Adventures with Sam #1 - My (not so) Little Pony · 1:14am Oct 28th, 2021
Alternate title: I've only gone and done it after all. I bought a horse.
Alright, full disclosure; Not only is he not at all little, he's not exactly a Pony either.
This is Sam:
He is 2, going on 3. He is a gelding Draft Horse, and stands over 5' 5" at the shoulder. Still growing.
He is gentle, smart, kind, and very, very attached to me.
And as of today, he is mine.
I'll drop an entry in here from time to time to chronicle our journeys.
Suffice to say we have a lot of adventures, and work, and joy ahead of us.
He has some solid basic training with a halter/lead, so the next order of business is to strengthen that with some practice and walking together on the lead, spend lots of time together grooming to further strengthen his positive association with touch, and begin a little bit of pressure training (arm over withers, leaning on his side, eventually lying over his back to acclimate him to weight/pressure stimuli).
Aw, I see you decided to do a short of journal to update us on what you and Sam have been doing.
A wise and noble steed!
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I'll keep the blogs up as we go; His halter is borrowed from the breeders, and I need to measure him for a replacement of my own, but I'm getting a lead in tomorrow so we can start ground work straight away if the weather isn't terrible.
He's extremely calm, and very canny, but all horses have a bit of a 'let me test you a bit' impulse, to some degree or other, because of their herd instincts. I'm looking forward to getting our little herd established properly.
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He's absolutely the best. I'm so looking forward to reaching a point in his training where he's ready for a saddle, and even a little bare-back, because I'm a sucker for danger, and adventure, and weight reduction while going fast.
As saddles go, I'm told I may actually need a special draft horse saddle because of how big he already is, and will continue to grow as the next couple years pass.
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Ok!