After another very pleasant and educational trip to Florida -helping drive down the first shipment of horses, I was inspired to start back with the babies. Solo however was not quite so inspired and after two pleasant days of walking around the arena on him I asked hi to trot….well!….you would have thought I had said exuberant piaffe please. Around about this time, I decided he had way too much grain, not enough exercise and maybe not enough turnout. I put Solo and his buddy Waldo back out at night (huge run-in shed, bedded down with straw – not exactly roughing it) in the hope that the extra turnout will help him be a bit less enthusiastic with his not so sprightly rider.
I rode him again yesterday and he is still quite full of his own importance, but not as explosive as he was. However, I am having someone stay with me while I ride him for the next few days…LOL I had hoped to stay on his case every day until he has a lot less to say for himself but we are iced in today, I hope the weather will let me ride him this afternoon.
Solo has held his weight really well, apart from being a lot fuzzier, he is in the same shape he was in when he showed at the Royal. His whole body is starting to broaden out and we noticed that his girth is steadily increasing. He holds his condition easily but he doesn’t get fat, he reaches a certain weight and then just gets very exuberant to use up his extra energy. We are trying to find the perfect balance of feed and exercise to maintain his condition and keep him energetic but not silly. It is really important that he concentrates on his lessons this winter and equally important that he feels strong and physically able to perform what is asked of him.
