Finally got his saddle pad/saddle/girth on without him flipping out since the whole issue with that guy. <br>Ro did really well this week so I'm giving him (and myself) a well deserved break until Saturday
Did some more work with him today. Focused on his ground manners and washed him off a bit because the farrier is coming tomorrow!<br>Added a new picture and video of him just chilling out.
I would just like to write this, not to brag or show off, but to show how proud I am of myself this horse...<br>Today it kind of hit me. I noticed how far I've come with this horse. I actually got a little teary eyed.<br><br><br><br>Romeo was beaten, neglected, and tormented for a majority of his life. He was rescued by pure chance and it's a miracle that he is alive today. For months, different trainers, students, and regular people tried to get him to trust them with no luck. He was a problem horse: biting, kicking, and rearing. I had never paid much attention to him until I lost Gambie. I was drawn to Romeo by some odd force. One day I waltzed up to his stall and stood there until he came up to me. Amazingly, he stuck his nose through the bars in a matter of minutes, leaving everyone at the barn stunned. I immediately took him under my wing; teaching him to trust myself and others, teaching him to walk behind me when being led, teaching him to simply pick up his feet. <br>It took months of work that have paid off tremendously. A horse that once couldn't be touched was tamed by a teenager with a passion and a love for horses. His personality has blossomed in the past couple of weeks. I feel like I now have his full trust. He's special to me. Obviously I still love my other horses to death, but he has a very special place in my heart. It's as if Gambie sent him to me because he knew I needed him. <br>This horse that once couldn't be brushed can now be fully tacked in a matter of minutes. The horse that would run from anyone who came within 20 feet of him now approaches the fence to greet total strangers. <br>This horse is a miracle to me. <br>I am going to break him very soon. I'd prefer to do it closer to summer so I can work consistently with him, but I AM going to break him. <br>I had chosen the song 'Fix You' by Coldplay as a theme song for Romeo and I...<br><span style="font-style:italic">When you try your best, but you don't succeed<br>When you get what you want, but not what you need<br>When you feel so tired, but you can't sleep<br>Stuck in reverse<br><br>And the tears come streaming down your face<br>When you lose something you can't replace<br>When you love someone, but it goes to waste<br>Could it be worse?<br><br>Lights will guide you home<br>And ignite your bones<br>And I will try to fix you</span><br><br>Well, lights <span style="font-style:italic">have</span> guided him home, ignited his bones, and I <span style="font-style:italic">have fixed</span> him.
These are the times i wish vp had a "like" button!<br><br>Bravo.
<br>Teehee ^.^ thank you Vampy. <br>It really just <span style="font-style:italic">hit</span> me today that this horse has actually changed me a little bit (for the better of course). I mean it was pure CHANCE that he was even found in that field and even though he was rescued the odds for survival were still against him. <br>It's insane how far this horse has come. And I feel like it was Gambie who sent him because I was grieving. It's just incredible to me! <br><br>/end rambling haha
I would love t have the patience you do! I've sadly never had the chance to rescue a horse but id love too one day. It's on my bucket list.
<br>I actually started out with very little patience towards him. It was so easy to get frustrated when he hit a problem spot and stopped improving. He really taught me to be patient and to push through to te next goal. He also taught me to think outside the box and to be creative when trying new things. <br>I'm going to be making a very special video of him soon. I've been collecting clips of him for the past couple of of weeks and I'm going to really take my time editing it. <br>This summer is going to be amazing with him and Creole.
Patience is DEFINITALLY not my strong point either. Can't tell you HOW many times i've stormed off rosie spouting off stuff about selling her and she'll never be worth anything and all that jazz. That's the kind of horse i needed though... one that is sensitive enough to respond to my anger and frustration in the saddle to help me learn to control it and calm down.
We've been working really hard on his free lunging and now that you can see his movement in slow motion you can tell why he will definitely be an English horse! He's got beautiful movement that is really forward and direct. He's going to be so much fun to ride! His natural head set at the trot is AWESOME! You can see a little bit of it in the video ^.^<br><br>Here's a video!<br><a href="http://s219.photobucket.com/albums/cc69/Quiggles_101/?action=view¤t=RomeoFreeLungeMontageFinished.mp4"; target="_blank" class="bb-url">http://s219.photobucket.com/albums/cc69 ... nished.mp4</a>
Bobo.. you are one lucky, lucky girl. He is absolutely gorgeous!
<span style="font-size: 10pt;"> </span><div><span style="font-size: 10pt;"></span><span style="font-size: small;"> </span></div><div><span style="font-size: small;">oh I swear to ya, I'll be there for ya.
10.31.10 ❤</span></div>
Bobo.. you are one lucky, lucky girl. He is absolutely gorgeous!
<br>I am incredibly lucky, especially to have this wonderful horse in my life <br>And thank you! We're going to be trimming his mane soon >.< I really don't want to though! It's so long and pretty!
<br>I know, right?! I was AMAZED when I watched it in slow motion. I seriously replayed it about 20 times before I was like "Whoa...he's EXTENDING?!"<br>I never would've guessed he looked like that in slow mo haha<br>I'm going to hopefully do some more free lunging tomorrow if my outdoor arena is dry and work more at a trot.
I hate extension! My mare flat out REFUSES. Her "extension" is increasing her cadence and jugglin me around. She'll NEVER make a western pleasure horse but her speed variations in a circle look wonderful because of it in reining xD
My horses are total opposite! Well, Creole just gets lazy sometimes and only kind of extends. But other than that all three of then have BEAUTIFUL extension!
