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NRHA dreams and a reining pintaloosa

5K views 41 replies 10 participants last post by  southernbound 
#1 ·
So rather than continuing to spread topics all over the forum I figured id just start a journey to track progress. The lovely boy below is Genuine Rambler. He is by Genuine As Diamonds and out of a grade (APHA/APHC) mare (she is ALS pictured below). Long story short, he was always a very athletic but difficult colt, so when he turned two we sent him off to professional trainer with no thought given to his bloodlines. I just wanted a broke horse. A couple of weeks later I got a call from the trainer asking if I knew anything about his breeding. I told her of course and why? After a long conversation about his parentage and his apparent athleticism she asked if id considered him as a reining prospect. We talked it over and I told her to do what hes good at. Well hes been backed a little over a month now and has a running fan club of people that watch his training sessions. He has a stop on him you wouldn't believe, rolls back flawlessly, has a low head set and is just generally a beautiful mover. His trainers think we have a really good shot in the NRHA so that's the goal. Im taking reining lessons on more experienced horses until hes much more seasoned. Im hoping to take him to the futurity next year :). This journal is to document the journey!
 

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#9 ·
So! As you can see in the background, most of our world is still under water and it was SLICK under that sand, so no loping or stopping but finally got a video. Sorry it's just trotting :\ This was his 28th ride or thereabouts. Aaaand post bath pictures. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D-y6YpjDofg&feature=youtu.be
 

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#13 ·
I got to ride my boy for the first time today! He was great, super soft in the face and chiiillll. Borderline lazy and really seems like hes going to have a big stop. Also his first (willing) trailer ride! The only other times hes been in a trailer was as a foal and then when we had to chute him in to get him to the trainers. He loads like a champ now!
 

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#14 ·
My sweet boy is coming home Wednesday! I will have a plethora of pictures and adventures to report then but in the mean time, enjoy baby Rambler.
 

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#16 ·
Today was my boys last day in full time training (until spring anyways). As much as I hate this picture with all my fluffy clothes, this is me on him. Took him home and the mares took him back as if he was never gone. At least that went smoothly! Right now with the saddle I'm right at 23% of his body weight and that's a bit out of my comfort zone for such a young horse, so for now rides will be short sweet and to the point and then we will take educational walks to scary places. Glad to have my boy home.
 

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#17 ·
Yesterday I thought I would work his Highness so I went to the barn, grabbed him and took him to the poll. Apparently being back with his mares has been a bit much for his baby brain so he went nuts and would NOT stand still at the post. He knows better than to pull but he yo-yoed back and forth, calling at the barn and generally making a fuss so I decided his time was better served coming to terms with his new lot in life.

He spent a few hours tied to the post of wisdom, had a short ride and then spent some more time thinking and then went back to the barn for a lovely dinner. I wasn't prepared for herd-boundness so soon after coming home, that's getting nipped right in the bud.
 
#18 ·
I apologize for another pictureless post, but today pictures were the last thing on my mind. Rambler and I had to have a come to Jesus meeting. I went out at the crack of dawn and got him out of the barn, and he decided that being forced to leave his girls was a good excuse to push his shoulder into me and just generally be very disrespectful. I chased him off and did some ground work and got that fixed and then he was a nice boy for saddling. .....

and then I got on him. Everything was fine until the girls started to call from the barn and then I lost his attention and became nothing but an annoyance on his way to the barn and he started bucking. He got his baby butt worked off for the trouble and as soon as he was walking nicely and softly away from the barn I got off and he had a rest.

Later I worked with him on loading and that went very well. He now self loads into both the front and back of the 4 horse. All in all a scary but productive day. Tomorrow is his first trail ride, and that will be a picture heavy post!
 
#20 ·
On this episode of "Educational Walks-Rambler Meets The Highway".

So the desert ride didnt happen. Cursed weather. Today however, we worked in the arena a while and he was in an extra pleasant mood so I took him down the ditch bank to watch traffic on the highway. Im quite impressed, he was borderline bored. Just licking and chewing at all the semis and school buses and trucks. Feeling better about future trail rides for sure.
 

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#22 ·
Finally got to take that trail ride in the desert. He did GREAT. He was super calm about the other horse getting far ahead, he didnt spook or Balk at all. On the way out he wasn't digging walking through ruts but on the way back he did it like a pro. Really good experience all around.
 

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#23 ·
Oi ve. So with Rambler away at training I completely forgot about his rather extensive list of idiosyncrasies. For reference, our feeders are large industrial plastic shipping containers almost 4'x4'. An old picture is below to demonstrate. Now on to my night....

11pm- hear horses going nuts. Think the cougar is back, shine spotlight outside. No cougar, just Rambler who has let himself out of his stall. Put turd face back in stall, clip door and return to bed.

2 a.m.- hear God awful banging. Cant figure out what could be causing it. Hope it goes away.
2:10 a.m- banging hasn't stopped. Scream profanities and go outside to check. Rambler is standing IN his feeder, banging on the floor and rather enjoying himself. Remove side of feeder and lead him out. Return to bed.

4 a.m banging starts again. Pray its a bad dream.

4:15 go back to the barn and find the @*$& pintaloosa with his front feet in the feeder banging on the floor. Plan to call auction house first thing in the morning

4:20 remove 120lb feeder from stall. Cuss profusely at Rambler. Return to bed.

Sigh. Hes smart. Its driving me nuts.
 

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#24 ·
Great lesson today. The trainer showed me some things to make saddling better (he can be fidgety) and I took along one of his buddies so I could demonstrate my need bound situation at home so we worked on keeping his mind on me even with his girls around. He was a very good boy and I LOVE my trainer. She rocks.
 
#27 ·
I'll definitely be following this thread! Rambler is beautiful and such a cutie and I'd love to see how you two progress. I'm sorry to hear about your accident though. I hope that you're alright and will be healthy and be able to ride again soon!
Thank you! (I LOVE your avatar by the way). My car recieved significantly more damage than I did, nothing some Tylenol and a copious dose of Netflix won't fix.
 
#28 ·
On today's episode: Rambler Meets Fire

I had to burn some trash today (we're miles from a dumpsight) and it occurred to me that it might make a good lesson, so I took the boyo out of his stall and we watched it burn. He was very calm, but he was pretty stuck on me after that. He followed me from chore to chore all morning long after his halter was off.
 

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#29 ·
I apologize for disappearing. I spent most of December in Canada with my husbands family, and then when I came back I discovered that my trainer's husband had been offered a job across the state and they had up and moved that week! Crazy. Also my absence has convinced the turd that he can behave like a squirrel on crack and so I am desperately in need of a new trainer/reining instructor. When I find one that fits the bill, I shall return!
 
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