Working On Steering

Rio and I have a new goal. Working on steering and standing still. He doesn't like to stand still and he's not so great at steering (as evidenced by some of our sideways jumps over cross-rails yesterday). Still, it's fun jumping him. He also doesn't like to start up again, once he's done working for a bit. I got there for my lesson a little early and after trotted around for a bit we stopped so another student could jump. Once she was done and we tried to start up again, he was not pleased and started in on his naughty tricks again.

Rio's History

I finally got a hold of the woman, Pat, who gave Rio to Alicia Gaarder to sell. Alicia was who sold Rio to Cindy (his previous owner). Cindy was who I bought Rio from. Turns out Rio's name used to be "Yoyo" and that he was owned by a woman named Pat for 4-5 years before he was sold to Cindy (who had him for 3 years). Before that he was used by an older guy in MN for trial riding. So, he's not from Montana and not - nor never was - a registered quarter horse. If he's 13 now, which was what the equine dentist said, that means he was 10 when Cindy bought him, and he was 5 or 6 when Pat bought him. Used as a trail horse for most of his life and as only had training within the past year.

Time for Heavy Sheets and Winter Blankets

It has officially gotten cold enough in MN for Rio to need his heaviest blanket. Luckily with his new haircut he cooled off quickly so that I didn't have to worry about him being too sweaty when I put it on him. He was so funny once he was cooled off and I put the blanket on him. He kept trying to see if I had more "noms" and treats for him, so he wouldn't sit still long enough to get a good photo of his new "clean" blanket.

Rio's Trace Clip

After Rio got his teeth done on Friday I thought it would be a good time for me to clip him. I wasn't really expecting him to be naughty that I needed him to be doped up while clipping him, but it seemed like an easy thing to do. I tried to use this technique that I read about in a Knack Book on grooming where you use tape to mark your lines on where you're going to clip. It was a good idea in theory, but once Rio started to wake up the tape didn't really stay in place. In the end he got a higher trace clip than I had intended to give him, but it still looked pretty good. It'll be interesting to see how long it takes for him to cool off tonight after our lesson.

Rio Get's His Teeth Done

Rio Get's His Teeth Done

The Equine Dentist came to the barn yesterday and Rio got his teeth done. They gave him a dose of "sleepy pony" and put the face thing on and I got to put my whole forearm into his mouth and feel his teeth. They were really interesting. I was expecting to feel these ridges and sharp points from the way horses chew their food. Not the case. The teeth were all bumpy and had a lot of ridges and almost no sharp points. When the dentist started Rio was still pretty wiggly, so they had to give him a second dose. Even with that apparently he still tried to chew a lot and moved him mouth around, hence all the blood in the photos above. After the dentists were all done his teeth felt much nicer. No odd ridges or bumps...just smoothness. It'll be interesting to see how Rio rides after this because since he has some mouth sensitivity the dentist said that this would probably help. I also asked them if they could confirm an age for me, since the seller said 11 and the vet said 12-15. The dentist said that Rio is probably closest to 13. So...13 he is. See the video of the dentist at work.

Planning Rio's Haircut

Rio has still been getting pretty sweaty. Not nearly as much as before since he's lost some weight, but it still takes quite a while for him to cool off. After careful consideration I've decided to give my hairy beast (see bottom photo above of Rio in his cooling sheet how hairy his neck is) a low trace clip (see "Figure 6" illustration above at the top). The photo in the middle is Rio after having worn his cooler for about 45-50mins and having it removed. It was cool, but still pretty wet by the girth, belly, top of the legs and chest.

Lesson with Rio - 11/2010 (2)

Lesson with Rio - 11/2010

Rio Gets New Blankets

It was starting to get colder and Rio's hair was starting to get pretty long. I realized that I would have to get him blankets pretty quickly, otherwise he'd be a shaggy guy. Plus, he still sweats a decent amount when working and I wanted him to not take an eternity to cool off. He got 3 new blankets, one lightweight, one medium weight (pictured), and one heavy weight.

Mark & Rio

Mark & Rio
October 9, 2010 - Square Lake Farm, Stillwater, MN

Horse Kisses

October 8, 2010
Bringing Rio in from the pasture.

Still Hot To Trot

Went out to the barn last night around 5ish. Saddled Rio up, he's much more comfortable in the grooming stall now. No nervous poo's at all. Plus, Nike was also getting groomed, so it was like he had a buddy to reassure him that things were cool.

We headed into the ring, took a walking lap and mounted up. He's excellent at making his belly HUGE so that the girth barely fits, so the lap forces him to stop giving me "big belly." We pretty much did the same things that we did yesterday. Lots of walking, some trotting down the long sides. He was so tot to trot that I thought perhaps I'd let him work out some energy, so I let him trot into the corners and a short side a couple of times. So it was like we almost made a lap, but didn't. Then we'd walk a lap and trot some more. I barely had to ask for a trot and he takes off like a bat out of hell. It is a really fast trot. There were a couple of times when it was slower and really nice, but those moments were fleeting.

