Missing the little horse that could...

Here recently I have spent a lot of time thinking about Pass. Though I have no idea why he keeps coming up, I know that he was easily one of the best things that happened to me.

Do I regret selling him? Sometimes.

Could I have realistically kept him? At the time...no.

Its still an idea I toy with every now and then. I guess we are all allowed to play the evil game of "what if?" but sometimes it can be very frustrating. He was a talented little booger and I'm fairly certain I could have moved him up the levels without much trouble...but I also knew he wasn't the right horse for me.
He was far too sane. He was nothing like Teagan, or the new guy, Mugger. I knew he was better suited helping teach the masses of young riders and I hope that is what he is happily doing now.
He was also just a little guy...and typically this wouldn't be an issue, but I tend to prefer the 16.2hh steed, and his little compact 15.3hh body just never took up my leg as it should. So yes, he belongs with the little people.

For those of you wondering...I keep track of where he is as best as I can. He has passed hands a couple times since I sold him in July 2011.

He will always be my first, and greatest success of turning a problem horse to a happy work horse. It's hard to forget the pawing, dancing idiot creating a headache for everyone in the aisle at SMWC who turned in child-carrying lope-around animal who won the hearts of many a young girl at kid's camp. All within 3 months...go Pass.

What a cool horse.

Pass: The Kids Camp Pony

I never thought the day would come when I'd get to write that title.

Last week, Pass became the horse he was never, ever, in a million years, expected to be...below is a quick recap of the week.

Monday: Pass was still a virgin in the world of schoolhorse-dom. He met and greeted 11 kids as I tacked him up for a quick ride during lunch break. I learned he didn't mind kids petting, loving and running around him. Awesome.

Tuesday: Pass free jumps for the kids. This was mostly just for me, so I could see just what kind of jumper I was dealing with. He made it up to 4'6". Who knew he was such a little athlete?

After his free-jumping debut, I decided he could be a good match for the oldest camper, Brooklynn, who is 13 and a very good rider. So after his lunch break Brooklynn tacked him up, pink saddle pad and all, and took him out to the ring for a little flatting and jumping. He handled it like a pro and was even lazy as Brooklynn had to carry a crop to keep him moving forward. She jumped him around 2' for the first day and he looked like a little hunter pony.

Wednesday: Pass got the day off. Lucky him.





Brooklynn jumping and cantering Pass for the first time.

Thursday: Brooklynn rode Pass again, we worked on bounces and she jumped him 3'. Once again, he was a perfect angel for her. Pass also became a demo horse in the barn. We taught the kids how to do standing wraps, treat a "wound" (Pass had a fake boo-boo), worm a horse and even give a horse a shot (Pass got a shot of saline). He took all of this like a pro...even the shot.

Pass and Hallie, she was able to get him in a cute little frame at the walk :)

Friday: Pass got a new rider for the day. Hallie, who is 10, had been sharing a horse all week and since all the campers rode at once on Friday for their parents she needed a horse to play a couple games on. Pass seemed like the logical horse and was awesome. She even accidentally cantered on him :)

Pass with Brooklynn, Kaylan and Hallie.

Overall, I was shocked at just how well-behaved he was. I am now convinced that he could make a good first horse for a kid who wants to do hunters, and maybe even eventing.

This weekend Pass will travel to Hoosier Horse Park for the Leg Up schooling Horse Trials. We are competing in the Beginner Novice division, as he has never seen this cross country course and I want to ensure we have a positive experience. Wish us luck!

Friday:

Pass' first event!

Well...the first one is down and by most standards I would say it was a success! We competed at Novice level, which means the jump height maximum was 2'11". (Normally, I would not have choosen this height at our first eventing, but it was a schooling event and I knew that the height would probably not be at the maximum.)

Our dressage was decent, I would have been happy with more forward movement and better canter transitions, but overall we did well, scoring a 37.8, or 62.2%. Not terrible, this score put us in first.

(I will admit now it was a small event, only 3 people in my division, but like the previous show Pass and I went to, I'm not really competing against others, more than creating a positive experience and working to improve.)

Next was stadium. This was the portion I was most nervous about considering Pass and I had never done a whole course of fences above 2'6". However he jumped around like a pro, finding most of our distances without a problem. We did have one refusal, but I will ignore it as all 3 horses in the division refused this fence, due to a pole that was laying in the grass (which was kind of tall) at an angle sort of in front of the fence. I know Pass saw it and just jumped sideways like "what the heck?!?"

