# Gonzo's Journal - A Sucess Story In The Making :)



## IheartPheobe (Feb 15, 2009)

Just thought I'd have a thread to track Gonzo's progress... and to brag about my amazing boy.. 
6/22/09
Gonzo was getting so much better before lesson season was over, I was sure he'd be able to handle younger and less experienced riders and go to intermediate or beginner, and I was sure I'd have to give him up. But I came back today and found out I'll be riding him everyday until Friday and possibly after; though every single person in advanced wants to take him next week! He's doing amazingly!
There are so, so many things I'm proud of that happened today.
He's usually so, so spooky. I was grooming him before we rode and the brushes spilled out of the bag. They made a really loud clanging noise (O.O) and he all but flinched!! 
When we were in the ring, it's just... so unbelievable how much progress he's made. Normally, little tiny things as well as big things, noises, and sudden movements scare him. I rode him through water today, and he was totally calm! I rode in two point, jumping position, and stood up in my stirrups while we trotted and he didn't go any faster, he just let me go. This is a huge step for a pony who's only been ridden under saddle for a year now. He's not young and was possibly ridden before, but to say he's gotten better is an understatement. He was completely okay when another horse started splashing in the puddles; he didn't let the noise shake him at all. . 
We just got cows, and he didn't spook at them, either! And.. heres the shocker. _All _horses, not just spooky ones like Gonzo, spook at screaming. There was a girl riding in the ring nextdoor and she was screaming... Gonzo didn't even NOTICE! I am just... so, so happy with him right now. 
Another issue we're tackling in his hyperness... I had to speed him up today! Usually he's going way too fast! He's just totally calming down! He cantered pretty fast, but I was giving him a lot of leg because he's still nervous about cantering and I wanted to encourage him.
He halted for me with no protesting, which barely ever happens, and didn't buck even once! He did great circles and wasn't even bothered when a humongous gelding was fallowing him around as if he was glued to his butt. 
It was the first time he'd been ridden in two weeks, too! He was just so good! And seriously, he's gone from the horse no one ever wanted to ride to the pony everyone begs for. I'm so lucky to have the experience of working with this guy.
My instructor has a lot of things she wants to teach us.. and even though I might not be the one working on it, someone will be helping Gonzo learn his leads, lead changes, bending in and out, all kinds of circles, and though he does figure eights and cerpentines, more work will be put into those, too! And though since he's getting so good, he could be moved down a level, we're also going to try and complete a 2'0 jumping course by the end of the month.
We didn't jump today but I'll update everyone once we do.. Sorry for the novel :lol:


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## IheartPheobe (Feb 15, 2009)

Aw, please someone read this. I'm really happy about his progress and really don't want to feel like no one cares..  

6/23/09
There are lots of little things that will help Gonzo and I improve that took place today. The mystery of his past was finally solved; I was completely mislead. Gonzo has been undersaddle his whole life, but was partially abused. He spent his life on an Omish farm, where horses are treated basically, as machines. They are only fed as much as is needed for them to stay alive, they aren't seriously worked on or dealt with to help them ride well, and are ridden by men who are usually full grown and almost always rough with them.
This solves a lot of mysteries with him. The reason he doesn't like Colin, one of our coaches, is obvious... men just scare him. He never had fly spray on him before, and since he is on the older side, he is probably not going to get used to it; this explains why he's so terrified of it.
They didn't groom their horses much, either... an obvious reason why Gonzo is so afraid of the rag I was using to clean his face off today.
We worked mainly on walk trot today. No cantering or jumping. We did caveletties, which Gonzo was great over. He was out last night, so he was very, very tired and barely moving, though. I rode without stirrups and he didn't react badly at all. 
There were a lot more spooks today than yesterday, but everything he spooked at was new to him or just scary. He really is doing great!


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## horseluver2435 (May 27, 2009)

Sounds like you two are going a long way! Congratulations on the progress, I can't wait to see how he turns out! =]


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## IheartPheobe (Feb 15, 2009)

6/24/09
Gonzo was very good this morning when he was being groomed, kind of irratible. Was very stubborn in the ring but cantered fabulously. :]
We're going to jump him tomorrow but he's going out so he'll be tired.


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## IheartPheobe (Feb 15, 2009)

6/25/09
As I need to work on bigger horses, Gonzo and I will be taking a break starting friday, for at least two weeks. I may ride him for a week after that and then won't be able to ride him for a while. 
He was annoying with his trotting today, fabulous cantering, amazing jumping. We did leg yields; he angles himself but we're gonna try tomorrow.
Rode no stirrups and he was good but I wasn't. We're trying again tomorrow but I'm a little nervous : P


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## ILoveGeorgieMyPony (Apr 19, 2009)

Awww, that is so brilliant that he is getting better and better 
I can't wait to see what he's like after he has finished being schooled 
You should be so proud of yourself & gonzo


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## shezacharmer93 (Jun 29, 2009)

Great Job! It sounds like you two are coming a long way. Good luck for the future


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## IheartPheobe (Feb 15, 2009)

I'm not riding him for a while but Quinn jumped him over a 2'0 verticle two days ago! =D He's off work for a while after that, though


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## Iluvjunior (Feb 15, 2009)

thats great who are you riding now??


