# Journal of a Jumping Saddlebred



## Amyrides (Sep 15, 2021)

I was told that I should start a journal to share my adventures with mr baby horse, so I figured why not, I have nothing better to do at the moment! Don’t mind typos, my keyboard does not like horse forum for some reason, lol.

so here’s some background information, the story of my life up to google lol:
I was leasing this great little qh mare at my jumping barn for the last year. When I started riding her, I had zero confidence due to being bucked by this grumpy old lesson horse who thought he would relive his racing days for no reason other than wanting me off (joking, but it was 90 degrees he had no excuses).
She was grumpy and disliked being ridden by almost everyone. she figured out that the kids couldn’t control her, and that the adults came off when she twisted just the right way 😂 she wasn’t mean, just bored and sassy. So I was put on her as a sort of last resort because I was so scared of the other horses (She didn’t buck or do anything maliciously, I say again!). And I loved it! When we cantered I forgot to breath and we went way to fast but it was so fun. And just like that my fear of cantering was cured. She became my lesson horse, and we would go around tripping over ground poles while I regained my confidence.
eventually, I wanted to lease and since no one else liked her much, I had a ready-made agreement. we moved up slowly, and dot finally decided to prove her talent for jumping.
She realized she enjoyed it right around 2 foot, when she started jumping everything for me. I didn’t have to set her up well, but she would jump it anyway, basically jumping from wherever she needed to. At 16, she was learning to jump one boink at a time. We started showing pretty quickly, gettin champion in our first 18” outreach and then winning ribbons in every show after that. She was smarter at shows than she was at home, going around with her head in frame and hopping over the jumps. We did stirrups 2’3 from April-July and got champion twice and reserve once being the only chestnut mare, with no lead changes, and it being both of our first times showing. She was an angel.
now, she wasn’t perfect. She hated changing her leads, she couldnt do flying changes, she would become a raging devil if you so much as thought of asking her To sidepass or anything fancy. She flipped her head to evade contact (despite having everything medical checked out and her tack changed), she tugged on the reins, and she was super lazy when she didnt feel like jumping. But she was mine and I loved her.
we went through show season, and did great, but neither of us liked it Much. It was fun, sure, but she had trouble going around and jumping so much. So in July, we tried the 2’3 jumpers on a whim, and we were more than hooked.
We fell in love with the jumpers. It was optitime, so we didn’t win a lot of ribbons, but I had found the adrenaline I had been looking for, and the sport she loved.
we could do a 2 stride role back, jump things on a curve, she even gave me lead changes sometimes. We loved it. But inevitably, I wanted to move up, and she couldn’t. I debated it for months before deciding I needed to move up, and she needed a rider who she could teach again.
she’s not the type of horse that enjoyed a great rider, and I had reached our turning point. She found a new leaser, and has gained quiete a bit of weight, but I watch them and know they are doing to exact samething we were doing a year ago. She gives her new person all the Same moves, and is teaching her to slow down and not get cockey the same way she did me.
its not exaggerating to say I trained her to jump. But I was blessed with a horse who was willing to give me the ability to ‘train’ a horse, without the bucks 
















after her, I considered IEA for a little while. My trainer, however, said she had lost almost every good rider she has ever had and she wouldn’t lose me to iea too. So, she bought me a horse. From Texas. Who is six 😂


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## Amyrides (Sep 15, 2021)

Google is a 6 year old saddlebred from Texas. Google was bred by Vantage Point Farms, but somehow ended up in the jumper world. He had the same owner from age 2ish to age 6, on the same farm. He showed and won, mostly in the jumpers. He has jumped up to 3’6”, and shown around 2’9. He’s 16.1 (it’s a bit of a stretch lol).
he’s very people-oriented and pushy. he loves to work, and jump jump jump! and still has energy after being ridden twice in a day! He is sooo smooth, probably the only reason I’ve been able to sit his naughties.
he doesn’t get enough turnout, only 3 hours a day in a big pasture and the other 21 in a smallish pen (big enough to trot around a bit, though) or a round pen. 
he‘s in shoes, not my choice, but my trainer’s (his owner)
He’s crazy, and I gotta say, he’s growing on me


