Psuntana has been with me for probably 3 to 4 years.. I rode him very little when I first got him as I was concentrating on my big Shagya Stallion in my quest for a horse to compete in the World Equestrian Games in 2010. The Shagya did not work out, but another young horse that I all ready owned sure did. His name is MONK. The link to his blog and his steady move to be in Kentucky in 2010 for the USA team is in the link section.
Now that MONK has little to do, other then stay sound and fit I find myself with not much to do. So I started Psuntana back to work. I will show you pictures of what he looked like 30 days ago, he has already lost most of his hay belly. He is a good eater and time will tell if he will make the endurance cut. He has the attitude and a nice body. Good feet, but small, he has always been barefoot, and I do most of his rides barefoot. I do boot for hard terrain or rocky roads.
Psuntana is not to the point yet where you can really do any conditioning.. He is more at the looking around, going sideways, and backing up stage.
You really tend to forget what riding a green horse is like, especially if you have a horse like MONK who does everything well. Psuntana is very quick and can spin on a dime, but if your paying attention and have hold of the reins, you can stop him quickly, he responds instantly, which is very lucky for me.
Psuntana was trailer trained when I got him, which I am very happy about, because I have had my share of problems with trailering horses that don't do well, very stressful, and you dread having to go anywhere with them. He jumps right into the trailer, any trailer, and is a very happy horse.
Our first water crossing 30 days ago took maybe 30 minutes.. It was maybe 2" deep and a foot wide. Since that time I have had him in the lake a little, crossed several larger flowing creeks. He does not jump right in, but if you make him go across it a few times, he does jump right in, and does not hesitate the next time you come to it. Smart horse... learns quickly, just needs lots more time on the trail.
Couple of weeks ago we were riding where they were having a poker ride. They had done some heavy chalk lines across the trail at one point. You would of thought I was asking him to jump off a cliff, but after a few patient moments of just asking and not pushing he decided that it was not going to hurt him and crossed it. We then crossed it again and again... He looked at it on the way back but crossed it right away, smart horse.
We will be trotting fast down the trail and there might be a wet spot or a puddle or some white rocks and he will put on the breaks like right now... I am pretty attuned to what he might do, and he telegraphs most of his moves, which is good for me, as I need that extra nano second these days to react in time.
All of these first ride jitters that Psuntana is having brings back memories of starting MONK and how you never thought they would settle down and learn. A good feeling for a old man who hates getting old.
Nothing like a young horse that learns quickly. Psuntana is slowly getting a little endurance. He is more then ready to do a 25 mile ride. I am not a big proponent of doing the 25 mile events as I think it creates a mind set that is not good for a distance horse. I am probably wrong and many people have very successfully taken young horses from the 25 to the 50's and then onto the 100 mile events. Actually I like the way I did it with MONK, he was more then ready for his first 50 and knew that he would more then likely to ten his very first ride, but that might just be MONK.
Psuntana was done a couple of rides in the 15 to 18 mile range and a handful in the 8 to 12 mile range. He is doing great, recovering quickly, but again, not much speed, just the slow legging up miles that he needs to remain sound.
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