I couldn't tell if he wanted to go so fast cause 1) he was excited and the ground was comfortable for him to move on, so he had a lot of energy, 2) he was still a little scared about being in the ring, 3) he was trying to show off for Nike and Vinny (but he did this last time, so I think that this is unlikely) or 4) maybe his front left foreleg is still tender and it's more comfortable for him if he goes fast as opposed to a normal trot.

Anyway, since he seemed to really want to haul ass, I decided that since he had been a reasonably good boy that I'd let him throw in a little canter stride. So we trotted down the long side (tracking left) and I moved my leg back and told him it was okay to canter and he threw his head down and did a little buck! What a jerk! So after he was unsuccessful in getting rid of me, we went and tried it again, no buck this time, but no canter either...tossed head down and gave me attitude. We tried it once more, and then changed direction (now tracking right). We tried it again, and same response. Very rude! No more bucks, but was totally tossing his head around and making it very clear he didn't want to go. So, at this point, I thought that since we were fighting and battling for who was boss that I had to win and make him canter. I decided we'd try it one more time and as we turned to go down the long side, he stopped and started backing up. What a little snot. So we had a little fight about going forward and I won. So we walked around the ring one lap. I figured that since he was being such a brat about cantering that I didn't want to piss him off and risk him hurting himself and possibly me. In the end, no canter but we did keep moving. I think that we're tied in the struggle of who's boss so far.

Go Speed Racer!

I snuck out to the barn today between my classes (2:15-6) after my tax midterm. Rio was out in the pasture, munching away and made his way over to me as I came in to get him. We headed to the barn and into the grooming stall. There was only 1 nervous poo and he was pretty calm. After he got tacked up we headed into the ring. We took a lap around on foot, just to remind him we'd been there before and it wasn't scary. Then we headed over the mounting block where I noticed he had been giving me a huge belly so his girth would be loose. After tightening the girth I hopped on and we went about our program for the day: walk warm up, trot the long sides, walk in the corners and the short sides. The walk warm up went just fine. But when we got to the trot, Rio wanted to GO...and to go FAST. =) I had to convince him to stop trotting at the end of each long side, to which he responded ("Are you sure? Cause I can canter...really, I can...see...look, a canter step!") But we held it together and only did the trotting. After about 20-25mins we stopped cause I needed to be able to get back to class on time. He was sweaty but seemed like he had a good time. When he was cleaned up I put him in his stall to munch on hay while waiting for dinner.

OH, and I weighed him with the weight tape...I think it must be wrong, cause he's huge (not just fat, I mean he's a big horse), and the weight tape said that he was 1,135lbs.

Nervous About Being In The Ring

Brought Rio into the barn this afternoon around 2pm. He was not a huge fan of standing in the grooming stalls and was doing a lot of nervous pooping. So I decided instead of tacking him up and riding him, that we'd take a stroll around the ring. We walked around in both directions, in figure eights, across the diagonals, and big circles at the end of the ring. We sniffed the walls, the jumps, poles, and fake plants. Rio still did a lot of nervous pooping in the ring, which made cleaning up after him a real delight. After about 35mins of walking around I decided to let him sniff around the barn. We made a couple of laps and then went back into the grooming stall. He settled down considerably and seemed a lot less nervous (until I snuck out to the truck to get something...then he nervous pooped while I was gone). He didn't seem super excited about the goop I put on his tendons, but he survived. After about an hour and 45min of dinking around, I put him back out in pasture when we were done.

First Time In New Stall

Oh My God, My Horse Is So Cute...

He has food in his mouth in every photo. I'm totally in love with him.

Getting Into The Trailer Sideways

Picked up Rio yesterday around 3:18pm. His "mom" and her husband were grazing him in the good grass and saying good bye. After we took care of the paperwork we walked Rio to the trailer. He wasn't totally naughty about getting in, but he kept trying to get in sideways/diagonal. When he finally got in the trailer we backed him up into his stall in the trailer. He was taking very nervous back steps. Apparently he must have been loaded on trailers where horses can step off the back and he was worried he was gonna fall. Once we finally got him in he got a big apple for being a good boy and headed back to the farm.

Rio (From Square Lake Farm's YouTube Page)

Rio Gets Moving

This is video of my trainer, Michelle Mann, riding Rio before I got on. Taking him through his paces so I could see how he moves with a rider. This was his second time EVER jumping. He's very willing and excited about it. Cute, cute, cute. When I got on him afterward he did some very cute things after the jumps...getting all rowdy and excited cause he was having fun (at 7:05 in the Youtube Video Above).

Meet Rio

Meet Rio. He's an 11 year old quarter horse gelding. He's a generous 15.3hh (possibly 16hh). Born in Montana, he's been in Minnesota for the past 6 years and in Stillwater, MN for the past 3. He's had a year of dressage training, but was primarily a trail horse who lived in a pasture all the time (hence why he has a big ol' belly). Also, once upon a time he was a registered quarter horse with the American Quarter Horse Association (AQHA), but apparently somewhere along the lines his papers got "lost." Though, if I can find them again, I can get him re-registered. We met for the first time yesterday, September 27, 2010 at 4pm. After his owner and my trainer saddled him up we headed out into the ring for a test-ride.