Post by DancingFeathers on Apr 16, 2015 22:47:50 GMT
In November of 2014 I bought a 13 year old Clydesdale mare that my trainer picked up at an auction in Ohio. When I got Rayna, she was skinny and scared. I couldn't touch her face. Saddling or blanketing her would cause her to panic and then shut down and tremble. She would attempt to buck under saddle as soon as I put leg on (I had her looked over top to bottom by vet and chiropractor, shes totally sound and pain free, bucking was considered behavioral) I tracked down her breeder and found out that she was a broodmare until she was 10, when they couldn't get her in foal anymore she was given to a therapeutic center for wounded war veterans where she was broke to ride and drive. I was never able to get in touch with the therapeutic center so I do not know what happened while she was there or if she had any other home before she ended up at auction.
Today I have a happy, fat, and sassy 14 year old clyde who I have spent the entire winter just getting to know and working very very little. Now we begin the next step in our journey together. I would like to use this thread as a place to share updates on her progress! Our showing goals are an intro level dressage show by middle of summer, ride a draft and showmanship at fair at the end of summer. Training goals are learning to bend properly, collect and extend properly and slowly increase canter work among other things. Shes a dynamite trail horse so there may be some hunter paces thrown in too. I do have a trainer to consult with, but I am doing the majority of the work with her myself.
Here is a video from Sunday, first time riding her in the outdoor (we were confined to the tiny indoor during the bad weather of new york winters) and the day that I really consider to be the beginning of her "real" training.
This is us on Tuesday, her first time trotting over more then one pole consecutively.
And today, I see a big difference already, and I hope that it's not just in my mind! We even cantered today, just 5 or 6 steps, but it was our first time ever and it was a big proud mommy moment for me!!
After all of the ongoing confidence issues I had with my old mare (who I ended up giving to my very good friend in Kentucky and they are doing wonderfully together) it's really really nice to have a horse that I thoroughly enjoy riding and look forward to riding!
Today I have a happy, fat, and sassy 14 year old clyde who I have spent the entire winter just getting to know and working very very little. Now we begin the next step in our journey together. I would like to use this thread as a place to share updates on her progress! Our showing goals are an intro level dressage show by middle of summer, ride a draft and showmanship at fair at the end of summer. Training goals are learning to bend properly, collect and extend properly and slowly increase canter work among other things. Shes a dynamite trail horse so there may be some hunter paces thrown in too. I do have a trainer to consult with, but I am doing the majority of the work with her myself.
Here is a video from Sunday, first time riding her in the outdoor (we were confined to the tiny indoor during the bad weather of new york winters) and the day that I really consider to be the beginning of her "real" training.
This is us on Tuesday, her first time trotting over more then one pole consecutively.
And today, I see a big difference already, and I hope that it's not just in my mind! We even cantered today, just 5 or 6 steps, but it was our first time ever and it was a big proud mommy moment for me!!
After all of the ongoing confidence issues I had with my old mare (who I ended up giving to my very good friend in Kentucky and they are doing wonderfully together) it's really really nice to have a horse that I thoroughly enjoy riding and look forward to riding!
