I could have put her a different lesson another day, but I figured I'd give her the week since she had all that vet work done the Friday before. We'll lesson tomorrow. 

She is feeling great though! Her canter transitions are feeling better, and her hind end feels so much... smoother? If that makes sense. She's been a little sassy for her first canter lately though, kicking out some. So I'm not sure if something else is bothering her now, or if she's just feeling a little sassy. It's sometimes tough to distinguish with her. She feels very sound, so I'm leaning toward attitude. 

Eros is feeling good too, despite me using the wrong saddle on him for two days. Boy do I feel silly for that! In my defense, they look nearly exactly the same. Heh. Oops.

This isn't my saddle... -Eros probably

But in the more midlife crisis (and non horse) news... Pia is getting a sister after New Years! 

Her name is Rita and she's some kind of Chihuahua cross. There is a pair of sisters who have a pony at the barn and their parents are a vet and vet tech. They've been fostering Rita. She was hit by a car and her former owners surrendered her because they couldn't afford the bill. (Though they also didn't stick around long enough for the x-rays even to know that the bill wasn't going to be too bad... People suck.) Anyway, from the accident, Rita had a broken pelvis and one of her eyes was popped out. Fortunately, the eye went back in with no damage at all, and her pelvis did not require any surgery. She's been on crate rest for a few weeks, and is now having light exercise and doing great! She will be spayed this week (seriously people, do this for your dogs as soon as they're old enough, don't wait!). She's about two years old, so past the puppy stage which is nice. I'm taking a trip after Christmas, so I asked if they could keep her until I get back. Seems unfair to take her, then give her back, then take her again. It would be confusing I think. So they are happy to do that since they also love her. I also feel more comfortable having her rehab with the vet for a little longer. 

Pia and Rita met on Sunday. I had told the fosters, I really wanted Rita, but it was up to P since she's in charge of the household. While I'm not sure Pia loved Rita, she didn't mind her at all. So I think they'll get along just fine. 

So many changes happening over here lately! Horses and cars and dogs... Oh my! If anyone is looking for me, I'll just be over here enjoying my midlife crisis to the fullest. 

Truthful Tuesday: The One about Al

 

Today's confession is kinda big... I've been keeping a secret because I really wanted this thing to happen. Like really a lot. And things happened, and so now I can tell you all about it. 

Back when Eros came up lame at the end of the summer, I realized that maybe I should start thinking about seriously starting to look for a new show horse. But like, I wasn't really seriously doing that. I was kind of just waiting for the right one to appear before me. Because I just don't trust my own judgement anymore. So one evening, I was doom scrolling through Facebook and saw this:

I mean... it says a child can ride it. And does it remind you of a certain horse from this blog? Just a little? Here's a hint:

See it now? I mean, I know logically that I shouldn't try to buy Rio again because that would never be successful. But obviously, I have a type... They aren't particularly closely related, but do come from a similar Holsteiner line. 

Before you all get too worried about my potentially buying a horse from Europe off a video... The agent representing him is the same one I worked with when I bought Jampy. So he knows very well the type I can ride versus the types I CANNOT ride. When I went over the last time, there was an entire barn full of sales horses that all terrified me. So he was well aware of what I wouldn't want. I had some semblance of trust that the horse was being appropriately represented. So after consulting with my investor my dad, we decided to go ahead and vet the horse. As we all know so well, things often come to a screeching halt right there anyway. 

"Ahhhhh" -Al, probably

The vetting went pretty well. He's not perfect, but I have never found one that is. He's a reasonable risk. So the next step was to negotiate the right price, and then... ahem... have him de-balled. No more Stallions. Listen. I know it takes me awhile to learn some lessons. But after the Vermont debacle with Jamp, that lesson is firmly learned over here. NO MORE STALLIONS. The only problem with having to geld first is that I have to wait that much longer for him to ship! Though honestly, it's the same amount of time if I imported first since stallions have to quarantine for so long. Geldings only have to quarantine for three days. In the end, it was probably still faster to my door despite gelding first. 

All of that took some time because things don't happen super fast in Czech where he lived. But finally, when I felt I could wait no longer, I had a new horse and he arrived at the boarding barn on Saturday evening! 

Everyone, I'd like to introduce you to Casual! We're calling him Al in the barn, and so far he's an absolute love. 

