Tuesday, May 19, 2009

Treely Update


I went to see Treely at the trainer's today. I am such a proud mom. She is doing awesome. I almost didn't recognize her. When I pulled up, one of the trainers was just riding out of the barn on her. She's shed out since I saw her last and has a lot more dapples. Also, I hadn't met the trainer who was on her, so I kind of had that thought in the back of my head: What if that's totally not my horse and I walk up going, "TREEELY!!" She looked so mature and was moving into the bit and looking hAwT (OMFG, I like totally turn into a teenie bopper talking about my mare)!

They already have her driving (pulling a cart) and have now moved on to riding her. She's doing SIDE PASSES(!!) beautifully and is really softening up. The biggest thing they say she needs to work on is her confidence. She's been a bit of a weenie when it comes to new stuff like the mud pit and water and big scary farm equipment. She's having to learn that it's not okay to just move away from everything that looks scary. I didn't get many pictures of her being ridden because they were in the indoor and it was just too dark. I didn't want to be the ignorant owner flashing away on my camera and spooking the horses, haha. I really wish I had some pics of her side passing though. I just LOVE my mare!!

I only got a couple pictures of her driving before the trainer said, "Hop on." I've never been on a training cart before, but I have watched a lot of wrecks on youtube, haha. It was a first for me and, umm...a little scary. BUT I got to stare at my gorgeous girl's big beautiful butt, and that always makes me happy. I was holding on to the "oh shit" handles too tight to take any pictures. Trust me, though, the view was wonderful. The trainer drove her down through the hay fields which had just been cut. There were big hills to go up and down and sharp curves to fly around - at least I felt like we were flying. Treely was so awesome. It kind of makes me want to do combined driving. Who knows, maybe it will be my new thing...if I can ever afford a cart and harness.


They have to piece together her harness with whatever is big enough for her...which is why none of it matches. Here she is with the first piece waiting for the rest of it. Her head looks especially big in this picture, but look how dark she is! I appreciate it now because in a few months she's going to look like a red roan.

Ground driving.

The obligatory butt pic. I must say that harness really enhances her assets.

Almost ready to hook to the cart.

She's coming to a screeching halt in this picture. It's funny because you can see the mechanics of that butt in action. If I could draw, I would make a cartoon where Treely is a superhero who uses her super butt powers to hold up falling buildings and stop trains etc. I don't know if that's funny to anyone but me.

4 comments:

  1. She's gorgeous! You'll enjoy driving. It's nice to be able to take several folks with you and do a farm tour, trip down a country road... You're doing the right homework and I love Percherons. Fabulous horses.

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  2. Thanks! I don't actually have a cart at home, but it's definitely going on my wish list. I really enjoyed driving her and it's funny how it seemed to come so natural to her. I'm sure hundreds of years of genetics had nothing to do with that, haha.

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  3. Awwwwwww!!! Congrats Mel, she looks GREAT!!!!!! What a beautiful young lady she's growing up to be!!

    Out of curiosity, why the check rein on her?

    Thanks for posting the update!!!

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  4. I didn't ask about the check rein, but I assumed it was because Treely is a greenie who doesn't know not to stick her head down. The trainer drives every horse she trains before she does any under saddle work. She said she likes it because it gives them a good base for learning leg yielding and moving away from pressure once under saddle. So, while she is able to drive Treely after only a few weeks, she said she is absolutely not "trained" as a driving horse and she would need at least another month of drive training before she would consider her safe. So, with that in mind, I think the check rein is just a safety measure, but I will ask her the next time I talk to her. It isn't as tight as it looks in the last picture, she was just coming to a stop.

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