In which all things pile up!

Well, the last couple of days have been interesting to say the least.

I took on the challenge of the third ride, which everyone says can be "terrible"... while we didn't do anything new or exciting (except be out about 20' on the longeline), TOEH was also not terrible. He is so laid back. If someone was showing me a video of him being ridden like the video I had taken - quiet, natural headset, ears forward, responding to rein and leg pressure, and then told me he is also a 6 year old stallion with minimal groundwork who has only really been used for breeding and has 0% vision in one eye and probaby right around 50% vision in the other, I would laugh you out of the room!

While sharing with some friends on a couple of forums, I got the comment, "You cut him, didn't you?". NO suckers! He is still intact and such a sweet, relaxed soul. It is like riding my mare again (for those who don't know me, I lost the definition of bombproof to colic last year)... not a spook in him yet.

Anywhoo - I planned to ride him yesterday off of the longe (thereby meeting my first mini-goal!) ... I felt that he was quiet enough and we are now riding in a makeshift round pen (visual guide more than anything - 24$ worth of rope and recycled fenceposts!). First, I wanted to show my mother how well my draft filly was doing on the longe in the round pen and didn't I step in a hole, very hard.

I heard a crunch and landed on my face like a monkey, my filly still trekking it around me on the longe. I could not bear any weight on it at all and after trying to contact my family doctor (who was busy in the OR that day) decided to go to outpatients at the local hospital. I was in for about an hour and a half, had X-rays, etc, and was prescribed ten days OFF of the foot, crutches and icing it three times a day. What a cramper this puts in my plan!

I'm afraid that I will have to hand the TOEH torch over to my mother for a couple of rides (the most formative, so I am really disappointed), to keep him in work for me and pick up where she left off. It is likely that she will accomplish my first and second mini goals - provided I heal in a timely manner. My palms are already getting calloused because I don't take well to being bedridden.

Here are a couple of photos that my sister snapped from the third ride. Look how relaxed and quiet! Ears forward! I did get a little bit of flack about being "too big" for him, it was mostly revolved around a false perception that TOEH is actually shorter than we say he is (I said 15.1-15.2hh - he sticked at 15hh after I said that - sue me!). Anyways, that all cleared up...

Mind the following things - I am 5'11", he is 15hh, and the saddle I ride in is too small for me because I have a synthetic that fits me well and would fit TOEH well but I like the good old leather for the first couple of rides -- I admit, I don't trust the nylon yet!

Moving Fast...

Today was day two of my work with TOEH... the real work, I mean!

We progressed further than I imagined we would make it by now, and after our next ride, will have bypassed the notorious 'third ride syndrome' that some horses seem to have.

I planned to leg up on TOEH again today and do a little walk around. I reminded him from the ground about giving to the pressure of the bit, just by pulling and having him turn. He has not been ground driven since he lost his eye but I think we will get back to that eventually with him as I can see him pulling a very smart cart!

Legging up, I was not graceful at all. I floundered and it seemed that my center of gravity was suddenly in my head as I almost did a faceplant over his shoulder for some reason that I can't figure out for the life of me. TOEH stood there like he had been packing beginners his entire life and was more than used to this. Sort of like "Pschht! Same crap, different day." I was sure I was going to land on his other side on my head but TOEH stood like a rock and I managed to right myself, just a little bit shaken.

Yesterday, my father didn't want me to put my feet in the stirrups in case I needed to make an emergency dismount. Today I requested that I be able to put them in, because I was concerned about my balance after my mounting "issue". I leaned over the saddle to stick my toes in the stirrups on my own and TOEH never flinched. We went for a little pony ride, walking around as we were led with dad. I did not have reins yesterday but today I did and reminded him about stopping and turning. We even backed up a couple of steps with absolutely no issues.

Eventually, my father got brave - he agreed to let me try "steering" as we did a couple of serpentines and figure eights, and allowed me to rein him out a couple of feet from him. Eventually, we were going out ten to eleven feet away from my father and while I got a little worried when TOEH turned to face him (so he could SEE him), no one else seemed concerned - especially not TOEH! There was a little video taken that I will hopefully be able to post when I get home - just to show how mellow and laid back he was about the whole thing.