Walking off the trailer into his new life!

Still smiling like an 8 year old getting a pony as I type this.

Testing out the water in CT

Meeting his new neighbor who happens to be my friend's horse!

Showing his good side for the camera.

Our first Selfie!

He's a six year old Holsteiner; Casall x Newton. He's shown a bit at the 1.25 level. Including jumping open water and a big wall, so he's pretty brave to the jumps hopefully! I gave him Sunday off to settle in. I took him out to groom, but he is still a little bit studdy (to be expected at this point!) so when the mom and baby walked by him he got a little excited. I let him go back to his stall to calm down before finishing our grooming session. Later in the day he got to have a few hours out in one of the med paddocks. (Grass paddocks are closed now because it's been so rainy.) And he seemed to enjoy that.

Today he even turned out next to an old mare and he behaved himself just fine out there. So that bodes well for the future!

Monday the body worker came so he got to have a nice adjustment after all the surgery and traveling he's done. Lucky boy! 

And today was our first ride! I had the trainer ride him first. You know. Just in case. She let him play on the lunge line first, since we're not really sure if he's been back to work since he was gelded. Might have had over a month off... Hard to say for sure. I should have asked. Oops. Anyway, he was fresh on the lunge line, but just wanted to canter a little fast, no real antics. And wasn't a puller. Also bodes well for the future. 

Once she got on, he was very sensible. A little tense, and was looky at the end of the ring. But it was noisy down there due to it being a very windy day, and there are some banners on the wall that a lot of the horses like to stare at. His "spooky" reaction was just to stare and wiggle a little. No attempts to spin or run away. So all good things so far! I got on after she flatted him for a while and just did some quick walk, trot, and canter each way. Didn't want to torture him the first day or anything! He didn't put a foot wrong, and I'm really feeling excited about him!

So that's today's confession! I bought a horse! 

Blog Hop: The horse you bought

Nope, this isn't a post about horse shopping for stepmom. This is a hop I jumped on started by Catherine at Two and a Half Horses. And sorry for not actually linking, but I'm epic in my laziness today.
Now, this post has mostly been about transformations from the green to the less green, but my version is a little different. I'm doing my mine on my journey with Rio, and if you've been around for any length of time, you know he's ancient getting up there in years. But I think the theme still applies. And anyway, I'll take any excuse I can find to talk on and on about Rio.

The very first day we met, in Holland.

Before heading out on the hunt for Rio, I had a horse named Cosmo, who was no longer very sound. He had one really good leg. The rest... not so good anymore. After much consultation with several vets, it was decided he was best suited for a 2'6" job. At that point in my young life, I was wanting to do more than that, but I had just moved home after graduating college and working as a barn manager for a year. I wasn't in a position to buy a horse, and so I was content to just enjoy Cosmo.
There was a young professional at the barn at the time who had been doing some importing of young horses  though. My dad got to talking with him one day, and the next thing I knew I was on a plane heading to the Netherlands. I know this might make some of you hate me. But I'm also fully aware of how lucky I've been to have my dad's financial support while I try to keep horses in my adult life. I very obviously couldn't have done nor do all that I have without him.
Anyhow... Rio was actually my second choice horse. Horse number one turned out to be out of budget for us. I'm not actually sure why they even showed him to us. But Rio was a very close second, so it wasn't hard to decide to vet him and arrange for him to fly to CT. Since Rio is a gelding, he arrived home pretty quickly after our trip out to meet him. And to be completely honest with you all, I didn't really love him when he first arrived. Rio had been ridden by very large Dutch men. Do you guys remember the Dutch guy in the last Olympics who got eliminated for a spur mark on his gray horse? That was Rio's trainer. Very tall. Very strong. Basically the opposite of me. Also it was winter when I got him, and he was rather cold backed. I would get on thinking this horse with the hump in it's back was about to launch me. But by the time he was warmed up, I couldn't keep him cantering. Forget about getting in a half seat at the canter! He thought that meant walk!
I didn't get frustrated though. I figured this horse could always be an investment. I could learn from him, get him to some horse shows, and sell him. Then I could find my next one that maybe I'd like more.
We started out slowly together. Rio was very much a made horse at 8 years old, but I hadn't been doing much in the year or so prior since Cosmo spent much of that time rehabbing. We began the year doing the low adult jumpers.

