A New Addition

My parents bought a new horse today! His name is Riot and he's a 9 year old Tennessee Walking horse. He is SO sweet, my dad immediately connected with him (he's going to be his horse) and rode him very well. My dad has back issues so needed a horse that was smooth, easy to handle, and perfect on trails. Riot fit the description!

Riot at the vet check

I tried him before I left for Socal for my parents. I've been playing horse trainer and directing them away from horses that I didn't think were appropriate. I rode him for maybe ten minutes and knew that he was perfect. He just does everything you ask of him. If he doesn't want to do something, he gets a little resistant and then gives in.

Today was his vet check so I met my mom at the clinic after I worked this morning. They used the same vet as I do (Rico's lameness vet), so I talked to him about Rico's energy problem. He agreed with Heidi that Omelene would be a good grain to change to, so we're going to make the switch, we also may try red cell. He gave me some really good information about how energy works- animals burn sugar for the first 15-20 minutes of exercise, then burn fat. He said that the horses need a balance of fat and sugar in their diet to have enough energy for a whole workout. Omelene has more sugar and Rico is already on rice bran which has fat. We also may put him on red cell, since he was slightly anemic. My vet said that red cell basically allows for better red blood cell development and that helps by bringing more oxygen to the muscles.

Anyway, Riot! Riot had some minor issues related to his conformation- the beginning of side bone, a joint in the hock that showed regular wear, and one heel was lower than the other- but my parents are going to be trail riding primarily. All Riot needs to do is keep up with Stretch, which isn't hard! So they bought him.

Any horse that I can instagram from is a keeper

Then it was a frantic two hours at their barn to ready the place. He was VERY dirty, the barn he came from was restricting water due to the drought so he hadn't had a bath in ages. I bathed him all over, betadined his legs, and brushed out his tail and mane. My dad held him since he seemed slightly nervous in the cross ties. He never did anything, but you could just tell he was slightly uncomfortable. My parents have a private barn with now four horses, so it's very different than the big boarding stable he was at.

Now he's all settled in and clean. On Friday he gets the shoes put back on (they did hock and front foot x-rays) but his feet are tough so I might take him into the arena tomorrow just to get him out and doing something. After that, my dad has MAJOR trail riding plans and I've designed a conditioning schedule for him since he's a little out of shape.