One of my things to do with Rico this fall/winter/spring (depending on weather) is to drive him. This isn't random-
Before I bought him, Rico was a combined driving horse alongside his partner, Limbo. Rico and Limbo competed at the Preliminary level of combined driving.
What is combined driving? Think eventing but with a cart. Instead of stadium, they navigate a course of cones with tennis balls on them and instead of cross country, they navigate a course of rails/barrels/etc. I don't know much about it, so here's a video!
I can't believe Rico did that! It's so freaking cool. So obviously I've always wanted to drive him. I've ground driven him plenty (he's amazing), but I have never had access to a cart.
So I decided to email his old owners with a few pictures of him, a bit about his life these last ten years, and an update on how he's doing now. I also mentioned wanting to drive him and asking if they would want me to bring him up to their place or if they had any ideas for someone down here.
It took a bit to get their information, I had to scour the internet to find someone who knew them and then ask them for the information I needed. Finally I sent the email a few days ago.
And today I heard back:
Dear Megan,
We would love to see you! Thank you for all of the loving care and life you have given to Rico.
Let us know when you will be out this way and we will work something into the calendar. This time of year it is difficult to predict the weather, so we may want to wait until spring.
Sincerely,
[names removed]
Ahhh I'm so excited!!! To sit behind Rico pulling a cart would be amazing. I can totally believe that he'll be really good about it too, he's so quiet and tolerant.
I'm also excited to see the look on his face too. He hasn't seen a cart since 2006 when we went to the CDE when they were still running at Woodside. He hasn't driven a cart since 2004. His little brain is going to explode!
I also want as much information as I can get on his life before me. I got him when he was coming 9 years old so he had a lot of stuff going on before me.
I know that his owners imported him and Limbo, I know that they competed both in Germany and here. I know that Limbo was the hot, spooky one and that Rico was the lazy, brave one. They apparently worked well together because Limbo would amp Rico up and Rico would take over when Limbo got nervous. I also know that Rico didn't want to be a singles horse because he was SO lazy.
Other than that, I have no idea! I want to hear some stories.
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| They look so similar! Rico is the one on the right side of the picture (left side of the cart) |
It rained today so no riding for us. I did some work for my new job (yay!) and ran a bunch of errands. Hopefully the weather will clear this weekend so we can get a good ride in.
Ooh combined driving looks so fun! Rico does seem like he'd be good at it... Cool :)
ReplyDeleteI'm so excited! I totally want to go out on cross country (marathon?) since they have a course there but we'll see what the weather is like...
DeleteCombined driving has always been a total obsession of mine. I don't think I want to do it, but it's completely mesmerizing to watch! How fun!
ReplyDeleteI had never heard of it before Rico but since getting him I've watched a lot of videos and we went to the one at the horse park one year. It's INSANE what people can navigate from inside a cart! And the cart Rico and Limbo pulled was enormous too, craziness.
DeleteCombined driving looks like SO much fun! I really want to do it with my little miniature, but we don't really have much in the way of driving out here. I can guarantee you will have just as much fun as Rico when he does get hooked up!
ReplyDeleteAww minis! There are a few minis that come to drive around the horse park sometimes, they're so cute. I'm really excited to see him hooked up, I know exactly the look that will be on his face!
Deletethat is so so so cool - i can't even imagine trying to do the cross country version of driving... so intense! i hope you can work something out with Rico's former owners and try driving him. who knows - maybe you'll be converted to a whole new discipline lol
ReplyDeleteCross country in the cart looks so much scarier than cross country jumps! Those tight turns are so crazy and they go pretty fast for how big these carts are. I have a feeling I might want a cart after this, but unfortunately (luckily?) we don't have a place to drive so I'm stuck riding him.
DeleteI cannot wait for Rico to get hitched up again!!!
ReplyDeleteMe too! There will be so many pictures and video! I wish the ground would dry for a bit so we could go sooner rather than later but that makes me really selfish because we're experiencing a really bad drought.
DeleteHow cool!! He's had quite a diverse life.
ReplyDeleteHe's so tolerant and I was a teenager when I got him so he's done a lot of weird stuff (including roping cones haha). I think he'd be game to do anything. Except maybe endurance because he's extremely lazy. He'd like the trail riding part of it though.
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