When I last checked in about my project horse Aero, he was gaining a bit of weight and grasping the concept of hacking. His ridden work was interrupted by some awful Kentucky weather– snow, mud, frozen mud, more mud, etc– and so when I got the chance to spend several weeks in Ocala, Aero and friends found themselves stuffed in a trailer headed south.
Unfortunately, we had a few setbacks– the stress of shipping upset his tummy again, and all his hard-earned weight gain slipped off. And the frozen Kentucky mud had bruised Aero’s right front foot, resulting in a week off with an inconvenient abscess. Thankfully he’s been drinking well and his appetite is back, and he’s absolutely thrilled with the sandy pits everywhere in his paddock: rolling is his #1 favorite leisure activity, accompanied by much moaning and groaning. His haircut is a little blotchy, as he was terrified of the body clippers, but by the end of it he stood just fine even for his face and behind his ears.
Now that Aero’s over all that, I’ve been able to start a bit of real schooling. I lunge him before I get on, to get his back warmed up and get him in a working frame of mind. I snap on the sidereins for a few minutes of trot work, to teach him about contact while letting him find his own balance. Lunging can be hit-or-miss with OTTBs…some are well-started in the round pen, some have no clue what to do at the end of a 30′ rope. Thankfully, Aero seemed familiar with the idea and especially the word “Whoa.”
Aero is one of those horses who likes to be inverted– running around with head up looking around, back dropped stiffly, body thrown hither and thither. Lunging in sidereins has helped soften his jaw, let him focus and relax; this has transferred under saddle quite well. He is starting to accept the bit and yield willingly to the aids, instead of instinctively bracing against hand or leg. Unlike many OTTBs, he naturally wants to bend right, and less supple to the left, so we spend lots of time at the walk gently flexing left and spiraling in/out on a left circle. At this point, he can only achieve about half a circle at the trot with proper bend, but I’m encouraged by his willingness to try and even when he may be confused, he rarely gets frustrated.
Our rides are mostly focused at the walk and trot for now, as he gets more solid in bend, change of bend, and maintaining rhythm. We canter just enough to establish proper leads, perhaps a circle in each direction; he’s still quite stiff and braced at the canter, and he doesn’t know how to move off the leg well enough at walk/trot for me to expect much at canter. To avoid boredom, he’s trotted over poles, and even a tiny cross-rail, with good confidence and a “Sure, why not?” attitude. I can’t say much about his style just yet, but the willingness is certainly there. Aero hacks out in this unfamiliar place with interest, and despite a couple baby spooks at aggressive dogs and thrashing squirrels in palm trees, he settles right back down to a flat-footed walk.
My hope is to have him ready for a beginner novice event later this spring. It seems an ambitious goal, as he’s hardly jumped yet, but I think his willingness to learn will allow him to progress steadily.
The video shown below is from his third ride on the flat. We still have a lot of work to do! (And I need to quit dropping my inside shoulder and pick my hands up!)
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