5 days after he arrived he made a trip to A&M to be gelded. He also got his feet trimmed by their farrier. Between recovery time and his short toes, I wasn't able to ride him for almost a month. Finally I was able to ride him and we took it slow. I honestly don't remember those first few rides other than the fact that we stayed in the small arena and stuck to walking and trotting. I was expecting him to grab the bit at the trot and try to run. I was expecting to have to rewire his brain to think slow instead of fast. What I did not expect was his nice, slow trot with decently low head carriage.
I remember the day I decided to canter him. I gritted my teeth and got ready for the worst. I asked him. And asked him and asked him and asked him and we trotted quickly but there was no cantering. A slow racehorse?! Well, turns out, when you smack him in the butt (with a crop or your hand) he likes to buck. Not a lot and not big, but he does like to buck. Those first few times at the canter were interesting to say the least. No steering, no leads, no balance. It was basically a baby horse doing his best to canter with a rider on him.
Some other things we had to work through were his trips. He could not figure out where his feet were. I thought at first it was the bell boots but then quickly realized it was just me. Me being on him and trying to direct him was too much for his baby horse brain. He tried so hard to listen and do what I asked but then he would forget how to move.
We also haven't had jumps for very long so we were crafting make-shift jumps out of barrels and poles. We worked on trot poles and Xs for a long time. He did not understand what to do with two poles close together on the ground. His first jump he took off bucking afterwards because he was so excited he jumped it!
Presently we are w/t/c without too many trips. Unfortunately he is his mother's son and she (me) can't walk and chew gum at the same time. So I'm not really expecting perfection on this front. He has jumped up to 2'6" or 2'9" and is currently working on lines and oxers. He is a wiggle worm in the line and puts in about 2 extra strides just moving side to side. With extra fitness and feed the bucks haven't gone away. In fact, when you ask him to go fast he takes that as his cue to kick his feet up and get frisky. His newest habit is jerking his head down on the back side of a big jump. :/ Mom is not enthused.
I've definitely learned a lot and taught him some really strange things without meaning to. My first horse, and I didn't realize this at the time, I didn't not have to "ride" him toward and over the jumps. I didn't ever think of him as a point and shoot horse but compared to Marvel he definitely was. I have to put leg on to the base of every jump every time no exceptions. Mostly probably because he is a baby but he has a lazy personality too and will always choose the easy way out.
Somehow I've taught him that after we canter or jump we stop. Or at least he put two and two together to mean that in his head. So transitions are in our very near future. We're also working on getting him on the bit but that's a story for another day. We've got a long way to go but for really only riding him for 3 months, he's made leaps and bounds of progress. We get along so well and he's got such a good head and heart. With his splay feet I still don't know how far he will be able to go, but we will find out together. We are now enrolled in weekly lessons with the owner of the barn, Maggie, so we've got someone to put eyes on us and help us get as far as she can.
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