(no subject)
A few months ago I posted about taking my mare to the AWS inspection, and I wanted to follow that up since a couple people asked that I do so. Under the cut are tons of pics; I decided to go ahead and tell the story of my mare for those who were interested. It makes the inspection that much more special. :)
If you're feeling TL;DR, then there are bunches of inspection pics after the text.
I bought Breeze last summer (one year ago May 26th) after she came into the hospital for sand colic. OMG I IZ KRAYZEE. I saw her and she was about 250 lbs underweight, but something about her was just magnetic to me.
At the time, she was with a cow horse trainer, and they'd broken (literally) her to saddle. The owner who brought her in told me to catch him in a week or two when she was healthier, and that's what I did. We went out for a test ride, and I found her to be very sensitive, jittery, and tense. I chocked it up to a super windy day and a super green broke horse. Went to the round pen and free lunged her a bit (stupid, stupid) and she took off at a dead run. I could NOT stop this horse, she had a meltdown of nervousness. But when she calmed enough to canter and trot, my mind said "This one".
And I listened.
When I had her vet checked at the hospital, everyone thought I was insane. Here was an enormously underweight mare with a dull coat and stringy mane and tail, and I was spending hard earned moolah on her. I knew there was more under this horse's skin.
Then we got her home. She lost her mind. Rearing, breaking halters, taking off with me on her back; she was a bad, bad horse. Laura came out and had a session with her that, well, got ugly. It ended up with me on the phone with the boarding manager until MIDNIGHT explaining that the mare had not been hurt and had been rearing on her own. We kept her in a stall to keep her from going over, and it worked. We pulled her from the boarding place to a friend's private property three days later.
I want to interject here and say that at this point we were very suspicious of her behavior. I had already noticed spur scars down her sides, but the more we worked with her the more we uncovered. She was PETRIFIED of her ear/forelock area being touched. I recalled the western owner bringing in another horse who would NOT let you touch her ears. It was definitely a left side dominant response, too. Ear twitching became the obvious conclusion. She was also insanely sensitive to shots, at which point we were able to figure out that they had doped her constantly in order to break her. This little mare had been through a hell of a lot.
At first, Breeze loved the new place. It was more quiet and for the first time, she relaxed. For the first time, I could bond with her. I discovered a sweet, cuddly, lovable horse and I gave her everything I could. Then it started to get worse. I had to have her removed from the paddock with my friend's mare because my friend's mare was attacking her. That ruffled my friend's feathers, and she put my mare in the paddock with no grass (winter) and fed her sporadically at best. The final straw was when she left the nylon halter on Breeze so tight and for so long that it rubbed her face raw. A week later, we were at Laura's.
Breeze's personality exploded. She was genuinely playful and funny, and loved her new life living in a stall. She became talkative, energetic, and willing to learn. Laura began lunging her and training her, and despite a few dramatic moments from Breeze, now is riding her over jumps with Breeze enthusiastically learning. We trained for MONTHS for the inspection, practicing braiding, the triangle, handling her in stressful situations, and generally working like crazy. When we made it there and Breeze was perfect, my heart exploded with pride. She was relaxed, sweet, and forgiving. She was certainly alert and aware of the other horses and the newness, but for once she was tuned in to what I was asking and she was giving. It was truly the pinnacle for me to come so far with this mare. So, without further ado, pictures.
The day after we bought her.
One of my first times working with her. She flipped herself over backwards about five minutes later.
At my friend's place, beginning to love me back and start to get a new attitude towards work.
We move to Laura's, and suddenly I have a vibrant, athletic, happy mare.
And then we get to the inspection. She is in perfect condition, and so shiny I could practically see my reflection on her coat.
One of my favorite things to discover was that her mouth is NOT dull in the least. She is sensitive and willing to yield at the drop of a hat.
She stood with me, relaxed and happy, as I listened to the judge give us a rundown of what to expect.
Just taking a walk because I was enjoying her so much.
Watching some other people go.
Watching yet others arrive.
Getting a little closer to the competition.
Relaxing and enjoying one another.
I just thought it was a good picture.
Playing with my whip while we wait at the in gate.
Standing up for the judge for the first time.
Standing up again after we'd done the triangle.
Leaving the ring together.
