Drogo

There is just so much to catch up on. I'm going to take the easy way and give a brief summary of Drogo (previously Champ) and our time together thus far. 

Prior to me meeting Drogo, he had been saddled a handful of times and sat on once. The trainer did quite a bit of liberty round pen work. He had horrible feet that needed attention ASAP. I had him trimmed the day after bringing him home. He reared and tried to kick the farrier. He was very defensive of his hind end. He is much much better now. The last time he was trimmed he didn't try to kick at all. 

I did round pen work with and without a saddle. I had hired the same trainer that had been working with him for his previous owner, to work/ride him a few days a week. Unfortunately, her schedule got muddied and I chose to discontinue the training. She did put the first ride on him. It went ok. At first he wanted to run off (a horse started galloping in a nearby pasture as soon as the trainer aat on him), but quickly relaxed. I got on him that day as well. Other than that first 10 minute ride, no one else has been on Drogo other than me. 

         He hopped right on for the ride home

First ride

Drogo quickly settled into his new routine, got easier to catch, started kicking less, and kept impressing me with his willingness under saddle. 

 Waiting on the dentist. She said he has likely never been floated before.

We moved to a new barn two months after buying him. It is a nice, picturesque farm. Very simple with only a round pen and areas to ride around the farm. Drogo has been coming along nicely under saddle at the new facility. I did come off of him a couple if months ago. Which, truthfully, has shaken my confidence a bit and I'm struggling mentally to ask him to canter.

 Below are the most recnt pictures of Drogo's bleached out self.

The new farm, it is further away than the original barn which makes it hard to get enough rides on him to have him progress how I'd like. I am currently negotiating taking him back to the original 

barn. It would be pasture board (which I always prefer), the BO would feed my grain a few days a week and I would have to feed 4 days a week. I'm pretty sure I am going to move him back. The facility has a nice outdoor, round pen, and trails. It is half the distance from my house than the current barn. Saving time is a huge factor for me since having kids. 

Anyways, that's pretty much where we are at. I hope to keep the blog current from here so it will be a little more structured and not just a dump of random information and pictures. 😁