And getting to know each other. He was always very honest, but it took some time for me to figure out that I needed to have more contact with his mouth in order to keep him going. Seems counterintuitive. He was always ridiculously handsome though:

By summer we had moved up to the high adults. We had really started to find our groove! I was really excited for our future, and it seemed likely that we would be able to move up to the amateurs next year. At the end of that first year, we also dabbled in the hunters. That's when I realized this horse could show in any ring.

I know. Really, really, ridiculously good looking.

We had decided that year to finally go to WEF for a few weeks. I had never been, and was stupid excited about it. But a few weeks before we were supposed to leave, Rio wasn't feeling quite right. He wasn't terribly lame, just not quite right. After having our vet out, it was decided to take him to the vet hospital for some scans to try and find the issue. It turned out that he had torn his SI. Not career ending by any means, but he would need some time off. No Florida for us, but that was ok. He had a couple months of rest during the winter, and by spring he was ready to roll! And we did move up to the low A/O's. It was kind of a dream come true for me. I'm not very brave to the big jumps, but on Rio, it felt completely doable. Which isn't to say we didn't have our troubles.

I fell of in our first big class together. At the second jump. Oops. But I got back on, and we had a great rest of the horse show.

And our season continued on pretty nicely.

When I had first gotten him, Rio was very shy with his humans. He wasn't very social, and he thought all treats were poison except carrots. But over time he came out of his shell.

We only had the one full season doing the bigger jumps. The next year started out great.

We did some shows at our home barn and things were going well. But then he was off again. This time a torn suspensory right front. That took a while to heal, but I let him take all the time he needed. By now he was my very best friend. Rio could have whatever Rio needed. And at this point my own barn was being built.
When I first brought Rio home he was just starting back to work. My years are fuzzy as to which injury we were on at that point. I think it was suspensory injury number 2. Over the years, he's injured the same leg's suspensory in three different places. But every time he came back. This horse is like a cat. Has at least nine lives.
It was obvious though, that it was time to start stepping him down. So he became a full time adult hunter at that point. No more jumping any higher than 3'. He would double as an eq horse sometimes too. And he was really good at those jobs. It's pretty rare to find a real three ring horse, but Rio certainly has been just that.

In his last year showing, I decided at the last minute to take him to Ct finals. I was originally going to take Jamp. But Jamp had been bitten by a tick and was exhibiting some signs of lyme disease. So I asked Rio to step up to the plate. I knew he'd be just fine in the first round. But I was worried about the flat class. He often got worked up when horses came up behind him, and sometimes would kick out. Once we made it through the flat, we were sitting in fourth place. They test the top four. I thought for sure I'd stay in 4th for two reasons. Rio was a cheater at the trot fence and liked to canter the last step and also, I didn't think he'd actually halt at the end. But he proved me a big liar and we had pretty much a PERFECT test. He really is a magical unicorn. We finished in second.

We had a nice winter off after that, and come spring is when disaster struck. That one weekend when he started acting weird. Couldn't chew his hay to start and by Sunday couldn't stand up without a wall next to him. After a couple vet consults we were on our way to Cornell to receive his EPM diagnosis.

Rio enjoyed two years of being a pet after that, while he regained his strength and balance. And that spring, two years later, Doc said I should ride him. I told him not to toy with me like that and he said he was serious. We spent some time just lunging with tack and remembering what a bit was. I'm sure it felt different to him after the EPM problems. It had affected him mostly in the facial nerves, so his tongue worked differently than it had used to. But he took that all in stride, and I had the very best moment of my life when I climbed back on him for the first time in so long.

It was like nothing had ever happened. Sure he was a little lower in the head, and a lot less strong. But overall, he was the same.
This year he came out of winter with a bowed tendon. It's not looking like it's going to heal, so he's officially retired. But he's still ridiculously good looking.

And he will forever be my very best friend. He's not the same horse that I imported from Holland all those years ago. But he's a better horse. He's my best friend in the whole world. He's come completely out of his shell to the point of sometimes having too much personality. And there's not a treat he'll say no to anymore.
I hope he still has lots of years left to spend with me. He's twenty-two now so who really knows. I'll definitely treasure every second of every day though. And that my friends is how Rio has changed from the horse I bought. He grew into a magical unicorn.