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## Amyrides (Sep 15, 2021)

hes been here for a couple months and its been a rough transition. not enough turnout, working during dinner, bad saddle, cold weather he’s not used to, and overall just him being unhappy and our rides being anxiety-filled. He’s a very hot horse who loves to work, like, a lot.
but this week has been so good! on Tuesday he got flatted by my trainer, and then me. he was testy, but we did a lot of amazing trot stuff and it was great! Then Wednesday we had a lesson, and he was spicy but we were able to ride, and even do some cross rails. And only two bucks lol, which is a win on a spicy day. Friday, he got ridden twice again, and my trainer said it was by far the best ride she had on him. And he was great for me too! We could canter multiple laps without bucking, which was a win. He was so smart and it was a blast! Plus he had played with the jolly ball earlier in the day, so he was happy 
today, I had a lesson, and again he was a completely different horse! He definitely built up and ran away from me a little when we were going over stuff, but he wasn’t being naughty, he was just so happy! He didn’t buck once! And we were able to do canter poles, which he has had a very hard time wrapping his baby brain around, but he figured it out and liked it!!


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## egrogan (Jun 1, 2011)

Sounds like it will be an exciting journey! Love the pictures- he looks like he has plenty of personality 😉 I grew up riding at a saddlebred barn and have Morgans now.

I just heard a podcast this weekend where they spent a lot of time with a guest, Alex, who is eventing and doing endurance with a saddlebred mare. He was an interesting guest. This is the podcast episode; I don't have a timestamp for when he came on, but I think it was roughly halfway through if you're interested in listening.


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## baysfordays (Oct 14, 2021)

Yay! I loved reading this! I love those pictures! He reminds me a lot of my gelding, a total baby brain!


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## Amyrides (Sep 15, 2021)

baysfordays said:


> Yay! I loved reading this! I love those pictures! He reminds me a lot of my gelding, a total baby brain!


Yep he definitely has a case of the babies lol
my trainer always says he’s six and should be acting older but I call him walnut brain and leave it at that 😂


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## baysfordays (Oct 14, 2021)

Amyrides said:


> Yep he definitely has a case of the babies lol
> my trainer always says he’s six and should be acting older but I call him walnut brain and leave it at that 😂


My gelding is 8, turning 9 in a few months and my trainer was like “treat him like a 4yr because in his mind he basically is” I guess it’s good and bad, he’s gonna be 20 still thinking he’s 10 😆
Walnut brain is too funny!


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## Amyrides (Sep 15, 2021)

Today confirmed that last week was not a fluke, we ARE on the right track!
it was really chilly today and windier than I thought it would be, not to mention he had a day off and we were riding alone! I sorta got upset (not nervous but just like ug) when I brought him in the barn and he was spinning and prancing, and wouldn’t stand for me to get on 🤦‍♀️
but then i got on, and we trotted. And trotted, and trotted. And still more trotting, until he stopped bolting away from the oh-so-scary bushes and started listening to me. there were some trot poles left out that we were able to maneuver a few times until he decided to step directly on them and mess them up 🤪
it was going so well that I decided we might as well canter, and there was another horse in there by then, so I figured at least I’d have a witness if things went to crazy town, lol!
and we did! We cantered! first success was getting a smooth transition, which was a major struggle as of two weeks ago. And then using some techniques that I had learned in my Saturday lesson (basically just riding almost ‘western’ but my trainer had to explain it very slowly to get it through my head), we were able to stay in control, and come back down when it got too spicy, and that was a huge win! 
We made it all the way to the end of our ride before he gave any bucks, and that was just because a horse was getting fed and I think he heard the grain and got stinky about it 😅

overall I am just so, so happy! I was sorta worried that his good-ness last week was just a result of lots and lots of work, but he had a day off, and it was cold! I think we truly did have some sort of breakthrough, and he has finally decided that he likes it here!

now to figure out how to get him less angry in the barn lol


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## Amyrides (Sep 15, 2021)

Soooo maybe its not going to be an upward climb..
to put it simply, I almost came off quite a few times, and google was not having the whole ‘being good‘ thing.
He was spectacular until we cantered right.
I was so proud of him because he was great going left and trotting. and then he lost his baby brain.
He just started bucking when we were cantering right, like just had a total fit. We were cantering nicely and he must not like the Spider-Man theme song, which is lame, but anyway.
He wouldn't go forward, wouldn't slow down, just wanted to buck and run towards the gate. Most of them were smooth but a few of them messed me up a little and I lost my stirrups a few times. Obviously I didn’t let him just run around and buck, I was trying to circle and ask for the canter again.
Then we were able to canter right finally after he picked up crossfiring and the left lead and bucked his little brain out and tried to get me off. 
finally I was like we are TROTTING and we trotted until he transitioned to the canter nicely and then we raced around a bit until he chilled out a bit.
I thought I was being dramatic but a friend confirmed that i looked like I was gonna come off and she doesn't know how I sat them 😂 great, I always wanted to be the one who no one knows how she stays on 

