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.
