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Sailor: Thoroughbred Progression

*contemplates*

lol you have any western saddles? ROFL I know, terrible, but I spent 8 years riding western, and like 3 lessons english... hehe

I used to ride lesson horses, so if you have any habitually-hard-mouthed kiddos, that usually works better for me. I would hate to annoy a softie!

Let me know when would be good and whatever.

I miss horses! And would love to ride at some point!
 
We actually do have one Western saddle laying around. We started out riding Western and it was my all around trail/barrel saddle. My aunt's horse (he was my first horse, we sold him to her a few years back) would probably be just fine for you!
 
Update time!!

Well, I started riding Sailor last week (after Laura rode her that one time in March). :D We've had 3 really great rides, I'm so excited to have her...the more I'm around her, the more I love her. She's going to be wonderful to train, and she's quite comfortable to ride.

Here she is out in the pasture with Lucy. Now that she's gaining weight, they look almost identical when out together. Sorry about the color on this one, I didn't realize my camera settings were messed up.
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Tonight, I did some round pen work with her before getting on her. We're working on developing a close bond like I have with my other two horses, as she has some trust issues. This was our first round pen session and it was really successful. She quickly learned to do inside turns when changing direction and only took about 25 minutes to decide to 'join up' with me. I'm quickly realizing that she is extremely intelligent and very brave...the perfect combination for a great eventer.

Starting out at a nice brisk walk:
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Some trot work:
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Starting to relax (sorry that this is crooked, I wasn't standing still while taking the pictures):
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And now really relaxed, almost ready to tell me she was comfortable coming to visit me in the center of the round pen:
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I love this shot, she was watching my dad on the tractor:
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After our round pen session, I threw my saddle on her for a quick ride. I just wanted to walk her around in the arena, but we ended up doing some trot and canter work as well. Then we went for a little walk around our upper field, around a lot of the cross country jumps and up a few little hills. She was fantastic, I'm so proud of her!

And, just for the heck of it, a bonus picture of my PONY!!! Isn't she just the cutest little thing? :D
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Enjoy!!
 
Do you have her legs wrapped like that, with the colors diagonal, for a reason?

Mostly for funsies. :D But, it does make it a little easier to watch her movement and keep track of the quality of her gaits. Sometimes I wrap in all one color, but generally I wrap in fun diagonal colors (always coordinated to match whatever saddle pad I'm using that day). I have lots of bright colors...lime green, neon pink, bright purple, baby blue, yellow...and then black and white...makes for lots of fun combos!

We use the polo wraps when doing lower impact exercise, such as flat work in the arena and minor round pen work. For more stressful workouts, like cross country schooling, stadium jumping, and long gallop sets around the property, we use one of a few different types of boots (some neoprene, some leather with fleece lining...it all depends on the weather, ground condition, workout type/length), either alone or boots in the front with polos on the hind legs.
 
Can't believe I haven't seen this thread! Congrats on buying her, and getting her back up to par. She is beautiful Hallie! I cannot wait to see more updates on her :)
 
Thanks Janine!

We went for a nice long hack around the property last night with my mom (who rode my darling little pony). She was such a good girl...so brave!! She took the lead almost the entire time, only once or twice did she get worried about something (a little ditch or a change in ground color) and have to follow Spice. We even did some trot and canter through the fields and popped over our baby-level ditch jump. This horse amazes me more and more every day...I truly am blessed to have her around. :)
 
Thanks so much, Catherine! It seems as though you missed this thread too! It has pictures of all of our horses. :)

I have a tendency to miss everything. I like to disappear sometimes.

Gorgeous herd though! I've been thinking about getting back into my barrel racing/pole bending routine, and since I no longer have my gymkana horse (we had to put Rocky, an Anglo-Arab down about 3 years ago), I have been looking into an appendix or a foundation quarter horse... something with a little more butt-drive ( I know, shocking... something OTHER than an arab).

Since you have an appendix, maybe you can pass on an opinion. Speed-wise, I am sure they are more than efficient. I know we have totally different riding styles, but as far as being able to turn and burn and hindquarter drive, how is that appendix gelding?
 
Gorgeous herd though! I've been thinking about getting back into my barrel racing/pole bending routine, and since I no longer have my gymkana horse (we had to put Rocky, an Anglo-Arab down about 3 years ago), I have been looking into an appendix or a foundation quarter horse... something with a little more butt-drive ( I know, shocking... something OTHER than an arab).

Since you have an appendix, maybe you can pass on an opinion. Speed-wise, I am sure they are more than efficient. I know we have totally different riding styles, but as far as being able to turn and burn and hindquarter drive, how is that appendix gelding?

Thank you very much, we have been so lucky to have the horses that we do. :)

It really depends on the 'type' of appendix. Sonny is very TB in his movement and build (other than that big QH butt), so he doesn't quite have the quick turns and the immediate acceleration after a turn like you'd want for barrels/poles. We've come across some appendix horses that were more QH type, those would easily do the trick for you...that extra speed from the TB and the quick turns and acceleration from the QH.

I'd say get an appendix if you can, I like the personality of them better than the personality of a QH, they seem much more willing (and are smarter, in my opinion...nothing beats a TB or an Arab when it comes to brains).
 
Thank you very much, we have been so lucky to have the horses that we do. :)

It really depends on the 'type' of appendix. Sonny is very TB in his movement and build (other than that big QH butt), so he doesn't quite have the quick turns and the immediate acceleration after a turn like you'd want for barrels/poles. We've come across some appendix horses that were more QH type, those would easily do the trick for you...that extra speed from the TB and the quick turns and acceleration from the QH.

I'd say get an appendix if you can, I like the personality of them better than the personality of a QH, they seem much more willing (and are smarter, in my opinion...nothing beats a TB or an Arab when it comes to brains).

Hey, there is a reason those 2 are the only breeds that are considered "hot" ;)

The gelding I had was a big 15.3 Anglo Arab (Arab/TB) that has almost no butt at all, but his legs and stride were so long that he ate up the ground. We used to piss people off because our technique was "sloppy" compared to some of the well trained quarters. He would take the turns wide, and would wait until the last minute to change leads, but he made up for it in those strait-aways. :D

I'm not sure I would know what to do with a horse that would explode off the jump. I really like the look of Sonny though. He seems entirely too smart for his own good. Having a horse that can really turn & burn would be a little odd to me... I'm not used to horses turning on a dime. But I love the TB attitude. They are just very easy to get along with. Not puppy dogs like the quarters, but not pains in the butt like some arabs.
 
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