Lazy Days

One of the things I really value in a horse is their ability to be lazy. You know, on those days when you go to the barn and it is well over 100 degrees and it is honestly just too horrifically hot outside to even think about tacking up. Or the days where it is in the teens or single digit degrees, and you can barely feel your fingers so holding the reins like a proper rider is simply out of the question.

Ignore the helmet-less-ness

Well I have a lot of those days. But I usually still kind of want to ride on those days (still unsure of why exactly), but the thought of a real ride is just simply not going to happen. I love a horse that I can hop on, bareback in a halter (without even tying the lead rope like reins sometimes!), and just wander around together a little bit.

Charmer is only at a stage where we can walk and do brief sections of trot in a halter, but honestly, I'm fine with that. He still is willing to put up with me at the walk and trot on those days where I didn't really plan on riding (which is why lack of helmet sometimes) and he packs around and listens quietly. And that is more than some horses can handle.

Don't get me wrong, I love that he can gallop like this:

Still not convinced he is off the track

Balanced and powerful

And that he can jump like this:

Learning to use his knees (kind of)

Ever so careful hind end

And you can't forget about trotting like this:

He LOVES trot poles

Hock action

Long and low, all day, every day

But the thing that has truly made me fall in love, over and over again, with this horse is the fact that on a cold winter day, when it is 25 degrees and I am not even in riding clothes, I can climb up on his back and lazily walk and trot, bareback, in a halter. There is something very special about a horse that can do this.

And he even patiently stands for selfies

And those lazy rides are my favorite thing. It means that my very fit, athletic, performance horse, can play pleasure horse now and then. He is the kind of horse I honestly could see giving lazy rides to little kids. He may be big and fast and wild sometimes, but it is in times where I need some spirit and fire. I like that he can always give it one notch faster around a jump course. Or track up just a little bit better for my dressage tests. But at the end of the day, he can also dial it down when I need it. 

Best view

He is so versatile and I really cannot wait to see where we are in 10 or 15 years. Because I see him as the horse I can event at Training level once a month. And I can be taking him to schooling shows cleaning up at 3'6". And he is a dressage schoolmaster with all the moves and skills for 3rd level tests.

All while also being the horse that during the week is giving little kids their first ride on a bigger horse. The horse that takes an beginner/intermediate rider over their first 2'6" course at home. And he is the horse that countless numbers of kids have ridden at their first show, no matter the height, whether it is crossrails or a Novice event. The horse that is in the first stall of the barn, with his head constantly hanging over the stall door. And he gets way too many cookies from the little girls who absolutely love him and dream of riding him.

It takes a very special kind of horse to be all that. But I think the start is right where he is at right now. The fact that right now, today, as a 6yo OTTB, he can play jumper pony, and he can play eventer pony, and he can play dressage pony, but he is also quiet enough to play pleasure/lesson pony when I ask. I think that those are the makings of the kind of horse that I described above.

He is blissfully unaware of the plans I have for him

I see Charmer in 10 or 15 years, being the same kind of horse that I grew up with. The horse that everyone in the barn wants to ride or even just cuddle with. And I fully believe that all of that is a very real possibility with a horse like this. He is so very special and I love watching him grow up and learn. He has a big and bright future ahead of him, and I am ready and excited to be there for every single step of the journey