Finally, we got to go out on the cross-country course. He had recently schooled this course, but I was surprised to find that some of the larger obstacles were being used. We ended the course with 2 refusals.
        One due to his bright idea of coming up to a ditch with his nose in the air (he should know you can't see anything doing that)...it was no wonder the ditch just came out of nowhere!
        Our other refusal was basically a lack of communication. This skinny brush came about 5 strides after a large Trakhner placed over a ditch. I really drove Pass to this Trakhner because he had been a little questionable of it when schooling. When we landed we were flying and didn't quite make the right hand turn to the brush. Needless to say we scooted around it and I have to admit I may have been hanging off the side of him.
We finished a little over optimal time (probably due to me having to pull my fat butt back into the saddle)...but was otherwise successful!

Today, Pass goes on Dreamhorse.com. Hopefully I can find him a home soon! Everyone cross their fingers! Pass deserves a loving forever home :)

Crap...

Well I've been slacking on this, big time. Its been a busy few weeks and the lack of good internet at home is definitely limiting my activity. Not to mention, the internet has been consumed with job searching...ughhh.

Anywhos...let's catch up with the most important thing that has happened recently: Pass' first show.

Once again, Pass shocked me. We went to a small fun show, which I figured would be perfect to take him and see how he was going to act before I spent the big $$ for a show. He was an angel. Stood at the trailer between shows unaccompanied and unsupervised without any problems between classes. Where I was most proud of him though was in the ring...
Our dressage test was wonderful, we had a few issues with a corner of the arena at first because there were people sitting kind of hidden under some trees, but after some coaxing he got over it easily. The test was lovely with good movement and decent transitions. He stepped out of the ring once (one side was poles on the ground) but other than that it was great and he scored really well...ending up with a 62%. Below is a picture of my cute little dressage horse.

After dressage we did a couple hunter flat classes and of course Pass kicked some butt. If eventing doesn't work out he would be a great junior hunter and I fully anticipate taking him to a a couple hunter shows and doing the pre-green or adult-amateur classes. I was just hopeful he'd behaved and worked to make this a positive experience for him. It was a success.

Finally we did a few jumping classes. They only offered "jumper" classes up to 2'6" that were based on time and faults. I did not want to stress him by flying around a tiny indoor (it had started to rain). Therefore I settled back I rode the course like an equitation class and tried to keep him steady and get all of our leads. Due to the indoor being a little dark, the pictures did not turn out great, but I did get one that looks cute and shows our nice hunter silhouette. 

 We did not win these classes, however I was happy with Pass' performance. He maintained a good pace, found almost all his distances, and our leads were not terrible :) Overall, I was a happy mom.

Other than the show, there's not really any other news beside my maitenence of Pass. This has came in the form of dental work for his hillbilly front teeth and a chiropractic adjustment that he seemed to enjoy. Hopefully soon I'll be able to get a bag of Cool 100 and start filling him out so he looks like the fat little horse he used to be :)

Tomorrow I hope to have a very exciting update as Pass will travel tomorrow morning to his first-ever cross-country schooling :) How he does will decide what level we event at next weekend at his first schooling event. He will either do Beginner Novice (with 2'6" fences) or Novice (with 2'11" fences) I would love to do Novice, but once again, I do not want to stress him right out of the box and if he's struggling with Novice fences tomorrow we will do Beginner Novice. There are plenty of opportunities to move up levels this summer.

Check back soon!

Where, oh where, did Pass go?

So I've decided that maybe it's not a fluke. Pass is still maintaining the angelic behavior he obtained miraculously since his move. Though I can't say I want to admit it, I'm starting to get used to it.

I've been slacking on this blog recently as internet access at home is more limited and definitely slower. Not that I should make excuses...but I did.

Since my last post Pass and I have played with many new things and continued to build on previous knowledge. A couple days ago I introduced Pass to the outdoor jumping arena complete with new 'scary' jumps including brush boxes, tires and tiles. Again, Pass pulled the shock card and cantered around the fences like he has seen them all his life. Though he was lovely, he definitely showed some strongness that I figured we would run into our first time on the cross country course. It was not terrible, but a habit I'd like to stop as soon as I can. I figure a couple rides out there in a stronger bit and he'll understand that respect on my hands is a nice thing...for both of us.

Pass also got to meet a new friend last week. He had been going so well that I wanted to see someone else on him. That's how Pass' new friendship with Miki came to be. Miki is a very capable teen who has been riding for some time now. I was happy to see that Pass and Miki got along great and he was more than happy to walk, trot and canter for her in his cute little frame. I'm hoping soon she can come jump him as he seemed he enjoy his ride with her.