I've decided to set mini goals - building them up as I go along with him... my ultimate goal, of course, will likely be to win a class under saddle with him, but as for right now, I think my goal to work on will be walking off the longeline. :) Once I reach that goal, I'll set something a bit larger (like jogging on the longeline), and go from there.

I could not have imagined Saturday, when I wrote my post introducing us having never sat on TOEH's back that we would be going around on the longeline like a lesson pony! Many people are hesitant to start a horse as old as TOEH is, but I am interested to see how things pan out and how they play out versus the experience of starting a younger horse, as I have done both. This is also, coincidentally, the first stallion I have started.

Personal Victories!

So the biggest problem with this whole young horse thing is that I do need help once in a while. When I am doing general work around the barn (cleaning stalls, feeding, fixing things), I seem to get a lot of help but at the end of the day, the help's steam runs out when I am ready to do personal things, like ride. I have figured out the answer to that!

Despite the rain and how ridiculously wet it was outside after all of it, I got it into my head that I wanted to ride (or at least sit astride) TOEH yesterday (Sunday). I informed everyone of my intent yet was ignored, so after supper, I geared up - extra socks, hiking boots, hoodie, ballcap, flannel jacket - "What are you doing?" "I'm going to the barn and I might do something dangerous, so someone else had better come out soon!" THAT got results!

TOEH is very gracious considering the lack of regular work that he gets. I longed him the other day and it was probably the first time he had been longed in a month or two. I went directly to the barn last night and threw a saddle up on him - I don't think he's had a saddle on him in more than a year, but he's definitely had the saddle on him before. I put the bridle on (neon pink but he can't see it, so no harm!), got my longeline, took him to our ring.

My father was the one who came out eventually. He is usually my right hand man in starting horses, but I knew he was very hesitant about my plan to ride TOEH. (I personally don't think he gives TOEH enough credit.) Because my hands were full of lines, whips, and TOEH, I left my helmet in the barn and took him to longe him. My father took over the longeing and he went in both directions well.

... Until you asked for a lope and he crow-hopped like crazy! I was a little concerned about back/saddle/etc, but remembered our older stallion had always done that - crowhopped the whole way around the circle but never once offered to buck with someone in his saddle. Granted, TOEH does not have quite the soft, maleable personality that the old horse had, but he is sweet in his own right.

I headed to the barn to grab my helmet. My father said "You're not riding this horse tonight!" - I told him I knew, I just wanted to put my foot in the stirrup and harrass him. I have been harrassing TOEH on and off since he lost his eye - jumping up and down beside him in his stall, standing on a bucket, laying over his back and flapping my arms on the other side, and once my mother and I took him outside to try laying over his back without a saddle. I couldn't get up enough off a bucket to get over his back and balance so I was holding onto his neck and belly and anything I could hold onto, kicking around and causing a real rukus. Luckily TOEH is pretty tolerant these days. Dad agreed it would be a good idea for me to have my helmet on to do that.

Eventually, I worked my father up to allowing me to put my toe in the stirrup so I could get balanced and lay across his back while he led me around. Of course, TOEH handled this elegantly even though I was probably pulling him off balance - I am not the most graceful critter God ever put legs on. I hopped down after some of that and then my mother came out to the scene (a little late but better than never!). She asked if I had ridden him yet, I said no. Dad was not interested in letting me ride him. She insisted until we re-tightened his saddle and I laid over his back again. Dad was incessantly nervous, reminding me to sit gentle and be careful when I swung my leg over his back. I swung my leg over his back and sat down (like a feather, I am sure!), and TOEH never flinched. I didn't have any reins so I was clinging to the saddlehorn like crazy. We went for a little walk and TOEH never scootched out from under me or took a wrong step even once during the ride.

I swung off (also rather ungracefully) and the smile on my face lasted all evening. I was surprised, but at the same time not. I have predicted for the last couple of months that while we all expected TOEH to break hard, he would surprise us and break easy (as has been my experience - those that you expect to be difficult aren't and the ones you don't expect give you lots of trouble) - so I was surprised but not surprised and can't wait to ride him again.

It has been some time since I've felt that I was sitting on a horse that was the right size for me. Always too short, too narrow, etc. He was just the right height to the ground and just the right distance between my knees. It's a shame he's for sale, but I may work some daddy's girl magic to hang onto him.

