In it For the Long Haul

Marvel is an exceptional horse. Exceptional is a word whose meaning is a chameleon. He is so chill and loveable and yet so willing and spunky too. He learns everything I throw at him quickly. Even more impressive is that he's only been a gelding for 4 months of his 5 year life. I don't think he's going to be my Olympic horse and he probably isn't even going to be my Advanced horse but in his own way he is exceptional.

I will keep him forever for a multitude of reasons, the main one being his feet. Every vet who sees him looks at me, looks at him, and looks back at me with a skeptical look (by this point I've told them he's my eventing horse) and informs me in their most sincere voice that "There is no way I would've passed this horse in a vet check with those splay feet." While I thank them for their extremely knowledgeable opinion, I keep on my stubborn way and ignore them.

But seriously, they aren't totally wrong. In the short time we've been training we've had several lay-offs due to random and unexplained lameness. The only problem is, the lameness has never EVER been in his front, splay, feet. So the vets aren't totally right either.

With front shoes on and supplements his front feet have withstood the tests of time, and footing. We did have a week off when he threw a shoe but that's to be expected. His back feet are what causes me so much heartache. And if we're sitting here being honest with each other, I personally think it's Marvel's love of a good day off that really causes us the most trouble.

For instance, this past Sunday was a gorgeous cool fall day. Perfect for a good ride in the pasture with friends. I hopped on and he hopped around. Lame as a three legged horse. While he exhibited some wind puffs, that's not unnatural for him and he had been stalled for the previous 2 days due to bad weather. Some walking always brings the swelling down and he has never had a problem. His back hoof wall was also chipped slightly but after checking pressure areas we determined it wasn't causing the head bob we were seeing.

Finally I looked at him, half asleep, foot cocked, saddle off, me in riding gear on the ground, tied up and being loved on and I wanted to stick him in the round pen and make him gallop till he couldn't stand. I'm pretty sure he decided that Sundays are his personal day off and if I feel like riding on a Sunday I can hop my happy hiney on some other, more willing horse. Ugh!

Dirty Marvel enjoying a day off

I'm not saying he's a liar and a faker. And I'm not saying I decided to ride him anyway to prove a point, there are a lot more areas he could be feeling pain in that we can't or don't know how to test for. But I am saying that this particular incident was really REALLY suspicious and I'm not gonna put it past him. He's got his leg wraps on, we've trimmed his feet, and today we're gonna test him out.

No matter what any vet says, Marvel will be my eventing horse! I know he can do it and the better part is he WANTS to do it. We just both need a bit more experience. :)