To ride dressage is to dance with your horse, equal partners in the delicate and sometimes difficult work of creating harmony and beauty.

Monday, February 13, 2012

Thirsty Larry!

(Why yes, this IS the "Larry channel" now. Why do you ask?)

This morning after chores I took Larry to the arena for a little exercise. Rick needed to see him move on the lunge line to finish the pre-purchase evaluation; there was no place to lunge him where we picked him up yesterday. Even though I am only leasing Larry, it is good to make sure we don't have any known problems going in.

Anyway, after a few rounds Larry stopped - I thought to check out the shiny puddles. Then I realized he was drinking from them!

I had noticed this morning that Sammy (the "old man" from a recent post) was making snake-eyes at Larry whenever Larry went out into his paddock. They are in adjoining stalls and paddocks and share a stock tank, so I'm guessing that Sammy hasn't let "the new guy" drink. Poor Larry; we gave him a private water tub for now. Sammy has been at the bottom of the pecking order for awhile; I guess he saw a chance to elevate his status and jumped on it!

As you can see, Larry-boy is in poor condition (although he looks a bit worse for his "dry" night here). I won't be doing much under saddle until he builds up some protective back muscle and fat, which will let me enjoy watching his nice, big gaits from the end of the lunge line. I had my eye on a schooling show in March, but I think that would be pushing it. Better to take our time.

6 comments:

cheyenne jones said...

Potential- Thats what you see, and by the looks of him, there is some!

Michelle said...

Why thank-you, Cheyenne! I do believe you are right!

Laura said...

I think you're probably right about Mr. Snake-eyes, but my arab used to drink out of puddles all the time, even with his own tank. I think he was getting some needed minerals from the muddy water.

I get to take Tang to my lesson on Wednesday! So we'll see.

Nancy K. said...

Poor baby!
I'm excited that you've found someone to work with. It looks like it will be a nice opportunity for Larry as well. Who the heck names a WB/Arab horse "Larry"??? I look forward to watching the transformation.

Does this mean you will no longer be searching for a dance partner to purchase?

Michelle said...

Larry is drinking out of the shared stock tank now, Laura, and he didn't try drinking out of the puddles this morning.

Nancy, Larry has a much fancier registered name as befits a horse that passed inspection as an Oldenburg with flying colors. But Larry is his barn name, and it suits him. As for my search, the lease on Larry is flexible and I can return him if I find something, but there's not much available within my limited budget. I will actually earn a commission if Larry sells while I'm leasing him, which would bolster my budget a little. So I consider this a win-win!

A :-) said...

How Exciting!!!! Larry sounds and looks like just what you need, Michelle :-) I'm so happy for you!! And Lucky Larry, too. He's sure lucky to have found you, even if it's only temporary.