Cob Jockey

To be honest, I spent the last few days wondering what I had gotten myself into. Encore was anxious, spooky, and I truly never saw him take a single deep breath. He would take this series of half-breaths but never really exhale, like a sleep apnea patient. He wouldn't even eat his grain the first night, so I didn't end up getting Gut-X into him until Monday night.

That cowhorse mane had to go (with owner's permission!) if he was going to be marketed as a sport horse.

But after two days of keeping his routine very consistent, introducing clicker training, and getting Gut-X into him, when I came out on Wednesday I had a totally different horse.

SUCH a different horse, can you believe it?

Just like his Aunt Aeres two years ago, almost overnight after starting the hyaluronic acid supplement there was suddenly a softness to his eye. He cocked a hind leg while I was grooming him in the crossties (which, two days ago he'd never been crosstied before. One of several examples I could give you of him learning things faster than any horse I've had before). 

I actually didn't plan on doing his mane last night, but as I was brushing a few tangles out after his nightly feet picking and brushing routine, I heard him exhale - fully - for the first time the whole time he'd been here. I clicked and treated, and kept going as he practically dozed under my fingers.

Don't get me wrong, we've still got quite a ways to go. He's an anxious fellow by nature, and this is all very new to him. He is attached to his underneck like it's a security blanket he won't let go of. But this whole time I've seen a thinker shining through the anxiety, and now that the anxiety has subsided just a little bit, I can see the horse he'll become with time, trust and consistency. And it's only been three days.

Airplane ears after a click treat sugar cube.

It's exciting to see him start to come out of his shell, and I can't wait to get to the barn every day and see what baby steps we're going to make that day.

 Mr. Encore arrived at the barn yesterday at noon sharp.

He's a big boy - every bit of 15.1hh, and at age 5, he still has that weedy "I'm horse shaped but still growing" look I'm used to seeing from five-year-old Cobs. He's going to fill out a lot, and probably add an inch before he's seven like Connor did.

Not the best scale photo, but he's got a solid hand on Connor, at least.

I spent all of yesterday afternoon just hanging out at the barn enjoying the first cool day in a week and watching him. Learning him. 

He's so sweet and personable. A little anxious and reactive, but he thinks through his anxiety.

And - I'm pretty positive there's ulcers going on, which if his Aunt Aeres is any indication, solving that should REALLY take the edge off.

Oh Connor, worth his weight in actual gold when it comes to turning him out with whatever random training horse happens to need a buddy over the years.

I let he and Connor spend the afternoon next to each other eating hay in the barn before turning them out together for the night. At times I groomed him, or just sat on a stool in his stall reading a book. Observing. Being calm and trustworthy. If I was in his stall, it didn't matter how much hay was in front of him, he wanted to be near me, sniffing me, touching me.

He has diminished vision in his right eye from a pasture accident as a young horse, and he seems to appreciate you chattering when you're working on his right side.

The plan for this week is to let him settle in, get him started on ulcer treatment, get him used to the routine of being worked and fed as I assess what ground stuff he does and doesn't know (and what saddle should fit him - I think based on looking at him we have better odds of Connor's saddles fitting than his girths!) and then hopefully start riding toward the end of this week.

Really can't wait to sit on him after watching him run around today

Every year for as long as I've known Lisa, minus a couple of years during the pandemic, there's been a Belgian Warmblood - North American District (BWP-NAD) Keuring at her mentor's farm, Bannockburn Farm. Lisa's mentor, Allyn McCracken, who passed away earlier this year, was an incredibly influential breeder in the Belgian Warmblood world, at one point rising to #4 in the USEF Show Jumping breeders list through her stock, which all carry a "B" suffix.

Simsalabim, Allyn's pensioned herd sire, enjoying the good life on a steamy summer morning on Wednesday

It has never worked out for me to attend the Keuring before this year, but this year it did, and they needed help. They didn't have anyone to run the Bannockburn horses, and Lisa was bringing five Welsh Cobs and one half-Welsh/half-BWP to be inspected also (which meant the moms were along for the ride as well).

Guess who? Aeres!

I was a little nervous to have a "client" for the Keuring, since I had never attended one before, although at this point I have a lot of experience showing in-hand with Lisa. I also did not have the required attire and had to scramble for a pair of khaki pants off Amazon, which ended up being kid school uniform pants, lol.

Baby getting branded. I had never seen a branding before, but it was a lot calmer than I imagined. The babies just looked back wide eyed for the "fly" that just bit them, no fireworks.

In the end, I ran nearly every single horse at the Keuring except for two or three, since I had some outside customers asking me to handle their horses day-of too. It's a pretty simple formula: walk the horse parallel to the judge, try to get them to stand as still and straight as possible for conformation judging, then walk a lap, then trot two laps.

