"Budweiser Select" is a very special horse whose story deserves to be shared. I will apologize in advance for the length of this first post, but it was only a recent idea to create "Budweiser's Blog", so in as few words as possible I will try to tell Weiser's story thus far...
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| Weiser in March |
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| New shoes to fix broken feet |
He came into my life in March of 2011, a scraggly, underweight boy in need of much TLC! To keep the details short, I was tipped off by a client of my mom that there was a nice horse starving in a sandlot in Ocala. My mom is a real estate agent, who at that time was helping her to purchase a horse farm, so I guess somewhere along the way my love of horses came up :) Sitting in my dorm one night, I received a late phone call from my mother informing me that she had found me my next horse! I was mildly confused. While my parents are amazingly supportive of my riding, the last discussion we'd had on THAT subject had encouraged me to continue free leasing/ catch riding ("Honey, I'm sorry, but a horse is not really an option right now"). My interest piqued that my motm was encouraging me to buy a horse--and a young one at that--I found out as much as I could about him. Knowledge was limited as whatever registration papers he once had were lost, but I learned that he was a warmblood cross, with at least a quarter Clydesdale. His name "Weiser" (yes, like the beer) came from that little bit of Clydesdale. He was born sometime in 2006, and at 5 years old was 17-ish hands high. From what I understood, the only training he had received in those years was his initial 90 days as an 18 month old. With nothing to lose, then, at the start of my spring break in March, my mom and I made the 10 hour drive to Ocala (with trailer in tow, of course). We found Weiser to be sweet and easy to catch, despite the 2 years of hardships and starvation he had faced. As I went in the stall to meet him I was horrified by his condition: his feet were unshod and cracked, his coat quality was awful (at that time he was a dull chocolatey brown color, with curly, thin, and falling out hair due malnutrition), and he was at least 300lbs underweight, if not more! But, as I dug my fingers into his fur and gave him a pat, he reached his neck around to give me a hug and began licking me everywhere! I just knew then I couldn't leave him behind, and I promised him I would do everything in my power to provide him a great home. Therefore, with Weiser untried and underweight, and I with no idea what I was doing, he was loaded onto my trailer the very next day.
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| May at Elysian Equine |
Weiser spent his first few months with me at Elysian Equine, in Advance, North Carolina, while I was finishing my semester at Wake Forest University. During that time I witnessed immense changes! His curly hair fell out and he was bald for a week before anything new grew in, his feet were done and shoes were put on (see above), his teeth were floated, and his vaccinations were updated. I began to work with him, first in the round pen, then lounging, then riding. He seemed to enjoy having a job to do! His stamina improved greatly, initially he was unable to even trot a 20 meter circle without huffing & puffing! Fitness is still a daily problem for him, although he has improved greatly, and he is often quite tuckered out at the end of a ride! In those first few months though, the best change by far was the trust that began to develop between us.
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| Now in much better condition! (Oct 2011) |
On August 15th, the next chapter of our time together began as I headed down to Watkinsville, GA to join High Point's amazing facility as Cindy Thaxton's working student. Under Cindy's skilled tutelage, Weiser and I have been making tremendous strides in our training! Since arrival already he has gone from an un-steerable and unbalanced baby (all legs and no coordination!) to a "maturing adolescent". His loving personality and sweet temperament combined with naturally impressive, ground covering gaits, mark him with potential to become a true Dressage star!
Currently, his canter is still a major "work in progress" as he continues to gain muscle tone, mass, and overall coordination to carry himself. Even so, we have been taking him out to school at shows for experience, and as recently as October 15th, I took him to the GDCTA "Putting on the Pink" schooling show to debut him at Training Level. I went out with the goal to get a measure on his developing trot work, and give him experience showing. He could not have performed better! With an 8 on gaits, consistent 6's and 7's in the trot work, and--canter balance and submission issues aside-- even breaking 60% in our last test Weiser has begun to show his true colors!
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| 8 Months under saddle & already a star |
Follow us as I will track Weiser's training progress, shows, and other important life events! Fingers crossed, and together we will find out what this little diamond in the rough is capable of!