Today, I took Pass on another trail ride. This time we went to the pond and campground to play around. Pass was introduced to banks in which he could go up and down, a small wooden bridge and little obstacles such as an upright balefeeder to walk through. He took them all on without much of a problem, even the narrow wooden bridge that scared the crap out of Teagan the first time he saw it. I also took Pass down to the pond and let him splash around. That horse really loves his water. It'll be nice this summer to ride out there bareback and go for a swim...I'm sure he'll love it.

Pass also got to play with the farrier today after our ride. To my pleasant surprise he stood like an angel and almost napped, head down and lip drooping. He's such a booger. Pass and Marilyn even got a little close time as he licked and nuzzled all over her while she worked on his front feet. Let's face it. He's a ham. Enjoy the picture below of Marilyn and her new lover...



...and more exciting news in Pass' life: Next Saturday he will travel to his first show. It's only a small fun show, but it's a good place to find out just what kind of show pony he will be :)

Trail Ride and the Great Pass

Yesterday I got the pleasure of taking Pass on a trail ride with three other horses. I had my first little bonding moment with him beforehand though. I went out to the pasture to get him and he actually nickered and came to me. It felt so good to know he's bonding with me and seems to enjoy the time we spend together.

On the trail he was a wonderful little man. We experienced roads and vehicles, the woods, mud mud and more mud, and the creek. He was such a little trooper and wasn't afraid of anything. He even wanted to be leader most of the time (but also didn't have a problem being in the back...which is definitely a breathe of fresh air after Teagan who had to be in front or his life was ending).

As we were ending the trail ride, after cantering down the creek (which Pass absolutely loved) I got the opportunity to introduce him to something really new: Cows. I should mention though that they were not just any cows, but rather Longhorns. To my surprise Pass was pretty calm around them, he snorted a bit but kept walking and life was good. Well, until one of them moved. Poor Pass, he had no idea these creatures could move and he jumped sideways. He settled quickly though and got over the frightening creatures.

I am truly shocked and amazed at how well he is doing. He has been a whole different horse since moving off campus. I'm not sure if he's in shock, but regardless I'm taking full advantage of this 'new' horse.

I am hoping in a couple weeks to get his teeth done by the Tooth Fairy (as he does grind on his bit and tilt his head when riding sometimes. Not to mention I got my hand in his mouth and he has some nasty hooks). He is also due for a chiropractic visit as I am positive his shoulders and hips are all out of whack.
Finally, I am purchasing some senior feed to supplement his regular grain for a bit. This supplementation should help put some weight on him and help him shed out to a nicer coat. Between this addition and being on nice grass most of the day I think he will blossom in no time.

While I end this I'm beginning to come up with ideas for his show name. I've played with a couple ideas, but would be open to any other ideas you may have! I would like to incorporate Pass into the name in some manner. The ideas I've had (or have been given) are as follows.

Passifier
Pass the Grass (lets face it, its cute...but not really appropriate)
Passafrass (who hasn't called him this at some point)
Passive Aggressive (my personal favorite at the moment)
Hall Pass
Pass Experiences (came about when I created this blog)

Input welcome :)

Pass Meets the Creek

Friday night I was warned by multiple people that Pass had discovered the creek in his pasture. Knowing he's a big water baby this made me happy. What didn't thrill me, however, was that he had also found the sand bank next to the creek and had obviously found this a good place to roll after splashing around...I knew he was a slob though, so I'll take sand over stinky mud.

Saturday evening I wandered out to ride him for the second time since he moved home. I went out to get him and though he was dirty, he wasn't disguisting (sand falls off, mud doesn't). I tied him in the stall, brushed and tacked him and not once did he paw. I took him over to the arena and hopped on. It was a good feeling, riding him around. He was soooo calm and laid back, he never once spooked at anything or got distracted as we walked around. I then gathered him up and asked him to trot and it became clear. Pass was lazy.

I'll say it again: Pass was lazy.

I had to pick up a crop and actually use it. I don't think I've ever ran into this Pass before. After working through our gaits I took him over some fences and he was nothing less than stellar. Not once did he buck or take off after. It was lovely.

Since he's obviously settled in nicely, I'm now looking at what we really need to work on.
     1. Transitions (both up and down, and within gaits) - Pass enjoys sticking his nose in the air, whether you use rein or not.
     2. Using our hind end - I'm hoping once he gets in better shape he'll start using his hind end again, regardless: Someone needs to be stepping under himself more.
     3. Flying changes - Though he's pretty good with his leads, when he lands wrong I want to be able to fix it.
     4. Lateral movements - He knows quite a bit, but I think we can definitely improve.

As for our upcoming future, I'm going to ride him tonight again, hopefully working on some of the things above. Then I am hoping Wednesday that I can take him cross country schooling for the first time. I have a feeling he is going to love it.


Sorry this blog hasn't been too exciting. Pass has been a little angel :)