Foal Pool 3.0

If you missed my last post, Surprise we have another foal coming!

Yesterday I was startled to see a post from Tawe's owner saying she was due to foal soon. Somehow she never told me last year that she was in foal. Considering how many other mares did not catch and how late she was bred, I figured it was a miss.

I am thrilled that we are now awaiting the third sibling from this super match up. So here are the details for this last minute foal pool.

Tawe, smokey black Cob
Bred 7/13

Now she had Carousel at 332 days and Draco at 330. Not sure how much that will help when mares seem to be taking their time this year.

Same parameters as usual.
Basic: Date/Gender
Bonus: Color/ Chrome(head, body, legs)

Winner will get a $25 RW gift card. Guesses accepted until 6/7/19 on either post. Good Luck!

Hitting a Wall and Last Minute Foal Pool

Sadly the months of malnutrition are starting to really take a toll. Even normal barn chores are getting difficult. I have never felt so weak in all my life. But I am still determined to ride.

How I feel most days

So I threw the bareback pad on Roscoe and figured I would take even five minutes. I like being bareback while working lateral so I can feel him better. I did forget the spurs though. Roscoe decided that I was worth a buck. He almost got me off.

I got creative after that. Instead of asking for should in by moving his shoulder to the inner ring, which he was too quick to follow with his hind end, I moved his shoulder to the fence.  This way there was no room for him drift. I may be hitting a wall physically, but in this instance I decided to use the wall. I also have to think hard about picturing picking up his shoulders and moving them individually. I seem to be clearer in my aids when I think that way.
We still are not up to full speed, but I know he has forward. I will take the baby steps. I can't fight the fight right now which is humbling. What is gratifying is that we did manage the shoulder in and he felt like he understood what I was asking. I did attempt to work on our canter drifts. The right lead had some success. The left was tougher. That will have to continue as a work in progress.

I lasted longer than five minutes and could barely walk after wards, but I felt better for the ride. My pony misses the work and he tries to make me feel better on the days I am not up for a ride. Don't tell the big, bad stallion I told you guys that. Heck the other day he actually let me pull some of his mane just to have the connection with me. I love that boy.

My forgiving stud

Fingers crossed that this week I will finally get new medicine. Hitting the wall has made me slow down. I am lucky to have an amazing family to cover me. I really had hoped to go to a CT next weekend as a gift to Roscoe and I, but it will have to be delayed. We have time.

Plus I need to get healthy so Ember can start his ridden career. Can you believe he turned 3yrs old this week?

And guys it turns out Tawe is pregnant! So we have 3.0 coming soon. I will give away a $25 RW gift card for this last minute foal pool. Put your guesses in the comments as usual.

Canter Drifts, Battles

At my last lesson Lauren added a new challenge for Roscoe. She wanted a small canter, with him stepping under and sitting. Then she had me come down the quarter line and drift over to the rail. Roscoe said it was hard to do. He has a big block when it comes to moving sideways while still going forward. She also noticed that his balance in our little arena is not as good as when we work in Spriesers huge arena. Part of that is because I can package him better in a larger space.

Despite our shortcomings, when we did manage the exercise I could feel how hard Roscoe was trying. These canter drifts are leading up to actual first level movements. Maybe I should look at those tests. So as we worked Lauren had us increase the angle. I had fun trying to keep Roscoe in the small canter, as he decided to just rush through. I am so glad I am taking the time this year to advance without the stress of showing at a higher level.

Lauren has not ridden Roscoe in the last nine months, so I told her the next time I would have her ride. I hope that she can teach Roscoe that lateral movements can be done at normal speed. She got on him Sunday at Sprieser and the fireworks flew. I expected them since Roscoe battles me with new stuff. Lauren can box him in. The hard part was that she had already dealt with a misbehaving horse earlier and seemed to take it personally when Roscoe reared and bucked. Cobs will take a lot, but they do have a sense of fairness. I did not see anything that went beyond the fair limit, but it was a battle on both their parts. My pony is spoiled by my lack of muscle and ability to push him forward. Lauren is young and thinks every horse should focus and listen to her. I would call the result a draw. Neither of them got exactly what they wanted. I win because Roscoe did learn to move forward while performing lateral moves. Plus I will totally look like the good guy when I ride him next. I only hopped on to cool him out. He did shoulder in so much easier than before. Here is a short video of them at the beginning.

She found he needs more angle

She did a little canter

One of the fights

I kind of want to see someone else ride him. That way I can see if he objects as strongly. I know he needs to be pushed, but I also don't want him to lose the want to learn. I will use Lauren judiciously in the future. The good news is that my new medicine should be coming soon. Then I can get my energy back and train my pony.

Meanwhile if you have not seen it yet, here is a video of Shelby. His white mark looks even better moving around.

Colorful Boy

If you did not notice they was a change to my last post. Turns out the new foal is a colt. Been there before! Leave it to Roscoe to have a boy during a filly year.
He is still really cute. My old instructor said he looks like a stuffed animal.

His name is PleinAir Nocturne. His barn name is Shelby and came from his horse white mark on his side. The breeder's husband works for Ford and decided the mark was like the mustang.
He is a colorful boy which turns out to be unusual for Jewel's foals. All her others have been solid with little white. I guess Roscoe really has some strong chrome genes. It has been interesting to see his grand foals out of his high chrome sons do not have as much as their sires. They do put their stamp on though in body and quality.

Delayed Gratification, It's a Filly...oops a Colt!

I started to write a post about how the mares are taking their time this year, which is still true, but I got the message that Roscoe's new Colt had arrived.
Jewel was due last Tuesday and I asked if she was one to delay. Her owner was pretty sure she would foal this week. I was home taking a sick day after a rough UC week (thank you all for your support) so her message made my day.

I only have one picture. More will come this weekend.

Definitely not lacking in chrome 

Not surprising the delayed gratification had an affect on the Foal Pool points. Most of us are impatient and wanted an early foal. The winner must have known the mares are in no rush this year.

***The change to colt does not change the winner. Add one point to the score for colt and subtract one for filly. ***

Congrats to Teresa A! You have won the cross stitch picture and the $25 Riding Warehouse gift card.
And for the first time... She was also the winner of my unsaid "Damn Close" award, $10 RW gift card. Please send me, equinpilot@yahoo.com,  your email and a group of pictures I can pick from to make your picture.

And to continue the Filly year, here is Roscoe's new Grand Filly. She is Comrade's and Connor's new niece. She is out of "Mini Me" and Dyma Hi.