And we won!!
We ended up being the highest scoring horse at the inspection, out of mares, geldings, stallions, and foals. It was an amazing feeling.
If you're feeling TL;DR, then there are bunches of inspection pics after the text.
I bought Breeze last summer (one year ago May 26th) after she came into the hospital for sand colic. OMG I IZ KRAYZEE. I saw her and she was about 250 lbs underweight, but something about her was just magnetic to me.
At the time, she was with a cow horse trainer, and they'd broken (literally) her to saddle. The owner who brought her in told me to catch him in a week or two when she was healthier, and that's what I did. We went out for a test ride, and I found her to be very sensitive, jittery, and tense. I chocked it up to a super windy day and a super green broke horse. Went to the round pen and free lunged her a bit (stupid, stupid) and she took off at a dead run. I could NOT stop this horse, she had a meltdown of nervousness. But when she calmed enough to canter and trot, my mind said "This one".
And I listened.
When I had her vet checked at the hospital, everyone thought I was insane. Here was an enormously underweight mare with a dull coat and stringy mane and tail, and I was spending hard earned moolah on her. I knew there was more under this horse's skin.
Then we got her home. She lost her mind. Rearing, breaking halters, taking off with me on her back; she was a bad, bad horse. Laura came out and had a session with her that, well, got ugly. It ended up with me on the phone with the boarding manager until MIDNIGHT explaining that the mare had not been hurt and had been rearing on her own. We kept her in a stall to keep her from going over, and it worked. We pulled her from the boarding place to a friend's private property three days later.
I want to interject here and say that at this point we were very suspicious of her behavior. I had already noticed spur scars down her sides, but the more we worked with her the more we uncovered. She was PETRIFIED of her ear/forelock area being touched. I recalled the western owner bringing in another horse who would NOT let you touch her ears. It was definitely a left side dominant response, too. Ear twitching became the obvious conclusion. She was also insanely sensitive to shots, at which point we were able to figure out that they had doped her constantly in order to break her. This little mare had been through a hell of a lot.
At first, Breeze loved the new place. It was more quiet and for the first time, she relaxed. For the first time, I could bond with her. I discovered a sweet, cuddly, lovable horse and I gave her everything I could. Then it started to get worse. I had to have her removed from the paddock with my friend's mare because my friend's mare was attacking her. That ruffled my friend's feathers, and she put my mare in the paddock with no grass (winter) and fed her sporadically at best. The final straw was when she left the nylon halter on Breeze so tight and for so long that it rubbed her face raw. A week later, we were at Laura's.
Breeze's personality exploded. She was genuinely playful and funny, and loved her new life living in a stall. She became talkative, energetic, and willing to learn. Laura began lunging her and training her, and despite a few dramatic moments from Breeze, now is riding her over jumps with Breeze enthusiastically learning. We trained for MONTHS for the inspection, practicing braiding, the triangle, handling her in stressful situations, and generally working like crazy. When we made it there and Breeze was perfect, my heart exploded with pride. She was relaxed, sweet, and forgiving. She was certainly alert and aware of the other horses and the newness, but for once she was tuned in to what I was asking and she was giving. It was truly the pinnacle for me to come so far with this mare. So, without further ado, pictures.
The day after we bought her.
One of my first times working with her. She flipped herself over backwards about five minutes later.
At my friend's place, beginning to love me back and start to get a new attitude towards work.
We move to Laura's, and suddenly I have a vibrant, athletic, happy mare.
And then we get to the inspection. She is in perfect condition, and so shiny I could practically see my reflection on her coat.
One of my favorite things to discover was that her mouth is NOT dull in the least. She is sensitive and willing to yield at the drop of a hat.
She stood with me, relaxed and happy, as I listened to the judge give us a rundown of what to expect.
Just taking a walk because I was enjoying her so much.
Watching some other people go.
Watching yet others arrive.
Getting a little closer to the competition.
Relaxing and enjoying one another.
I just thought it was a good picture.
Playing with my whip while we wait at the in gate.
Standing up for the judge for the first time.
Standing up again after we'd done the triangle.
Leaving the ring together.
And we won!!
We ended up being the highest scoring horse at the inspection, out of mares, geldings, stallions, and foals. It was an amazing feeling.