But wait, there's more!

after we had a brain again (sorta) we tried to trot a baby cross rail (towards home, thanks trainer-lady) and he was decent until he saw the jump, threw a massive buck than like side passed and a half canter to the jump where he almost stopped and jumped it straight up and down, over a foot bigger than he should have, and I got launched.. completely trampolined
Almost went over his neck, fixed it and hung onto his shoulder for dear life (after I lost both stirrups) and overcorrected and almost came off the other side 🤦 mind you he didn't stop he was doing a spicy little jig towards the gate
I like jammed my funny bone on his neck trying to stay on 😂😂

uggg baby horses
I was definitely nervous for the first time in a couple weeks bc he was actually trying to get me off not just being a brat (though he was doing that too)

i wonder if his bucks might be pain related, but idk. I might look into the chiropractor coming out soonish. Hard to tell if he’s a baby jerk or in pain..


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## Amyrides (Sep 15, 2021)

But!! Today I also got some great (and potentially scary) news! Google will be going out with the geldings during the day! 
my trainer decided that he needs more exercise and is too bored (finally!!!) and she’s willing to try it!

the reason he wasn’t allowed out originally is because our gelding herd is pretty full ( we have like 10 out there right now? I think) and apparently his old owner said he was a boss in his herd before. Which, after seeing him around other horses, I don’t get that vibe. I think he’s just a baby that needs boundaries told to him very firmly.. he was breed at a breeding barn so idk how much he got that as a baby, though I know he was with a mixed herd at his old place.

anyway, exciting obviously because yay! My horse will be getting turn out and having friends, and being happy and hopefully leaving his bucks in the pasture. 
but also..what if he turns out to be a boss. What if he hurts someone. What if HE gets hurt?? Scary. We had a horse get kicked and break his leg and end up having chronic colic and no work and having to leave just last year! What if what if..

Ug I just need to make my brain shut up!


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## baysfordays (Oct 14, 2021)

Oh wow! Glad you stayed on and glad you’re alright. sounds like he was trying to achieve his dreams of being a bronc!

You got him checked for ulcers right? So it shouldn’t be that..and your saddle fits, so I don’t know what else would cause him pain?

I rode one mare who bucked and bucked, I actually thought she was trying to kill me, anyway she learned that she couldn’t get me off so then she stopped bucking, hopefully Google learns that he can’t get you off too and just give up 😆
I just love the name Google, I have never heard that for a horse name before.

don’t you just love baby brains?😂😭

I think more turn out will be the key! That’ll get some more energy out of him.. excited for you!

I guess you won’t know if he’s one of the dominate ones until you let him into the herd, I feel like herds are always fighting who is dominate? Maybe I’m wrong..
when I got my gelding he was a total baby and my little mare chased him all over the place and was definitely the leader but now he’s the leader! Sometimes they go back and forth I feel like.. I’m not real sure, I’ve never studied up much about the whole dominate leader thing Etc 

I over think a lot too, but I think it’ll all work out! 
that’s crazy about the horse breaking it’s leg though.. that’s always terrified me.


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## Amyrides (Sep 15, 2021)

Real mad that it’s not on video, lol! 
he has many opinions, and not necessarily opinions I want to hear! 
i hope to be out there to get a video of his intro to I’ll hopefully get his crazies!

the first time I turned him out in his pasture (where he goes alone currently) I tried to walk him around the fence line and ended up having to let him loose because he was spinning and the mares in the next pasture over where galloping the fenceline. he ended up galloping with both herds on either sides of his pasture back and forth for like half an hour 🤦‍♀️
so it’s sure to be interesting, at the least!


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## baysfordays (Oct 14, 2021)

That’s how it is with my guy, he has many opinions and ones that I don’t really want to hear LOL. 😆 

I’ve been in those situations before, im like “I think it’s safer to let you go then to get dragged” lol!

but anyway, I bet it will definitely be interesting!!😆


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## Amyrides (Sep 15, 2021)

Sooo baby horse went out for turnout on Friday! Sadly I couldn’t be there, but my friends got lots of videos and pictures! 
it went very well, they ran around for a while then settled down and acted like they had known him forever (probably helps that he was in the pasture next to them for so long)
surprisingly, drake, one of the boss horses who usually takes a while to like others fell immediately in love 😂 like he follows google EVERYWHERE! Google will literally trot away from him and drake goes right on behind him lol. They drink water together too..
it made for some very cute pictures. I dont think I’ve seen another horse integrate this well into our herd before, so I’m very proud of him!! and thankful to drake, because I think he’s actually tiring google out!!