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## IheartPheobe (Feb 15, 2009)

At the moment, I'm on Luke. He's a huge black draft X. Very nice horse. 
Gonzo is being ridden in a lower level now =]


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## Iluvjunior (Feb 15, 2009)

thats good you worked with him so much that he was able to be moved down


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## LacyLove (Feb 12, 2009)

yayyy! good job nellie!!! good job gonzo! you should be soooo proud of yourself!


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## IheartPheobe (Feb 15, 2009)

Not myself, really, but him, YESS.  Everyone tells me he's too easy, and I'm just sitting there laughing, thinking about the days when he'd get me off twice in one lesson, or bolt when you tensed up the slighest bit, thinking, "you have no idea".. He's only spooked once with the younger kids and it wasn't his fault. They're even jumping him! =D


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## IheartPheobe (Feb 15, 2009)

I'm riding G again this week.. WAHOO! =D I'm SO happy!! 
We jumped without reins for both is and my first time.. too much fun! We're going to do it again tomorrow.
he was very, very good, even after four days off, and I'm the only one riding him all week.. but, there's a chance I won't be, cause Luke lost a shoe so Zoe [who rides Luke] might ride Gonzo after me.


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## IheartPheobe (Feb 15, 2009)

It's been a while since I wrote about G and I!
The day after that (^) G and I were cantering and I was leaning forward too much. He bolted and swerved off the rail and I just came right off. I was pretty nervous after this, so another girl schooled him for me before I rode him. He was amazing, especially cantering. (Which I was very grateful for.) The next day he was amazing as well! When I was walking him out [on the ground] he fallowed me everywhere. =] 
On Friday, we had our first show as a pair!! It was also G's first jumping show!! In Eq. walk trot, we got 2nd. In Pleasure horse walk trot canter, we got 5th because I didn't keep him cantering.. But we made a good comeback in the next class.. which (drum roll please!) was his first jumping class in his life!! It was walk trot canter, and two crossrails. We did really well and got SECOND!  I was SO happy with him!


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## IheartPheobe (Feb 15, 2009)

... so after the show, I went to Virginia and spent 3 weeks on a farm there. (It's a sleepaway camp for riding! ) 
The first week, Monday-Thursday, I rode Rocco, a pushy, headstrong pony who will jump ANYTHING. We had a really good time together and I loved him!  We didn't go over 2'3 but he has an amazing jump. Also had the smoothest gaits EVER.  On trails I rode Galen, this amazing draft mare who is extremely slow and smooth and sweet. <3 On one trail I rode Babe, a REALLY bouncy paint pony mare. She is really, really easy and fun.  On Friday, I rode Rowdy, a really sweet strawberry roan pony. On Saturday, I took Rowdy to Elkrun and showed him. We didn't do so well but he was AMAZING! 
The second week I rode Rita Mae Monday and Wednesday. On Tuesday I rode Rowdy. I rode Rocco on all the trails. Rita was perfect, just slow and lazy. On Thursday something was wrong with her so I got off and rode Galen, who was amazing!  I took Rowdy out for a trail to get him out of the ring on Friday ( He was perfect!! ) and took him to show at Middlebrook on Saturday. We did pretty well, got 6th out of 20 in jumping! 
The third week I rode Diesel. <33 He can't do much jumping but I did some crossrails with him. We did a lot of fun stuff on flat- I LOVED him! He was amazing, so responsive and easy and perfect.  I rode him bareback and we did walk trot canter, but that was it. He was SOO good! On trails I rode Babe for the most part. We went on a trail to a field and slept over with the horses there, and I took Pinnochio, this adorable bucksin. He was really good, we galloped a lot. My trainer wanted me to be able to jump more so she swapped me to Galen. I rode Galen in our last lesson and she was PERFECT! We did lots of things: Canter to halt transitions, halt to canter transitions, and everything in between.. and we jumped 2'6!  The next day we just went for a trail and I rode Babe. She was being really antsy and bolting the whole time and something was wrong with her saddle so I was very uncomfortable. :\


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## IheartPheobe (Feb 15, 2009)

I've looked into another barn where I could lease for less than at my barn. You can only ride 3 days a week if you lease there but it is much cheaper and i'm not sure if I could get out more often than that anyhow. it is 250$ a month. if I lease there I will lease there next year.
I may or may not take lessons there to get used to it but I don't know if I want to, because I can't ride there on weekends and my Wednesday lesson is my favorite.. and I don't want to give it up. :|


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## IheartPheobe (Feb 15, 2009)

No updates as i haven't ridden but, I do have a pic of G that I found from when we first got him!  I got bored and edited it!!


