[RC] more stallion update from Shamrock - Marlene Moss
So we took our stallion to his 2nd ride with
us. We found a good parking spot where he could see other horses, but not
too close. He made the trip to Wyoming next to my mare who was at the end
of her heat cycle without the stud divider between them since that’s
where I stored the hay and extra grain. That was nice!
Max still didn’t sleep real well, there was a loose
horse that got him wound up, but then he stood an quietly ate a huge pile of
hay all night. I don’t mind listening to that!
We definitely have to work on his vet checks. Patience
isn’t really one of his virtues when not ridden and it really doesn’t
have anything to do with other horses around, so that should be something we
can work on.
On the trail, I don’t think many people would have
realized he was a stallion except for the yellow ribbon (and, well, he is
pretty sharp looking! The first day Stace mounted at the trailer since I’d
already checked us in and we rode out behind everyone. The second day,
Stace checked in on his back and milled around with the rest of the
starters. He was absolutely perfect! Better behaved than a lot of
horses and better able to just stay in one spot and snack than my mare for
sure!
We only competed 2 days – Max has really only been
conditioned for 2 months and we haven’t worked out hoof protection for
him yet. The first ride we planned on boots, but hadn’t used them
and they didn’t stay on. So Stace decided to shoe and got his
fronts done. Max was not going to stand for rear shoes so we ran him bare
the first day with no problems. After the first loop the second day, which
has some roads, Max was starting to notice the rocks so we decided to put boots
on the rears for the second. He didn’t really need them for that
loop, but Stace was considering riding the 3rd day and I wasn’t,
so we wanted to know if he’d have to worry about losing them w/o me
watching. The boots didn’t work – he’s got kind of
mustang short feet and the tines cut his coronet band so we took them off and
he finished bare.
So we decided to stop after 2 days, which given our
conditioning schedule was good. We finished 5th and 6th
the first day and 11th and 12th the second with horses
still very willing.
I think our stallion plan is working well – he is
showing himself to be a natural athlete with great recoveries, plus he really
takes care of himself on the trail. Each ride has gotten better, but we
have a couple things to work on before people will have to wonder if he’s
a stallion or not!
Marlene
Marlene
Moss
www.LosPinos-CO.com
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www.KineticEquineAnalysis.com
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