An amateur doing it on their own is a whole lot scarier.....but here I am! I'm not really doing it all alone. I have some special people supporting me and helping me along the way. Anyhow, things have been going just wonderful for me and Maxwell lately.
I recently saw one of those Facebook meme type things....it was a photo of a horse and the quote said "Wining on a 'made' horse will never be as satisfying as winning on one you made yourself"..... that quote has been my mantra since the day Maxwell came home to me. I finally had my shot at a horse built for me that had a blank slate and was ready to learn a new career. I was going to make this horse. I am making this horse.
I don't have a big name trainer. Right now all I have is the support of some pretty amazing people, no practicing trainer at all. But for some reason, we're going better than ever before. Over the summer we had a trainer and we weren't going nearly as well as we are now. I'm so excited to see the horse I "make" of Maxwell.
One at a time we check things off his long list of annoyances, complaints, or things that just don't work for him. One at a time things just start to come together better and better. Widen the saddle, and suddenly my horse moves off of my leg strides better than previous. Remove the bit from the equation (at least temporarily) and I have a horse that works quietly, without tension and stress in his mouth and jaw. Better nutritional options leave him feeling more comfortable overall. Always always take an extra moment to really listen to your horse. They don't lie, they're actually quite clear when they have something to say. You just need to listen.I'm really falling in love with my horse all over again. He's still a green bean. He still has green horse moments, but he's becoming such a wonderful, willing partner to me. This week we started back to 4-times-a-week rides. The early darkness gave him a well deserved Winter Vacation, where he only worked 2 times a week (if he was lucky!), but I was able to show up, throw tack on, and get a productive 35 minute ride in yesterday after work. Tomorrow we'll try again. It's only going to get lighter and lighter as we get closer to daylight savings time. I am so very excited to get this big geek back into shape. He's working more correctly than ever, so I'm interested to see what a big muscular animal I can build this summer.
And then there are horse shows. Maybe Max and I will make a debut in the ring at some point this year. I'll let him decide. Many OTTB's that have been retired from racing for a year are further ahead than he is in training, already showing and competing. I chose to take things extremely slow with Max. There's no deadline. There's no rush. He's a sensible, hard working animal, but he deserves to move slowly into his new career. He comes to me with 6 years of racing wear and tear. The least I can do is allow his body a break, and to slowly build it up for the type of work expected of him now. So please, don't feel "bad" for us because we haven't made it to a show yet. This is all apart of our master plan. Slow and steady wins us the race....obviously that mantra doesn't work for a race horse, but surly it can work for a retired racehorse. He is never asked to do more than he is capable of (even if he says otherwise). I want to spend my time perfecting my horse in the ring, on the trails, and in every situation I can think to put him in. I've ridden him in a downpour, in 100 degree heat, in 30mph winds, in the frigid Florida cold (hehehe) and many questionable 'spook' opportunities in between including slamming gates, screaming children, falling palm fronds, gunshots, motorbikes, etc. I'm creating a solid citizen. We'll walk into the ring for the green division, but nowhere in our performance will you actually see 'green'. This is my vision for this horse. To be completely prepared for anything he's ever asked to do. No surprises. Honesty is huge to me, so of course I am always honest with my horse, as well. I'm 100% dedicated to this beast!
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