One perk of Presto having a little summer vacay is that it gives me a little more time to focus on the others. Particularly this dude.
I’m figuring Rubes out more and more as time goes on, and one thing that has become exceedingly clear is that he thrives on routine. That makes sense, he was a racehorse forever, and racehorse life is all about routine. While he’s learned over time to be more flexible about how his day is structured (he used to get IRATE if he wasn’t worked before 8am), having a really predictable routine when I’m in the tack also seems to soothe him quite a bit. So I’ve been structuring his rides pretty much the same every day, and he’s really starting to focus more, which is helping things “click”. He’s a horse who likes to always know what to expect.
As of right now, that looks like this: we do his normal flatwork, wtc with transitions between and within the gaits, leg yield, a little shoulder or baby haunches in, spiraling in and out, etc. Then we trot some cavaletti until he does so quietly – this could be 1 time or this could be 5-6 times, depending on the day. Once he’s straight and quiet and paying attention, we canter some cavaletti as singles. If he wants to get a little yeehaw about it we go back to trot and wash-rinse-repeat. At this point the focus is really just rhythm and straightness. Once we’ve got all that down pat (which again, could be 2-3 times or might be 6-8 times) we might end with cantering the cavaletti on a bending line or making a shorter approach off the rail.
Some days are better than others (this mostly hinges on what else is happening around him… like the day the internet company decided to set up a huge orange umbrella under the telephone pole right in front of the ring and Rubes was holding his brain together with scotch tape and a prayer) but day over day the improvement is there. He’s very smart and always trying to figure out what I want, but he does need a lot of routine and predictability (at least right now) to help him maintain his focus and his calm.
Tell you what though, I’m really happy with how his canter and his jump are coming along. He is indeed the athlete I thought he was. Once I can wrangle the brain, we’ll be in business.
He did go on another little outing, and was calm enough to where I probably could have gotten on him and ridden him around, but considering that he’s really anticipating ACTION whenever he goes somewhere (obviously we get on the trailer and go to race, ya know?) I felt like it was more important for him to just take a look around, have some grass, take a deep breath, and then get back on the trailer and go home. He still has to figure out that going places doesn’t always mean something exciting is going to happen. Until then, I think it’s more beneficial for him to just hang out. The riding stuff is not and will not be the hard part with this horse, it’s going to be the anxiety. And since I have the benefit of not being in any kind of rush with him, we can just take each day as it comes and do whatever the best thing is for his brain on the day. I think taking that time now, in the beginning, will be better for him in the long run. If I try to get greedy I think I could create a problem where there doesn’t have to be one.
Aside from Rubes I’ve been working with a couple of the 2yo’s a bit. Andy is old news I suppose, I’ve been working with him since he was a weanling, but now that he’s actually 2, things are going to start getting a little more exciting. He ties, he loads, he knows whoa and walk voice commands and the idea of lunging (walk only), he’s ponied, and he’s worn saddle pads and such. This summer he’ll wear a bit for the first time, and a saddle, and start learning about trotting and maybe some ground driving at the walk.
Joining him on those adventures will be Rue, the filly that Michelle retained from the 2023 foal crop. I’m going to start playing with her a bit more and get a feel for her temperament/personality and what she might be suited for, hoping that she can have a bit of a sport career before she joins the broodmare band. She’s a tall girl, with a temperament more like a gelding, so we’ll see how she takes to things.
As for Presto, he’s been out hacking a few times this week and seems to be feeling good. Tomorrow we’ll start some stretchy w/t/c and start moving him back into work next week. He’s definitely starting to act bored and wild (just what everyone wants – a bored and wild Presto) so I think he’s ready to get back to his normal stuff.
In other news we’ve had another mare with a confirmed pregnancy and one with a confirmed heartbeat check in the past week… all we’ve really got left is one mare waiting on her pregnancy scan, which is this weekend. Then we’re done! Once we wrap all that up I’ll post a list of what all we’re expecting next year. It’s quite a few (biggest crop yet?) and a wide variety of horses, so it should be pretty fun in 2026. We’ve already had some inquiries on next years foals, and we’ve only got one left this year (Ivy – the upper level event prospect).
In less great news, both pairs of my riding boots have suffered catastrophic wounds in the last couple weeks. The heel has completely separated on my black ones, and I’ve worn a quarter size patch through the calf of the brown ones.
I have super glue and a leather patch on the way, so we’re about to be doing some experimenting. Ain’t nobody be affording new boots at the moment.
One other thing: my first podcast episode with OTTB on Tap dropped this week, check it out here if you’re so inclined! And make sure you’re following them on facebook and/or insta for exclusive vlogs, updates, and more podcast episodes (plus just really great OTTB content in general).
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