PC: Leah, who got up super early and took a day off to help all day and also keep me company on the 3 hour roundtrip drive, which was so appreciated

I approached this like I approach Welsh showing: run hard. Lisa and I have casually observed through the years that the pony's strides and intensity tend to match the handlers. If the handler is moving with purpose, freedom and knee action, the pony will too. If the handler is shuffling along, the pony will too. And as a lifelong cross-country runner/current CrossFitter, I had no problem keeping up the pace or intensity all day, even when it came to the big-moving Warmbloods.

Thanks to a recent rule change allowing breeders of pony/BWP crosses to choose whether they want their stock inspected as Belgian Riding Pony or Belgian Warmblood, this stunning half-Welsh fellow was approved Belgian Warmblood yesterday and currently has one of the highest colt scores in the country for this year according to the Belgian judge. Castleberrys Orion (Castleberrys Red Dragon x Olivia B (Arko III). He is available and will finish BIG.

And this is when I learned that there is one thing in the horse world I am good at: showing sporthorses in-hand. And since I'm not naturally good at literally anything else in horses, you better believe I am proud of that, lol.

Running mom with a loose baby was definitely a skill I got better at throughout the day. Had to keep an eye on baby and be a little crafty to keep the baby from running between me and mom.

The BWP-NAD pres non-jokingly asked if I'd be willing to fly around the country and handle horses at Keurings. She said that was some of the best handling she'd seen and that I really showed the horses at their very best, which helps to maximize their scoring. Poor handling can hurt a horse's score by highlighting rather than minimizing flaws during the conformation judging and by not showing off the fullest extent of their gaits in the movement judging. 

Allyn and her husband Fletcher loved foxhunting, which Allyn would sometimes do sidesaddle!

The Belgian judge also said it was great handling, and said he liked the calm way I handled them and that I didn't jerk them around even when some of them got silly, including a recently gelded jumbo-sized warmblood yearling (Judge to owner: "You're SURE that's a yearling? Positive?" 😂) who tried really hard to be a good boy, but had some Feelings during his inspection and gave me some flashbacks to handling racehorses in high school.

All in all, it was an amazing experience, and whether or not I legitimately have a new side hustle flying to Keurings to handle, I am so grateful I was able to participate in this one and honor Allyn's legacy, since this is possibly the last one at Bannockburn given that they aren't breeding anymore and the remaining stock and semen are slowly being sold. 

Need/want: fireplace in my tack room and chandeliers in my indoor

PS - anyone want an eventer? This is Aeres' colt going for some extra credit on Wednesday. Same fellow that walked into the pond at 3 days of age! This little guy couldn't be clearer about what he wants his future career to be.

At first, when I said I was leasing Connor out, multiple friends were concerned. "But with Disco in Canada, that leaves you with nothing to ride! Are you getting out of horses?"

Absolutely not. I still love to ride. I still dream of a lifelong career at Beginner Novice eventing and no higher again someday (lol). But it's true that I am not interested in committing fully (buying) something else right now. Lisa to the rescue!

The farm sure does bring it on sunrise photos

Her farrier has a class of 2018 Castleberry Cob gelding who he just doesn't have time for and is looking to get some time put on him and then sell him. He's broke enough to be past the fireworks stage (not that there were any - as with all the Castleberry Cobs I've known, his first time with a rider he just turned around and sniffed the guy's foot like "Well, that's kind of weird but okay.") but not broke enough to really know much of anything - which is perfect.

We chatted on the phone, and I said, "Look, I'm not a pro, I won't charge you, I'm an amateur that loves Lisa's ponies and I have an empty stall and time on my hands and the network to probably get him sold for you. If you're okay with what I am and what I'm not, I'm good." He was, and we virtually shook hands, with an agreement that he'll get dropped off in a couple weeks.

So, meet Castleberrys Encore! Sort of. Baby pictures only until I get some current ones.

He's a 2018 gelding out of Ebony and by Lisa's stallion Castleberrys Ffafr ap Culhwch.

The only other Culhwch-bred Cob I've ridden was Aeres (Aeres being a granddaughter of and Ffafr being a son of legendary Wales sire Gwynfaes Culhwch). 

Gwynfaes Culhwch. It's so hard to find Dressagey photos of Welsh Cob stallions since breed folks prefer a different stance phase of the trot than sport folks!

In my limited experience, they tend to be freakishly good movers with active hind legs and a lot of suspension. I'm excited to see if that holds true for Encore.

A Culhwch son killing it this year at 3rd