UPDATE!<br><br>I've spent a while compiling this video to mark his mile stone. It's been almost a year since i first laid eyes on this horse and it's amazing how far he's come!<br>The video is to the song 'Fix You' which basically describes our journey...<br>here's the video <a href="http://s219.photobucket.com/albums/cc69/Quiggles_101/?action=view¤t=RomeosJourneycontinued3edit_0001.mp4"; target="_blank" class="bb-url">Milestone Update!</a><br><br><span style="font-style:italic">When you try your best, but you don't succeed<br>When you get what you want, but not what you need<br>When you feel so tired, but you can't sleep<br>Stuck in reverse<br><br>And the tears come streaming down your face<br>When you lose something you can't replace<br>When you love someone, but it goes to waste<br>Could it be worse?<br><br>Lights will guide you home<br>And ignite your bones<br>And I will try to fix you<br><br>And high up above or down below<br>When you're too in love to let it go<br>But if you never try you'll never know<br>Just what you're worth<br><br>Lights will guide you home<br>And ignite your bones<br>And I will try to fix you<br><br>Tears stream down on your face<br>When you lose something you cannot replace<br>Tears stream down on your face<br>And I...<br><br>Tears stream down on your face<br>I promise you I will learn from my mistakes<br>Tears stream down on your face<br>And I...<br><br>Lights will guide you home<br>And ignite your bones<br>And I will try to fix you</span><br><br><br><br>Enjoy the video ^.^
AWESOME video. The song really does relate well to Romeo's situation. What a beautiful horse and story.
<br>Thank you so much! Yeah the song pretty much describes his life perfectly, I had to choose between that song or Yellow by Coldplay (I might use that song for the video I compile of his first times under saddle) <br>He's very, very special to me ^.^
Updated with a hilarious unedited video of free lunging Ro. My friend's were over and helped me film. He had TONS of energy and was just having fun running around and playing. <br>Please don't critique me on any of the things you might see in this video <br><br>The most AMAZING part of this video is that it shows how the horse that once would flip out over a raised hand now isn't scared by me yelling and flinging my arms. It's an incredible change from the terrified horse I started with. <br>You also get some wonderful commentary of my friend laughing at me and the deafening wind lol<br><br>here's the video!<br><a href="http://s219.photobucket.com/albums/cc69/Quiggles_101/?action=view¤t=RoFreeLungeLongVersion.mp4"; target="_blank" class="bb-url">http://s219.photobucket.com/albums/cc69 ... ersion.mp4</a>
I know I keep repeating myself, but all I can say is how beautiful he is, Bobo. He is an incredible boy and you are so lucky, and he is definitely just as lucky to have found you!
<span style="font-size: 10pt;"> </span><div><span style="font-size: 10pt;"></span><span style="font-size: small;"> </span></div><div><span style="font-size: small;">oh I swear to ya, I'll be there for ya.
10.31.10 ❤</span></div>
I know I keep repeating myself, but all I can say is how beautiful he is, Bobo. He is an incredible boy and you are so lucky, and he is definitely just as lucky to have found you!
<br>Thank you so much, Vi ^.^<br>It's good to hear that other people besides myself understand how great he is and notice how much he's improved. <br>I can't wait until I get to break him fully. It's going to be a tedious process with him but well worth it ^.^
Well today just sucked <br>I noticed the other day that Romeo was walking kind of funny. He was shifting his weight awkwardly on this hind legs and something just didn't look right. The vet was scheduled to come out anyways so I just kept an eye on him. Well, the vet came out today and took a look at him and the news is not good. <br>Romeo has something wrong with a couple of his vertebrae that is pinching a nerve somewhere in his back. The vet said it looks like it could've happened about a year ago but is just now showing signs of it. He said it's usually caused by loss of bone structure from malnutrition (which makes since because of how he was starved). He said it's nothing that I have done, it's just that his bones aren't as strong due to a long period of improper nutrition. He said ultimately it is not a great idea for his to have weight on his back which obviously means he cant be ridden at this point in time. <br>I'm heart broken. I was really looking forward to breaking him at the end of the month. But I obviously can't hurt my poor baby more than he already is. The pinched nerve issue can be solved and he'll be back to normal soon but unless his bone structure improves, he can't be broke. <br>I will still train Romeo in his ground training an what not. This does not by any means mean I am giving up on him. In fact, it has only made me want to help him even more. He might become a great trick horse for all I know! He's come so far and this set back is devastating for the plans I had for him but I'll work around it and keep helping him to improve. <br>The vet did mention that with the right care and time that he can be broke and used for LIGHT riding meaning only walking and possibly trotting for short periods of time. <br>Hopefully he'll be back to his normal self soon and I can get back to some ground training but for now I'll be working on preparing Cre for show season.
Good for you! The best thing you can do for him is stay strong and keep him in good health. YOu have made so much progress it inspires me. :P<br><br>Hopefully the poor baby will improve. It is such a tragic story and the world could use a few more like you.
Good for you! The best thing you can do for him is stay strong and keep him in good health. YOu have made so much progress it inspires me. :P<br><br>Hopefully the poor baby will improve. It is such a tragic story and the world could use a few more like you.
<br><br>Aw, thank you so much. That really means a lot to me. He's been through so much and he's a tought little guy so I know he'll make it through. <br>I've found that he's an incredibly smart horse (I even have him backing up and stepping sideways with voice commands) but he just needed someone to be patient enough with him so he could learn to show everyone how awesome he is!<br>I'm certainly going to be training him and making him the best horse he can be!
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10.31.10 ❤</span></div>
Check out my new rescue program, soon to be up and ready!
02/22/14
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My Art Thread: viewtopic.php?f=23&t=74346