Three weeks ago we started Boris - our 9-year-old Polish Arabian gelding - under saddle, his hooves finally having grown out enough to be trimmed properly and reshod. We'd been working him in the arena, hand-walking, lunging, long-lining, surcingle & passoa (sp?). He spooks at nearly everything on the ground, especially the white plastic mounting block. If I move it, he jumps. If I bang it, he jumps. If he accidentally kicks it, he jumps (in spades). For about a week we rode him at a walk around the arena.

Two weeks ago after lunging, long-lining, and riding him about the arena a bit, our trainer suggested that I take him around the block with my wife on her horse Valentine. I was surprised - I thought that the first time I took him on the street she would want him hand-walked with a stud chain, but he was fine.

Last Tuesday morning I went over there to work him a little bit, but the trainer decided I should work him a little harder. Well, as we were warming up in the arena he spooked big-time near the dumpster and started spinning and jumping. I came out of the saddle, then back in. That is, almost back in. I landed my tailbone on the cantle - the raised back of the saddle - and it's still really, really sore. This was one of those situations where, looking back on it three days later, and wincing in the chair as I do, I think it might have been better to have fallen off. Ah, well! The trainer was happy that I stayed on top of him, but had no sympathy. We spent about half an hour doing twenty-meter circles: trot, canter, trot, canter.

Thursday morning I figured I'd go work him a little bit, knowing that the trainer wouldn't be there to make it a long, hard session. I long-lined him for a while, then brought him over to the mounting block to get on; I don't need to use the block, but my wife does and he needs to get used to it. I got on and everything was fine till I asked him to walk forward. He kicked the mounting block and spooked. Then he swung around and kicked it again, and spooked worse than on Tuesday. He squatted down on his haunches and ran backwards, then spun around, ran sideways - you name it, he did it. I've had people tell me that Arabians don't jump from one spot to another; they dematerialize in the first spot and rematerialize in the second, usually without the rider. I nearly fell, and only stayed on him by grabbing his neck and hauling myself back into the saddle. When he finally stopped a friend of mine who was watching the whole spectacle said, "Nice job of staying on top!"

Anyway, we mainly walked and trotted serpentines. I tried cantering once, but decided that it hurt too much. I hope that I feel better by the time the rain stops - maybe next Wednesday or Thursday.

Every day an adventure with Boris. But once I get him in shape I think he'll be a great endurance horse; he certainly has energy to spare. Riding him is completely different from riding Valentine and Khaleel. I haven't quite bonded with him as I've done with Khaleel, but I think I might when he finally learns to trust me, and I trust him to trust me.

 

Great write up! Arabians really do seem to dematerialize and then rematerialize where you least expect them. You won't see me trying to ride Boris!

 

Well, it's ten months later, and Boris is doing fantastically well. He kept reinjuring his left foreleg, but a couple of (very patient) months of just walking him in the arena seems to have done the trick: he's been trotting for two months now and cantering for another month without any new swelling.

A few of the ladies at the barn have ridden him a bit around the arena and the consensus is that they really like him. He's very responsive - almost touchy.

I've been ponying him off Khaleel and Valentine - riding one of the other horses whilst leading Boris with a halter and lead rope - and he's done quite well. Although this gets Boris exercised it does nothing to reinforce his training under saddle, so for the last week I've been having Boris pony Khaleel and Valentine: first in the arena (a controlled, safe - well, relatively safe - environment) and then around the block with Khaleel, then in the arena with Val.

Last week Boris was introduced to sleigh bells. I saddled him, then tied four bells to the saddle: one at each corner. He doesn't mind the bells on the saddle, but when I dropped on on the ground he pulled back at the rail and snapped another buckle on his lead rope. Apart from making it sound like Christmastime, the nicest thing about the sleigh bells is that they allow you to have the trails all to yourself as you scare all the other horses away.

Today our trainer - Krista - wanted me to pony Val off Boris with obstacles - cavalletti made from 4" square plastic pipe - in the arena to try to get Boris spooked; this way I can determine what he will do under these circumstances. He was doing fine - not spooking at anything - when Val decided to step over one of the cavalletti. She kicked it with one of her hind hooves, knocking it over with a loud noise and spooking Boris big-time. He took off sideways and even though I stopped him within a couple of strides I had to drop Val's lead rope or I would have been yanked out of the saddle.

After that Krista let Val run around the arena while Boris and I worked on him going over cavalletti. The first time he jumped as if he were clearing a 3' fence instead of a 4" pipe. After another six or eight passes he trotted over without too much excitement, and when we approached from the other side he handled that pretty well, too. In fact, on his last pass he clipped the cavalletto with his hoof and didn't skyrocket.

Next week I'll have Boris pony Khaleel out on trail. Should that go well, I'll have him pony Val next.

All-in-all, he's becoming a darned good horse. I look forward to getting him out on trail alone - oooh, scary! - then starting to do some real work getting us both in shape for endurance riding.

 

Horses are good eating. Worthless otherwise in this day and age -- although I see pictures on the Internet that sometimes indicate a second use.

 

Last winter a blizzard in Northern California made it impossible for the USPS to deliver mail with its trucks. Members of the Pony Express Society delivered mail on horseback. That hardly qualifies as worthless.

 

LMAO

 

Wednesday was the day: Boris and I went around the Broadmoor neighborhood - 3 or 4 miles - solo. Apart from being very jiggy and sliding to a stop from a trot because of a stick in the trail, he did a great job. Friday we did it again, this time going around Irvine Park, about 6 or 7 miles. This one was scarier because there were a number of spooky objects - debris - on the trails we used. The only real problems were rubber erosion strips on one steep trail over shich he decided to jump: not so bad going uphill, definitely sporty going downhill. (Sporty: as in, "HALO jumping is sporty.")

This guy's going to make a great endurance horse, and he may cut his teeth, as it were, in a few ride-and-tie events over the next few months.