Day One: RAINED OUT!

With some previous engagements required of me first thing this morning, I hoped to get to TOEH this afternoon. We expected rain from Hurricane Noel all day but it didn't even come along 'til three or four. Unfortunately, I got to pick out TOEH's stall, hang out with him a little bit (rub him all over with a missy picker) but didn't even get the chance to put a saddle on him because by the time I got around to that it was raining - COLD and wet, not a good combo. Spent a couple of hours getting everyone bunked down for a night of howling wind and powerlessness, but alas, the wind has died down and the power is still running. We shall see how things pan out in the morning!

Mini-bios all around!

The One Eyed Horse - I think it's important for me to introduce who shall be known as "TOEH" from here on out FIRST, because he is the most important.

TOEH is a pretty special guy. I have known him since he was a yearling - we have carried on a love/hate relationship since then, culminating in a love/love relationship since he became less "The Two Eyed Horse" and more "The One Eyed Horse". He is a registered Paint Horse, breeding stock registry (which means that he does not visibly have "enough" white to be considered regular registry, but can still carry color patterns that allow his offspring to be colored). He is a 6 year old stallion who lost his eye in March 2007. He came to us with limited vision in one eye (not genetic, due to injury at his previous home), and lost vision in his "good" eye in March when he managed to (inexplicably) escape from his stall (Houdini?) and we are not certain whether the eye was bitten/kicked or scraped on wood/equipment in the barn - the eyeball was punctured. The vet who saw him did not feel it important to remove the eye, but rather felt it would fall out on it's own and would not need to be sewn shut (Coincidentally, we also found out during that episode that he is acutely allergic to Pennecillan). It was an uphill battle to keep that open wound clean without being able to use antibiotics, but we managed and no raging infection killed TOEH.

TOEH lost his eye completely a couple of weeks after the vet saw him, and now has an open socket with an unattractive mele of flesh and tissue. He has absolutely no pain in the socket. His remaining eye we estimate to have roughly 50% vision (IF that). We believe that he can see shapes and shadows but are not sure how much he can actually see defined.

TOEH learned to get along pretty well with only one eye - miraculously, that one eye seems to have grown in vision strength. He has learned to trust his handler and copes very well. He longes on both sides, but is a little more wary when his blind eye is on the outside of his circle. When his blind eye is toward the middle, he feels safe, trusting his handler to "watch his back". He was not previously trained under saddle. (Critics will ask why, so..) He is extremely halter bred... as in, his sire is in the top 3 of the lifetime leading sire of halter champions in the APHA. His damsire is in the same list. For any of you who are familiar with the halter vs pleasure divisions between horses in stock breeds (and arabians), a halter horse's job is to look pretty, and his value lies more in his conformation (which is not always the most conducive to longevity as a riding horse). Movement does not play a huge factor in. Fortunately, TOEH has usable conformation, it could definitely be very worse (while still being attractive, of course!).

We have crossed him on mares with performance backgrounds and they have produced some very nice foals that excel in both the riding ring and the halter ring... but TOEH himself does not have a ridden show record... YET.

Mandy - I like to think that I am an adventurous spirit and I like to take on challenges. The truth is that I hate it when I get hurt, I hate falling off a horse even more. As a result, even though I have ridden green horses (green, not naughty!) for the last decade, I haven't fallen off in as long. I hope not to break this staying-on streak. I am 22 and overweight - I won't lie. I have a big frame so I look out of place on lots of horses. Fortunately, TOEH (and I have been sizing him up for a year now!) looks to be just about the right height and frame of horse to carry me well.

My family has had horses for as long as I can remember, and from the time I was about 12, I have been competent and comfortable handling stallions in a variety of ages and stages in life. TOEH is no different, and I have found, based on his personality, I actually prefer a stallion every once in a while. Sometimes it is nice to handle a gelding or a mare and not have to keep an eye on them 100% but I feel that handling stallions helps keep me sharp and concious of my surroundings and abilities when handling ANY horse, not just stallions.

But this blog isn't about stallions. This is about TOEH's journey to rideability, and I want to invite the cyber horsey world out there to join us on this journey.