Desert Horses

Welcome to my horse blog, Desert Horses. We live in the desert southwest, near Palm Springs, CA, but board our horses up in our local mountains where it is cooler in the summer. I have 4 horses, all rescues. Here is the ranch up the mountains where the horses stay.

Friday, October 8, 2010

Quad's progress


I have a trainer working with Quad. I wanted somebody to take him out before riding him myself. GOOD THING! Two weeks ago, she saddled him, put her foot in the stirrup, and he went straight up! He reared. Then he took off sideways. Apparently he's never had a regular-sized person on him and isn't used to legs dangling down on his side! So, she's gradually getting him used to stirrups flopping on him and pressure from a full-sized human! Here he is on Tuesday. He looks pretty ho-hum, but don't let that fool you! He's got ENERGY! So, his retraining continues. More updates next week!

6 comments:

Unknown said...

How long had it been since he has been ridden? Good thing you brought in a pro!

Cheryl Ann said...

He hasn't been ridden for a year. I had injured my back in a riding accident (I fell off a horse) and I've been laid up until now.

Cactus Jack Splash said...

Quad auntie Syndi says to be a good boy for your mom!
Adjusting to a different saddle and a different way of riding can be had for OTTBs sometimes. Quad is smart and you have good help, he should come around quickly.

lisa said...

Good for you. I had my boy taken to a trainer to put him under saddle but I should have someone work with him a little more in the saddle because after my spill I have been really leary of doing any riding on him!

Rebecca said...

Something I tried in the past, was to stuff an old pair of jeans with straw and dirt and tie it to the saddle with the "legs" hanging where a person's legs would. Then after some lunging, the horse gets used to the feel of legs on its sides. I did that with my first OTTB and it worked great, seems weird, but hey :)

Anonymous said...

Very good idea! Will be interested to read about his progress!