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## IheartPheobe (Feb 15, 2009)

I went out and rode Gonzo today. I was hanging around the barn waiting for someone to tell me if I could get him out and Caroline was like "WHY ISN'T YOUR BRIDLE ON!?"  Luckily, I got him all tacked up pretty fast and he was perfect leading! When I was getting on, he stood perfectly still and was standing perfectly with me not holding the reins (was doing my stirrups), when a couple months he bucked when I tried to get him to halt. I'm happy with him. <3
He gets very nervous by himself, but Caroline told us to head down to the ring and I was toward the front of the group. . so G and I ended up in the front. He was perfect by himself and the people close behind me had gone into another ring, so G and I were basically alone. He went into the ring by himself and he was great! He was really good for the beginning of the lesson, but lazy. Had a saddle issue, got done to fix it, and got back up. . I think the saddle issue was hurting him because, after that he went very fast. I didn't get nervous, but a little frustrated. When we cantered he went slow at first. . After the third time he went really fast. He was fighting me a lot. :| I'm hoping that he'll get better, he's had a while off. Going to ride him someone in the near future but not next week- I'm gonna ride Rupert


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## IheartPheobe (Feb 15, 2009)

Was supposed to go up and ride Rupert today, but it rained.  I haven't ridden since last week, which was the only time I've ridden this month, and I didn't ride at all last month either. . I just want to ride.


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## IheartPheobe (Feb 15, 2009)

Updates: 
I'm going to ride Saturday. . Not sure who. 
I am going to do a show October 24th or 25th, and on Halloween our barn is going to have a Halloween Gymkana! This'll be my 6th gymkana, and hopefully a lot of fun, but boring, because we will have beginners on my team and since we have to listen to them, if they only want to walk, that's what we'll do.  But it will be fun!!


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## IheartPheobe (Feb 15, 2009)

Went out today and rode Roger. He was AMAZING. <3 He's like a different horse. Looove him. I have a thread with pics & vids up, too


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## IheartPheobe (Feb 15, 2009)

I rode Gonzo today! He was an angel! We jumped & he was great!!!


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## IheartPheobe (Feb 15, 2009)

went out & rode sprout today. he was a real sweetie. got a little angry when we cantered in 2-point, though. he usually refuses to jump but i got him to jump a bunch & he was SOOO good!


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## IheartPheobe (Feb 15, 2009)

yesterday I tried out a different place. I rode a really sweet grey gelding named Brian. He was really slow & lazy, so I expected him to be easy.. But he really wasn't. he was pretty hardmouthed, and I had trouble keeping him on the rail.  but he was a good boy anyhow. My stirrups were WAY too long & I felt really uncomfortable. I don't really like the barn. :\
Today I rode Jorge, because last week Caroline decided she'd like to see me take a crack at him. I have been riding him for four years, adn he was the first horse I rode. The improvement has been veeeeeery slow, but I finally have his respect and he is SO good!!! His canter is so much easier to sit now, as is his trot & he was GREAT jumping!! Refused a lot more than I recalled, though, so I was taken off gaurd.. I got him to go without any by the end though and we're gonna do courses with him next week


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## IheartPheobe (Feb 15, 2009)

I schooled Roger today. He was very, very good in the beginning. First canter was great. Second was okay. Third okay, and so on. Eventually he got mad and starting getting really fast, then stopping, then going really fast, and stopping.  We stopped cantering and did some trotting pole work and he got waaaay too excited. The first time he just went kind of fast and refused to walk after the poles (we were working on downward transitions). The next time he took off with me before we got to the poles, but I got him back to a trot. He started bracing and going really fast and I just gave him his head because I didn't want to fight with him. I had my reins really long most of the time, and he was still yanking his head around. 
I think part of the problem might be that this time I rode with the martingale, && last time I didn't. And also his bit is VERY harsh and he doesn't need it.


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## IheartPheobe (Feb 15, 2009)

gah. almost forgot about this journal! 
I started on a new horse, Chief, on Wednesday. He's a little nutty but SO good and fun  I might show him but idk.


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## IheartPheobe (Feb 15, 2009)

alright well, I talked to my instructor over the phone yesterday. . couldn't make it up to the barn as I have swine flu  But anyways, she wants me to show either Zucchini or Chief. . she also mentioned that I should ask about Skippy, this adorable little appy who I used to ride but. . I am really not fond of him.  
As for updates on G, he's been doing pretty well! Jumping much higher too! Someone told me he's been being schooled by Linda (one of our instructors) because he's been throwing people. .  I think it's just the riders, really... >.<


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## IheartPheobe (Feb 15, 2009)

Well, we placed alright in the show. GOT A 1ST!  Then a third, and a fifth.  I rode Zucchini!! 

Had the gymkana today-- my team won!!


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## IheartPheobe (Feb 15, 2009)

rupert was put down. i am still missing him, but i know he'll be better now..


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## IheartPheobe (Feb 15, 2009)

I rode Roger on Wednesday. He was alright, same old same old. Jumping has improved much.  

I went out and rode D today... interesting lesson. I feel like D and I just weren't on the same page. There was lots of fighting going on. But he tried and he was good  a friend of mine rode roger and he threw her.  she is okay tho


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## IheartPheobe (Feb 15, 2009)

well an update: Dana actually wasn't OK after she fell of Rog.. broke her shoulder.  
Roger has been very good =] 
But as for Gonzo (seeing as though it is his journal..) Not so good. Has gotten much worse, isn't being ridden, spooking more than ever.


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