I have owned Cumani about a month now and I have kept riding to slow, easy work while he lets down from his racing career. He is a very gentle soul but alas! He is BIG (16.3hh) and he CAN run even though he wasn't all that keen on racing!
So I have done lots of long trotting sessions with him and yesterday I took him out for a ride around the block and decided (spur of the moment!) to ask him for a canter. If anything he is lazy not fizzy! Our roads are all dirt, cars give way to horses and the pavements are big, wide grassy stretches, most with well worn bridle paths for the horses.
So we had had a nice long solid trot for about 700 meters and as we rounded the bend there was a long strentch of freshly mowed lawn and I asked him for canter, kinda expecting him to blow his mind but he was smooth and collected and I haven't felt so exhillerated in years!
What a comfy canter too!
Further along I took him off the road along a trail that follows parallel to the road and gave him another nice canter along the flat. That horse feels grass under his hooves and he is "home"! But he stops when asked to and doesn't lose his mind like I half expected him to when I was told the horror stories of OTTBs. then when we got home he had a nice long canter up to the stables. We had a show on so it was a good test for him with strange horses around doing cross country!
I found the right horse for me
So I have done lots of long trotting sessions with him and yesterday I took him out for a ride around the block and decided (spur of the moment!) to ask him for a canter. If anything he is lazy not fizzy! Our roads are all dirt, cars give way to horses and the pavements are big, wide grassy stretches, most with well worn bridle paths for the horses.
So we had had a nice long solid trot for about 700 meters and as we rounded the bend there was a long strentch of freshly mowed lawn and I asked him for canter, kinda expecting him to blow his mind but he was smooth and collected and I haven't felt so exhillerated in years!
What a comfy canter too!
Further along I took him off the road along a trail that follows parallel to the road and gave him another nice canter along the flat. That horse feels grass under his hooves and he is "home"! But he stops when asked to and doesn't lose his mind like I half expected him to when I was told the horror stories of OTTBs. then when we got home he had a nice long canter up to the stables. We had a show on so it was a good test for him with strange horses around doing cross country!
I found the right horse for me