TBT: Trail Riding Rico in 2012

Life is super boring here without riding. Our arena's footing is just way way way too deep and I'm not risking him. I mean, we are moving barns soon anyway, it's not worth it. TC is really frustrated though and it make me sad to see him upset. Just be patient, TC!

I'm struggling to keep this blog afloat with nothing to really talk about. I figured I'd just show some pictures and tell a short story about Rico.

He was so excited

Back in the winter of 2012, I was finishing up my undergraduate and kind of bringing Rico back. We had showed Fourth again in fall 2012 but hadn't started working with Tracey (March 2013 was our first lesson with her).

He was at my parents' ranch and so we had no covered arena. When it was raining, I would mostly ride him down the road and back, but one day I decided to haul out.

Rico had not been on a trail ride since before his surgery (July-ish 2010) and so that winter he did his first one! The facility has a little path that is mostly flat that goes around a large cow pasture. Rico didn't care that it was super boring, he was all about it!

Fields, just starting to get a bit of green in them

A random lone tree

So excited

Actually the ugliest horse

Not my favorite tree but close

Happy ears

I promise we put a topline on him later lol

Palm trees

Looking at the cows

This is the same facility that has my favorite tree. I hope this summer, TC and I can go visit every weekend we have free.

Throwback Thursday: Four Years Ago

Four years ago Rico and I cantered down centerline for the last time at Greenville to earn a 65% at Grand Prix, which clinched my USDF Gold Medal and allowed Rico to retire on the spot. I wrote about it a year later, but have since kind of let Rico and my journey take a back seat to TC. 

Rico taught me so much though, and without him I would never have been where I'm at with TC. 

Rico is living out the rest of his life in a large private pasture with my parents' horses. He and I go on adventures sometimes, though because of his battle with Internal Pigeon Fever in fall 2016, he never really regained his strength and so is limited in what he can do. It doesn't stop him from trotting around in his pasture and loving life, nor does it really stop me from taking him on (light) trail rides or hopping on him bridleless and bareback in his pasture. 

When I first started with TC, I missed Rico a lot. I couldn't wait until TC was better trained so that I could do the same things I did on Rico. As TC gets better and better, I find myself feeling slightly guilty in that I don't miss Rico as much. Rico was amazing, don't get me wrong. But TC is everything Rico wasn't - enthusiastic about his work (because I trained him that way), easier to ride (because I trained him that way), and has much less training holes (because I trained him that way). 

I feel guilty sometimes that I enjoy riding TC more than I enjoyed riding Rico. But I am much happier because of it. Still doesn't mean that Rico isn't the best horse in the world, because he so is! 

Our last halt ever

Pirouettes were so tough for us but we managed them

My mechanics have gotten so much better since then

He's such a pretty horse

I love this picture

Throw Back Thursday: Longeing No Longer Required

Every now and then I really miss writing about Rico on this blog. I feel weird that so many of the posts here have been about the young horse when Rico is my heart horse. I've owned him for 13 years now and while I adore TC, Rico will always be my number one.

Here are some more things/stories/words about him:

Rico and I have gone out on the trails a bunch together. He is
the only horse I've trusted to let me carry my nice camera on
him (despite him occasionally making me regret that) so that
I could get shots like this. 

When Rico retired (the first time), I sold everything that was
his, including his saddle, so when I started riding him again,
we rode bareback for the first month so that I trusted that he
would stay sound. Even then, I slowly bought other stuff. I
found a saddle for cheap but waited to buy stirrup leathers for
another month.

Rico was the first horse I rode bridleless at more than a walk.
This is when he just retired from dressage and I was doing silly
stuff with him, like taking him on the trails and jumping him
without a bridle on!

I bought this ridiculous browband for his double bridle. It said
that it was "opal" which sounded beautiful (opal is my favorite
stone) but it ended up being quite a bit more pink. He still rocked
it for several years! TC will get his own soon enough.

One of my first ever shows on Rico was at Rancho Murieta. My
trainer didn't go so I rode with her trainer, who would eventually
get me my Gold like 8.5 years later. The only thing I remember
about this show is longeing Rico in the rain before my tests!
The idea of longeing him now before riding is hilarious.

Throw Back Thursday: Beautiful Baby Horse

Remember that today is the last day to enter my 1,000 posts contest!

Today we're throwing it back to the most beautiful baby horse in the whole world. I can't believe I ever looked at this thing and said "sure, I'll make this my dressage horse," but I did!

I ran across this picture from when TC was three years old and
just totally looking like a superstar dressage prospect

What even is that color? Or body shape?

Oh god he was so ugly. He looks like an alien 
who landed on earth by mistake. Like, he's cute 
to me but probably only to me. 

He's so upside down it's just ridiculous

Okay time for a pallet cleanser... 

He's still not the world's most well put together creature but he
does look a lot more attractive and more horse-like now. 

Throwback Thursday- Must Love Dogs

 I miss writing about Rico on the blog. I feel like my memories of him and our time together are fading, which isn't true, but sometimes I feel so wrapped up in work, my commute, and TC that I just don't have any mental space for him. So I wanted to write some short little stories about him and share pictures that everyone has seen before.

I had Rico at the barn I worked at for a summer before he got hurt
and had to go off to rehab for his suspensory which eventually turned
into his DDFT problem that he needed surgery on. We did a lot of beach
conditioning so the dressage horse was invited. It was... kind of scary. Rico
hates waves and was very spooky. But he's the best horse so once he chilled
out then it was fun!

I used to ride Rico in the dark all the time. Bareback, apparently.
He was boarded at my parents' barn because I couldn't afford anyplace
else, and so I had to manage the arena completely- redoing the footing
when it would get hard or uneven, dragging, watering, etc. This meant
that I had less time to ride, so my rides got pushed into the dark. No
lights, so most of the time we rode by moonlight. 

Rico LOVES dogs, and Cooper loves any attention
he can get. Rico is always trying to cuddle with the
dogs at the ranch. TC also loves animals and cuddles
with the cats at his barn. I love these cuddly horses!

Second level was a really hard level for us, made harder by my
stupidity where I decided not to use spurs at this show. We still
scored okay, but it was definitely the beginning of the end in terms
of my training situation. After this show I took some time off of
dressage with Rico. 

I taught Rico to piaffe myself right in front of the barn. It took a
long time, but he was such a freakishly willing horse. He was the
first one I put piaffe on and I think I did an okay job with it. He
eventually learned to sit and we earned 7s on the piaffe at GP in
our last test. 

In October 2012, I showed Rico for the first time in three years,
for the first time since his "career ending" injury. It was a terrible
test, I was putting myself through school and saving for grad school
so I didn't take any lessons coming up to it. But I was so proud of my
62% at Fourth 1. And then I started riding with Tracey and raised my
scores into the mid 60s at Fourth and Prix St George. Yeah. Training
is a good thing! You can see how on the forehand he is (look at how
much his right front is under his body).

Obviously gotta add a picture from our first Grand Prix test. I
can't believe he did this for me, I really hope he's enjoying his
retirement because he deserves it!