Stocking up

[Roberta Jo Lieberman <fineprint@erols.com>]

Farafix wrote:
<<<Tempo was started at 2 after 
checking with 2 vets.  Just walking for 9-10 months.  Added a little
trotting 
& cantering after he turned 3 & was x rayed (clean x rays).  He is now
6, has 
over 900 miles, and has had the cleanest legs of the 3!  He rarely gets
any 
fill ---- I attribute the 9-10 months of walking to having put a nice
base on 
his legs.  I'm a lightweight rider, which is why the vets gave the ok to
just 
walk when he was younger.
Fortunately, I'm going away for the weekend, so maybe the conflagration
will 
subside by the time I'm back (HA!)>>>

No need to duck, Nancy! 
I have found her to be an extremely careful, methodical rider and
horsewoman who *thinks* about everything she does with her horses. Her
28-year-old retired gelding, Farafix, looks much younger than his years.
Her 12-year-old mare, Kadance, is a lovely mare with a happy attitude
and many miles to go. Her six-year-old stallion, Fixed Tempo, is going
places!  We met at Sugarloaf Mountain this week and rode for about three
hours. Tempo was a perfect gentleman even when my mare nickered at him
and tried to put a few moves on the stallion. We decided to let Tempo
stay in the lead, though, just to be safe, so I had a great opportunity
to see him move. He is a powerful horse who moves confidently through
any type of terrain, from rocks to mud, and he handles himself well in
difficult going, carefully levading (is that a word?) over logs and
brush with aplomb. Keep an eye on this up-and-coming youngster, and by
the way, he *is* at stud! (I can brag about him 'cause he's not my horse
<g>).

Reminds me of when we started Equus under tack as a two-year-old back in
1979 (yup, that was a long time ago, eh?)....we sure got flamed for
that! (and a few other things, some of which we deserved, if anyone here
is old enough to remember). But our guiding hand Matthew M-S said, "When
you begin training early, you have the luxury of going more slowly...and
the greater the opportunity you have to build in hard-tissue strength." 
Which we did, and Equus went on to flat-race at 3 and 4 and later
distance-ride successfully.

So whatever you're doing, Nancy, keep it up!

Bobbie, Fine Print and Perle
Still in Md and California-bound


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