It's a good day to look at a horse!!

[elevenelevenxo]

The sun is shining, the forecast says it's supposed to be a "balmy" 40 degrees today....I'm ready to go scrap all the ice and snow off my car that's been parked for the last week (I don't drive in this weather unless I have to.....the boyfriend and I carpool!) and take a look at that Standardbred gelding finally! I'm so excited and I have my camera ready for some pics.

My trainer tells me they've had the chiropractor out to adjust his back and that it definitely was all screwed up, but he's feeling MUCH better now. He needs his teeth and feet done, and of course there's the weight issue....but he's on the right track to being a happy, healthy horse. :) They've been working a little with him everyday....he's a really sweet guy, but doesn't know a thing, so they were line-driving him from behind with someone on him to coordinate cues ("oh, a leg bump and "click click" means trot too! Ok, I can do that!"). We're assuming he's just been a follow-the-leader trail mount for the husband of the woman who is in a coma right now. But that's not all bad.....it's much easier to teach than it is to reteach. :)

I think if I end up liking him enough to take him, I'll probably stay off his back for a while....until he gains some weight. I don't know just HOW underweight he is, but I can't imagine being ridden right now feels too great.

Oh, and I guess he WAS a racer at one point. A trotter, thankfully....not a pacer. If you've never ridden a pacey horse, you're not missing out - I'd take a jackhammer trot over a pacer ANY day. It's so uncomfortable! But we don't have his papers yet to know his registration number, so unfortunately that's all we know. My trainer says he has the leg and bones to stay nice and sound and do just about anything with some work. I'm eager to finally see him! She says he's much more Appendix looking than STB.

Hopefully everyone else is having nice weather finally and can maybe squeeze in a ride today!

[mare]

Oh, have fun. I hope he works out for you.

[TheRedHayflinger]

I know they used to freeze brand STB racers on the neck...do they still do that? If so, you should be able to track him via that...

[elevenelevenxo]

I'm guessing he's not freeze branded. :)

[TheRedHayflinger]

okay..he should have a lip tattoo or neck freeze brand if he was raced according to a friend of mine...this is what she sent me
Standardbred's are permanently identified by the United States Trotting Association and Standardbred Canada with either a lip tattoo or a freeze brand on the right side of the neck. (Freeze brands began to be allowed in 1995 and thereafter.) The tattoos or freeze brands are five characters long, composed of letters and numbers.
For horses born in 1981 or earlier, the first three digits are numbers. The fourth character can be a letter or a number, and the fifth character is a letter indicating the year of foaling. The letters M, N, O, Q, and U are not used in tattoos of horses born in 1981 or earlier.
So the tattoo might look something like this:
3456Y or 345BY (born in 1980).
A 1961 B 1962 C 1963 D 1964 E 1965 F 1966
G 1967 H 1968 I 1969 J 1970 K 1971 L 1972
P 1973 R 1974 S 1975 T 1976 V 1977 W 1978
X 1979 Y 1980 Z 1981
For horses born in 1982 or later, the first character is a letter, indicating the year of foaling. The letters I, O, Q, and U are not used in tattoos of horses born in 1982 or later. The second character can be a letter or number, and the last three digits are numbers. So the tattoo might look something like this: A1234 or AA123
(born in 1982).
A 1982 B 1983 C 1984 D 1985 E 1986 F 1987
G 1988 H 1989 J 1990 K 1991 L 1992 M 1993
N 1994 P 1995 R 1996 S 1997 T 1998 V 1999
W 2000 X 2001 Y 2002 Z 2003

[elevenelevenxo]

Hm, well I guess we'll find out. I'm just going by what I've been told. :)

[ImaBronsonBear]

Neat! Hope everything works out.:)

[jeezitsjacki]

ohh good luck, get lots of pictures!

[FatSpottedAppy]

Good luck to you! I can't wait to see the pictures-- I hope he works out for you.

[Mountain Creek]

Any pictures yet?

[elevenelevenxo]

You guys are going to hate me.....but I totally forgot my camera. :( I met a friend of mine to bring with me because she wants to talk to my trainer about taking lessons with her, and as I was getting on the freeway, the realization that my camera was home sitting on the couch (with fresh batteries....I remembered that!! :doh:) hit me. Oops!

Good news is my friend DID bring her camera, so she snapped some pics of me test riding him as well as a conformation shot. :) So whenever she puts them up on Facebook for me, I'll post here.

SO.....about Rebel! I may have me a horse, ladies and gentlemen! :clap: I really liked the guy. He's a blood bay...he'll be really pretty shed out in the summer. No white at all. He's about 15.1, so decent sized. He IS very thin. :( He has basically no muscling on him. My trainer says the people who our barn owner got him from said he was being hayed and grained daily.....but there's absolutely no way he was getting grain and all the horses these people have (which sound like way too many) are in bad shape.

But physical condition aside, he is extremely sweet. Picks his feet up like a champ, seeks out the bit when you're bridling (why does that word look so weird to me right now....LOL), and stands to be mounted. He basically knows NOTHING, but he's a little sponge!! He flexes nicely and should make a nice lower level dressage horse and has the leg and bone to stay sound and do jumping as well. All in time, of course. :)

I didn't want to take one look at him and committ, but I really like him....a lot. He has a very kind, sweet eye and the most adorable little face. He doesn't have one of those "big ugly Standie" heads that you see so often that turns people off to STBs. Rather, he's built like an Appendix QH almost. He's very cute and once he's got more weight put on him and a bit of muscling, I think he'll be a really nice guy. We're supposed to get another ice/snow storm this week (curse Mother Nature for being such a tease and giving us such a gorgeous day today!!!!!!!!), but I'd like to go out and see him a few more times before deciding for sure he and I will be a good match. Right now though, I'd say I have me a horse. :) :) :)

Oh, and he has a lip tattoo, but no freeze band. Couldn't hardly read it....but it's there.

[jeezitsjacki]

im glad you liked him, hopefully you get the pictures!

[PoniesRock101]

Glad it went well! He sounds like a sweetie!

hope your weather gets better! We're expecting another snow storm.........