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## Amyrides (Sep 15, 2021)

Aannnd all of this led to my best lesson yet! 
he was super tired, and even lazy to the point where I had to tap him on the shoulder with my crop (which offended him lol), and so he didn’t run away With me jumping! We were able to do our first full course, with only two stops (because I tend to lean forward slightly to jumps and he’s like oh heck no)
but overall it was so good!! 
i applied the ‘western’ riding type, basically leaning back and lengthening my leg as much as I can, which when I acually did it went really well!!
he was such a good boy and I’m so proud of him, and me too I guess! I’m hoping to trade my week-day lesson to sundays so I dont have to deal with what happened Wednesday until we have each other figured out a little more..
in videos after I was able to see how me leaning slightly forward completely changes his confidence 
















and here are some jumpy pictures


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## baysfordays (Oct 14, 2021)

Yay!! I bet the turnout helped A TON! 
You two look like a great team!


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## Amyrides (Sep 15, 2021)

Christmas Photo Shoot… something I did with my mare last year and couldn’t resist doing again this year 
he’s not nearly as good at posing though. Wants to follow me everywhere 😂 I guess that’s good just not when I’m trying to make him look fancy..
I think the head-on one is very funny because he looks sooo thin. Which he is, but still 🤦‍♀️


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## baysfordays (Oct 14, 2021)

That is SO CUTE!!!😍 I was thinking about buying that set for my gelding too, it’s just too cute.


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## Amyrides (Sep 15, 2021)

I got to lesson earlier today, not at dinner time like usual on wednesdays. Google was actually pretty lazy in a spicy way today. 
He goes slow but tosses his head all over the place and makes faces. I am actually hoping to get him chiropractic soon, but ours just had knee surgery, so not sure when that will be possible. He does a little buck/switch of lead in the back pretty regularly and I wonder if it’s pain related. He also just doesn’t extend how I’d like him to.
He stood like a dream tacking up, despite being outside, which is big For him! We did have a friend Though!
we started with a pole exercise where we had a pole about 5 strides from a crossrail and then another pole 6ish away. It wasn’t measured, so part of the challenge was figuring out the distance! We completely overshot the first pole the first few times, then we were able to get over it lol. It was messy but eventually we did it! Then we switched the right lead (towards the barn) and managed to step directly on the pole, haha, before figuring it out.
that took up most of our time, so we did a short course at 2’3ish, and it was fun, and I wish someone had been videoing but oh well.
my last horse hated being steered off leg, so I never did it. Google only listens to Leg lol. So having to completely reshape how I ride has been a challenge. I know this is actually how you are supposed to ride, but I never had to before, hence overshooting jumps pretty regularly on google 😂
i had barely put him away when the weather hit.


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## Amyrides (Sep 15, 2021)

Haven't been back for a little while, because it's been crazy with travel and lots of other stuff, haha. 
It's officially indoor season, we got 9 inches in a sudden storm that no one thought was coming..
So, Google (and me, let's be honest) has been working on being brave. I had a few rides where we got on and cantered for 20 minutes before we were able to walk or even trot. I came very close to coming off multiple times, mostly from tiny spins that landed me on his neck, which is thankfully he has a very large one that is good for grabbing desperately to lol.
Then, just as we were able to do our first half hazard crossrails, I went on vacation I mean, yay, but sad that I didn't get to ride my horsey.
While I was gone (for 7 days) he got two rides from my trainer, and another trainer was supposed to ride him but got sick. He ended up getting ridden by a young rider, who I am not a huge fan of for many reasons. He was very spicy for her, and even gave her a pretty ligit rear apparently. She rode him for over an hour and eventually got some good stuff.
I got back and rode him the next day, and omg I have not had a horse that good in quite a while. He was able to go to the far end of the arena without bolting, the spooks were small, and we even had some snow slide right over our head and he just sort of pranced in place. Then we were able to jump!!
He was so good, he stayed within his brain. We jumped 2'6ish I think, which is also a huge win!! He got a little speedy and jumpery towards the end, but was still in control. It was so, so good! Especially for the first ride back


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