Sometimes Maybe Good

After my first lesson on Destello, Trainer T and I got to talking about me leasing one of her horses. She explained her pricing and let me know that Destello would be a good fit but that she has one other horse that maybe could possibly work. His only issue is that he can get wild over fences; she describes it as a switch flipping in his head for no apparent reason. I filed that info away, certain that I'd be leasing Destello in the near future and kind of wrote off that other horse.

Mind you, that conversation was back in August. So then a couple weeks ago, after I had already decided to take weekly lessons, she had a scheduling conflict. Destello was going to be at a show the same day as my lesson. She asked if I was okay with riding this other mystery horse, and I said yes because literally why not. She didn't feel that he would be a good fit for me over fences (for obvious reasons) but I genuinely wanted to give it a shot and see how things went.

Here's Fuego. He's about the size of a house and has elevator music playing in his head 24/7. Spoiler Alert: the lesson went well, I liked him a lot, but he's . . . . a liability to say the least. Believe me when I say he's simultaneously one of the most laid-back and spooky horses I've ever met. Multiple stop-and-stare moments on the 50'-0" walk to the cross ties that he's been to a million times before, but if I ride him without a crop, I'm screwed. He's funky. And I like him.

It was another 8am lesson, and we were blessed with a nice, overcast, cool winter morning. Seriously, winters in Florida are a favorite. He's got a pretty bouncy trot that I'd like to get better at moving with. He's pretty dead to the leg too, and I didn't put my spurs on because I had assumed he was a hot horse. I was absolutely exhausted, like, 15 minutes into the ride because I was putting so. much. energy. into keeping him going. His canter is a dream, still sluggish, but very easy to ride. The right is much easier for him. The left requires some patience.

This billet situation also requires some patience

Cantering to the left was actually our first moment of disagreement. He requires an outside bend in order to step into the lead, and even then it's not guaranteed. Asking from the rail wasn't working, and he was only getting more tense, so we tried a different approach. He seems to have an easier time getting the if you do a direction change over a pole from the trot and still with a right bend. Yes, complicated, but shockingly successful. Took a couple tries to get it right, but he wasn't nearly as frustrated with me. His canter is an absolute dream, too. Very smooth and fluid. He could used some more balance and power from behind, but that'll come with time.

We did a little bit of jumping, and I can see what Trainer T means by a switch flipping. It was actually a good day for him, but that still involves a little bit of tension and wigglies heading to the fence. We kept things very simple: trot poles to an itty bitty crossrail. He got his leads consistently and slowed right down afterwards. We went through that exercise a few times, called it a day, and head to the show grounds.

Trainer T gave me the option to ride him again the following week, and I eagerly took her up on the offer. Flatwork was mostly the same, except this time around, we only went next to the pole instead of over it, and he got the lead on the second try.

We upped the ante a bit with jumping. Everything was still teeny tiny cross rails. The first fence was great to trot over each way, but when we attempted to add a second fence, he started getting overwhelmed. Trainer T's go to with him if this happens is to switch back to flatwork, give him his head, and keep moving forward. We did just that, and he settled. The next step was to just do the second fence in the bending line and keep him relaxed over it. My biggest focus was to keep my reins relatively lose. I also ensured to grab mane over each fence, not because he's a strong jumper but I wanted to avoid hitting him in the mouth. Finally, we attempted both fences together, and voila! He was a perfect gentleman. What I like most about him is that he's not a horse you have to hold back. Yes, he gets quick directly after the fence, but it's maybe three strides of that before he just doesn't care anymore. It did take a little bit of trust, but by the end, I was mostly floating my reins and letting muscle memory get him through the exercise. A little closing of the thigh was all I needed to get him to come back to a trot afterwards.

After trotting through the line successfully several times, I felt confident, and asked if I could let him canter through it. While I didn't want to jinx the nice ending we just had, I did think it was worth it to let him roll calmly through the whole thing because, again, his canter is top tier. She agreed. It shouldn't be any surprise, but he moved through the whole thing like an old pro, floaty reins and all.

He'll probably never be a show horse, at least not for me, but I do enjoy the challenge of riding (and handling) him. I am once again learning to let go.

Oh, he also broke a cross tie, which is apparently something he does with notable frequency.