Harness up!

With a marathon carriage on order it seems time to get Casey fitted for a harness and start teaching her to become a driving pony. Maybe I can get 20 drives on her and then both mares will be at the same point in training? Lol. 

All joking aside, even if they both have 15 or 20 drives to their credit- they will not likely be at the same point in their training. They are both smart, but we all learn at different speeds and some of us pick up things more easily than others. Horses are the same.

The first fitting went pretty well. I brought out my harness and a bag of spare parts. Since Casey is a little smaller than Mazy, I was expecting to have to take everything up a notch or two. Most of the spares are larger so I may have to swap out this for that. 

The harness saddle fit without having to adjust too much. Up a hole on each side and thats it. The backstrap needed to be changed out- the crupper was a couple holes long with no more to adjust. The same with the breeching.

My friend and mentor hit up her friend and mentor... and he suggested the backstrap shortened would help bring the breeching up closer to where it belongs. Adding holes would put it in its place.

Whole spare bridle sans a bit (which there was another in the box) and it all fit Casey perfectly! Just need a few things and there's a whole 2nd harness- reins, neckstrap, traces & saddle. 

As the pics show- we went out to ground drive and work her in the long lines. She did So Well! At one point she was rocked back and almost Bouncing along with such freedom in her movement. 

Yes I was gobsmacked and speechless for a bit at what I seen her doing. If she continues with that? We're going to slay dressage! 

The next day we swapped out the backstrap to put the crupper in place, used the breeching and breastcollar adjusted for Mazy and no adjustments needed. 

This pic is after she half slid to a stop. I still think she would be a fancy reining pony too. My friend told me her pony usually slides into his stops in long lines. Highly frowned upon in driving! 😊😳😔

Excited energy

There's a new edition to the herd at the barn. Two barns ago Mazy was nearby a mare with her foal and man does she get super pumped up about the little ones. 

So with this one Mazy is once again intrigued and curious about the baby. The mare is not letting anybody near it so she will have to wait. 

Instead she can sulk a bit and run off to play with Casey. No doubt in my mind that Mazy will be an incredible mother some day. 

And play they do! Jumping and kicking, tearing around the arena... I just like this pic with Casey's mane flying up and the various colors of her big spots. 

Goofy at her best Goofiness! 

Although there's only an inch difference in their height and 3 years in age, these two pics show the difference in their build, structure and muscle. 

They're just a bit too different to be a team or pair. Besides the added expense, I've heard driving a pair is a lot more work. 

I have always said that if this mare decides she's ever 'Done' with someone, they won't stand a chance. 

A friend of mine wants her as a barrel horse. No doubt she has speed and could turn 'n burn. 

Casey shows bursts of speed but just doesn't seem to care to maintain it. It's like she's saying, I can, I just don't have to. 

She's just a bit more reserved in that respect. I'm also still trying to crack the shell she has. It's like she has been thru some kind of trauma and still isn't sure about letting people in yet.  

Backstory

I was able to take a couple of short videos the other day while I was working Casey. Frame by frame and screenshot pics below. 

When I first got Casey, there's a funny story. I was shopping online in a place where you are not allowed to post or sell animals. Yet there she was and her ad had been up for almost 3 months. 

There were only 2 pics with the ad and I obviously inquired. "Yes she's still available." Something just struck me about her. I looked at those two pics at least a few hundred times.

I tried to be objective. What did I see that I did not care for? Could that be dealt with? Could that possibly change? With time? With work? 

The only three things I could fault her on from those pics were 1) she has more white than I care for. She's such a colorfully marked pony and it suits her well.  This made up, personal taste "issue" does not in any way make her run any faster or not, jump any higher or not, play any harder or be any more or any less anything. 

2) The second thing I could see that I wasn't too sure about was her heartgirth area. It looked shallow. Gotta remember she was young. She's 3 and this could change. Besides- who knows how long ago the pic was taken and if she was in a funky growth stage? She could be shallow but wide. Who knows? 

3) The third thing I found was her hind feet had too much heel. Could this be dealt with? Certainly. Would this change how she is built? A little. How she moves? Absolutely! Soundness? Yup! Would this take time? It should with a good farrier, which I have. 

Her owner seem to act like they could not get her out of there fast enough. Looking back- I never even asked what her name was? When I assured them that Yes, I do want the horse, picking her up was the issue- when could I make it??? They even offered to deliver her, but that fell thru. I was asking people if they could go get her for me as I had plans that could not be changed- business trip to the east coast. 

One of the guys from the barn agreed to go get her for me. Funny enough we were both coming home the same day. 

In the few days leading up to my trip the guy going to pick her up asked me- When I get there, is there anything I should look for that would be a deal-breaker? Wait. What? I hadn't thought about that. I thought about all the horses I had over the years that I bought or picked up from looking at a picture and some not even seeing a pic at all. 

I knew in my gut that she was a nice enough pony/horse and may or may not come with issues. I could deal with her issues and baggage. Deal-breakers?  "I guess if she only has 3 legs? That would be a deal-breaker." 

Clearly she has all four. Whew! 😊 

Pics? Yes please!

The mares got turned out the other day while the weather was nice and the sun was out. They just had their feet trimmed and were definitely feeling good.

Casey showing her super chill western horse side before she cuts loose and kicks it into gear.

I'm just really diggin' on how nice this filly is turning out to be. She has the sweetest personality too. 

She has really filled out nicely and her coat is so soft and smooth now since all of the skin peeled from the rain rot she came with. 

And she definitely, Definitely has 3rd gear now too! She used to just walk off and doodle around once the halter came off. Now she turns and walks off a couple steps before she rolls into a lope and then fires up once safely away from me. 

I can't possibly forget about Mazy! Mostly because She would Never, Ever let that happen. 

That beautiful trot and all that natural shine to her coat- she wouldn't possibly go unnoticed. 

She definitely has the moves to go to the top. Now if I could only manage to keep up. Lol 

Uphill movement?  Check.

Big stride? Check. 

Attitude to match? Definite Check! 

Untapped power? Absolute Check!

Always saving the best pick for last. I just love this shot of her and how open and free her movement is. Such a powerhouse pony

Confo shots

A friend of mine was recently asking for confo shots of Casey. I may have a few.... Pics of her from the side. 

Of course it's easy to get them to hold still when their head is shoved in a bucket of feed. Am I right? 

Of course as a now 4y/o, she is still slightly a bit butt high.... 

and what a Butt that is. Casey is really developing quite the motor on her.

And the angle of that shoulder. Booyah! 

This last shot her neck still looks thin in comparison to the rest of her body, but look at the muscle development at her elbow and forearm....

Her front legs are no longer looking like they both come out of the same hole.

She does look like she toes out a touch

From behind she's pretty well stacked too and her back legs no longer look like they come from the same hole either. 

Since I haven't posted about Mazy much lately, here's a few shots of her too. Do you see what I seen? 

Even with her not so fuzzy winter coat.... 

Mazy still has dapples showing thru. 

Maybe not

When I first seen and then later got Casey, I was thinking she is a western horse. 

As I started working her, I was thinking she might be a cute little reining horse.

But the more she develops and comes into her own....

I'm thinking reining may not be her game. 

I mean look at that movement. 

She can really stretch those legs out when she wants to. 

She's balanced and there's cadence in her gaits. 

And she has developed quite the Body on her too. 

Quite the Not so western horse like I had originally thought. Lol