Starting from scratch -- the project pony

So if you follow me on Facebook or Instagram, you're probably aware that there's a new pony friend in my life. For those of you who don't... let me introduce you to a little pony named Sugar:

Kinda in loooove with her.

Long story short, she's a sale project. I was offered the chance to play around with her and try to sell her by the farm owners and being a crazy horse girl I jumped at the chance. You see, I didn't grow much at all until I was maybe 18. I was a very, very small teenager and for years and years all I ever rode were ponies (the naughtier the better) -- as an adult and someone who is now 5'6" I don't really get the opportunity very much anymore! I credit the ponies of my past with giving me a pretty good seat and endless patience and perseverance (which certainly helps when riding a bunch of OTTBs). What I heard about this pony was that she was approximately 7, would jump anything, was maybe part Welsh and could be a bit difficult under saddle. I wanted to access her from the ground up to see exactly how much of a project I might be taking on.

I immediately wanted to change her name because ponies should never have names like Sugar or Prince, though I thought of showing her under the name Meshuggah because awesome band and great translation! So I renamed her Willow which I think is pretty adorable and fitting. Starting from scratch, here's what we've got:

Name: Willow
Sex: Mare
Age: 7
Height: 13.2 hh*
Color: Bay-roan with blaze and three socks
Breed: Quarter pony/Welsh Cob (??? there are papers somewhere for her)

*I was quite shocked that she's only 13.2 hh because she's built like a tank and quite uphill in her conformation, that said, I wasn't too worried that I'd look huge on her based on her build.

On the ground she's really easy to handle, though it's clear to me that she either a.) got away with some naughty pony behavior in the past, b.) got sour about riding/grooming/handling or c.) was roughly handled. She loves attention and is extremely sweet (I mean, look at the photo above!) but she can be a bit quick and naughty when she feels like it. Right now, we think some of it has to do with hormones as she's the MOST hormonal mare we have in the barn. So we're going to try her on some Mare Magic and see if she chills out with all that.

The first thing I did was to stick her in a little jump shoot to see what all the fuss was about regarding her jumping ability.

Pony has hops.

Um yea... so I waved the whip once and she was like, "hold on lady, I got this" and proceeded to canter around and jump both fences in the free school like NBD. Those are 4 foot standards and we put the jump up once more and she didn't blink an eye. Lovely form and relaxed expression, I'll take it.

Last weekend I finally got a chance to sit on her for the first time. She was pretty good about being groomed and tacked up (again, I feel like she's been a bit rough-handled) -- I used the bridle/bit/martingale that came with her and my saddle which actually fits her pretty well. She seemed quite keen once I was ready to hop on, but I was able to ground mount without an issue and she was relaxed and quiet walking up to the ring. Though as soon as we got into the ring, he demeanor changed a bit. She was nervous and felt a bit worried. I figured the best thing to do was just to start working and so we trotted and trotted and trotted and I talked to her. I think riding OTTBs really helps in this regard as no matter how nervous or worried the horse gets underneath of you, the goal is always to stay quiet with your body and to not hold with your hands. I asked gently for a little softening with her head and she gave me a few nice moments, but I think she's pretty used to bracing against the standing martingale. I think she was almost confused at the amount of freedom I gave her face!

Right after we entered the ring and she didn't want to stand still. Worried pony is WORRIED (*don't pay attention to the martingale situation!!!)

We kept it simple and just walk, trot, cantered a little. I wanted to make the ride short but also very positive for her. When another horse started jumping a little cross rail in the ring she got extremely worried and she started to feel like a little stick of dynamite... so I just trotted her around until she relaxed, all the while talking to her and rewarding her.

My assessment of her right now is that she needs some time (and we have plenty of it). Whatever she was used to in the past, and whatever has her worried under saddle will improve if we can take things a bit slowly. She's clearly talented and not nearly as naughty as I had expected under saddle. She doesn't dive in the center of the ring, she doesn't care where the other horses are, she never felt like she was going to buck or spook etc. She's brave as can be and I think that taking her out on the trail system behind the property and just hacking around will really improve her demeanor. I got a better sense of her opinions as we started our walk back to the barn and she started to jig. I sat very quietly and suggested that she stop that or we'd head right back up the ring. When I took my feet out of the stirrups she got a little annoyed that I didn't immediately get off so we had a little impromptu lesson on standing still. The benefit of being my size on a small pony is that I can wrap my legs around her to encourage her:)

I think she'd make a fantastic foxhunter/event/jumper pony (for a talented kid) so with that in mind we'll start working on her fitness and basics under saddle. I'll probably also introduce some lunging to help her figure out some relaxation over her topline. We'll hack out a bit and also introduce some jumping when she's ready. We'll work on her ground manners and address any naughty, nappy behaviors as they come along. I think that rewarding her for good behavior and relaxation will really help turn her around quickly. I think she's going to be a blast once she's going and I not-so-secretly can't wait to take her xc schooling!!!! I'm also planning on changing her bit and bridle set up to start with something very basic as she was going in a slow twist D-ring and I think that's a part of the problem.

Riley not stoked with me sweet-talking the pony.

In other news, I finally rode Riley at the new farm! The last couple of weekends have been spent cleaning, organizing, moving and getting things set up and functional (see: installing electric fencing) so he got put on the back burner. I needn't have worried though as I tacked up my wild thoroughbred who has not been ridden since the event on November 8th (yes, I know I need to post about that) and he basically cocked a leg and fell asleep. He stock stock still at the mounting block while I scrambled aboard and we walked up to the ring. If I haven't said it already a million times, my horse is worth his weight in gold. He's just such a good dude. He's currently barefoot (I like to give him a month or two off every winter -- and he's actually acclimated to the rocky conditions of the new place remarkably well) and he was perfectly sound and happy. The footing in the ring is a combination of sand and rubber and he seemed to really like it. Underneath of me I had a lovely soft, forward horse that felt like I hadn't taken a day off. We w-t-c in both directions, picked up both leads perfectly and he was actually even a touch lazy at the canter (and maybe a little out of shape). Emily laughed and said, "there's your new lesson horse". Indeed.

This was the level of excitement in the new ring after 2 months off.

This year, I'm going to try to be more thoughtful about making goals for us (and the pony). We'll be gearing up for shows before I know it so I need to get my ass in gear. In the very near future I need to get him a bit fitter so that Emily can take him to the next Jimmy Wofford clinic nearby (then I'll do the one after that!)

Stay tuned for some overdue updates and plans. Oh yea, if you know of anyone looking for an insanely cute pony let me know:)