This is the horse I thought I bought

This is the story to go along with the spoiler photo from yesterday.

Today again I was invited to the fancy arena and we hustled up there by 10 AM, a half hour walk on pavement. I have this feeling that an hour walking on pavement a couple times a week is really good for his hooves. They are so hard I'm actually waiting for rain to trim him. He has absolutely no mustang roll left, but no cracks whatsoever, how interesting.

Once there the owner T was putting away the trail obstacles that we'd worked on yesterday. She said, "Now you can lunge and ride anywhere you like!"

Her Arabian was pawing the ground at the arena fence, even digging up rocks and spraying us with them! Mag was like, "Interesting" even as rocks were hitting us.  I think Mag is amused by the attention. Their horses cannot stand it that he is right there but out of reach.

I lunged him a full 25 minutes. I admit, I wanted him less fresh. But no worries, I expect direction changes and transitions almost continually. Lunging should still primarily be mental work and discipline. The canter is coming along too, no bucking today (first time) but lots of cross firing and scrambling as I insisted that he actually go 3 or 4 revolutions before trotting again.

His "trot" is so lovely. He has a full on Western jog that is in no way a real trot. He moves almost in slow motion. He doesn't go anywhere efficiently, but it's a pleasure to watch. Eventually he'll have to learn a ground covering trot, but that's the future.

I purposefully lunged him moving all over the arena constantly so he was exposed to all corners repeatedly. Both directions. I was amazed that he never seemed to tire, he never breathed audibly. He stretched his nose to the ground as he jogged and forgot about resisting me.

I think the difference is that I catch him when he thinks of rebelling, so it's no use to try. I never touched him with the whip today, but a few times I popped it quietly to remind him to obey. I think he is beginning to trust that I'm fair with him, and is learning it's much less work to behave. And he gets lots of GOOOOOOOOOOD!!!!!!! from me.

Finally it was time to get on.

I rubbed his face and told him how great he is when he stopped when I asked. I asked T to move the mounting block to a better place, after she offered to help me, because her horses were all to eager to reach over the fence and make it impossible for me to get on my horse.

She stood on the block, testing it, and I said, "Do you want to ride him?" She said, "No, only after I know a a horse would I ride it."

Mag didn't line up the first time but finally got it and I mounted. He stood perfectly still and the owner was amazed - she said her horses took a very long time to stand for mounting, and that her TB Silver sat down the first time in objection.

I said I practice at benches and stumps I encounter in the woods, lining him up and then laying across his back for only a few seconds.

She said, "Your practice is obvious."

I was concerned that she didn't want the lead rope to lead me and Mag around, but she said it's fine, and she took a rein in her hand to assure me. That doesn't assure me much, cuz it's part of my controls, but oh well.

She started walking us around and doing circles and serpentines and it was so cool because Mag has really got it now, the leading game. Every time she stopped he'd slam on the brakes so fast I'd hit the front of the saddle. I would laugh and laugh. She too. She praised him and rubbed him and said, "Watch how he watches me and mimics my movements!" I said, "He's taking commands from two people, and he's really getting it."

I told her how awful he is in the woods, that we cannot get him to hold still. She said, "Why do you want him to stop in the woods? In race horse training, my husband told me, they are never ever expected to hold still. They are always in motion, because otherwise they'd go nuts. You shouldn't expect a young Arab to be able to stop and stand!"

I had made stopping a priority because of the fact the the prior owner told me he runs away with people when insecure.


What do you think? 1. After mounting never ask him to stop or 2. Keep drilling the halt.

She said, "Look, he's dropping his head in relaxation." She walked beside us not holding on, but hunching over simulating a dropped head position, to see if he'd copy her, and he did, a little. She was giggling. I said, "T is silly, T is lustig!"

The entire time I was taking deep breaths into my stomach and coasting on my feet, not dropping my heels (I often press my heels too low when worried).

T said, "What a good boy you are" and reached her face near his as we walked, and kissed him. 

Finally I said, "I think I'm good. Can I try it alone?"

She went over and sat on the mounting block and Mag said, "Wait, we were having fun, what is this!"

I did small serpentines and T said, "Why do you keep turning him so tight? Let him go!" I thought well this is the way I'll feel most safe, and the way to see if he responds to my leg aids as well as the reins.





Ironically, Mag kept stopping out of the blue, when I was...uh...too relaxed? I had to nudge him forward, "Keep going, you can keep going!"










He's totally the opposite horse of the one I ride in the woods.  I understand, but the difference with him was so remarkable.

T said he had to pee and I said, "No, that's just him. He's uber-relaxed horse." (I captured these images from a little film she made, just a few seconds, but I was careful to only captures the rated G photos. My family sometimes reads my blog!)




I am happy to see that in these photos his ears are on me the entire time. I'm confused about how his poll is not the highest point of his neck even though he's slightly before the vertical. Can someone explain that?





We did some more serpentines and circles and then I was just so happy I jumped off, right in the middle of her filming. She said, "I just took a film of you dismounting!" I said, "Great, I don't have one of those!"


I dismount differently - I kick both feet out of the stirrups, put a hand on his neck and a hand on the saddle, and vault to the ground. You can see Mag is not used to my way here.

I rubbed him and praised him and loosened the saddle and took out the bit and told him he's the best horse ever, and then we put him in one of their elephant paddocks (truly, like the fencing at the zoo) and he leaned his head on the top rail...

....and fell asleep as we drank our coffee.

This is in contrast to last March my visit here with Mara, such a horrible day. Tami and I worked Mara for 2 hours in their roundpen with ground work and then riding but she was unable to control her fears. She was unable to accept a treat from the saddle. Then we finally left her in the roundpen and went in the house for coffee, and Mara suddenly started galloping full blast around the roundpen non stop for no apparent reason to the point where we had to come out and try to stop her because she was gonna take the place down. I was perplexed and absolutely clueless to what could cause her to do that after so often being there, but she was never calm there.

Mag drank the bucket of water that T always brings him. Room service!

I helped T set up her new grazing strip, she's like me, she only lets them graze tiny portions of the pasture all Summer.

Coffee finished, I hugged her and thanked her and asked her to send me the photo she took of my first "alone ride" on Mag in Nordrhein Westfalen.

She said it's not necessary that I pay her, because I offered today, and that I should come more often. But she often says that but it doesn't work out for odd reasons. 

But today I learned Mag might actually be the horse I thought I bought.

And that gives me hope.