# First ride in 4 years.



## smrobs (Jul 30, 2008)

So, put the first ride on little potato pony today. He hasn't had a real ride since I put 30 days on him in 2011 LOL.

Warmed him up in the roundpen pretty good before getting on.


















Then rode him in a snaffle just long enough to remember that he HATES broken mouth bits. Put him in the bit he was riding in when I sent him home and spent a few minutes reminding him how to give and bend









Then took him out to the "arena" and did some work. He's massively out of shape (obviously LOL) and pretty rusty so he definitely needs miles and serious tuning, but he hadn't completely forgotten everything I taught him so long ago.

Trotted some circles and loped a couple. Even managed to get the correct leads....though he did try to duck his head and buck that first stride. That was the only real misbehavior. Only kind of remembers how to neck rein and leg yeild, but that will come back with time.

On the few times they did ride him, it appears that they allowed him to start bracing against the bridle, so that's a minor issue I'll need to fix, but that's all I found wrong with his saddle training. He does need some work on his manners, he's been allowed to get pushy....but that's how he was when I started training him the first time and he came around in a hurry.




































He's so fat and round that my FQHB saddle is actually too snug on him with the 1" pad. I'm going to have to use one of my thinner ones until he slims down some. He's 13.3 hands and my weight tape said he was 850 pounds 


















Poor boy was really tired by the time we were through, though I only worked him for about an hour, mostly at the walk


















And he even actually let me trim a bridle path on him with the electric clippers and I KNOW he's never seen those before.









Poor tired potato


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## flytobecat (Mar 28, 2010)

Awesome. He is so cute. Pease tell me you haven't named him Potato-lol.
Curious, how you will handle the bracing problem.


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## smrobs (Jul 30, 2008)

LOL, Potato will probably just be a nickname until he slims down. I'm not sure if I want to keep his name as JJ or change it. I kind of want something more unusual, but at the same time, I've been thinking of him as JJ for 4 years LOL.

I'll just have to spend some time working on pressure and release with him. I already noticed a drastic improvement in the hour or so I worked with him today. That's one reason I fell in love with him in the first place, he's dangerously smart.

Had to wait for the crappy video to load.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6IAsukEplK4


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## Golden Horse (Feb 20, 2010)

I love the potato pony...so cute


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## tinyliny (Oct 31, 2009)

you could call him "Russet". it sounds like his color, and conjures potatoe images.


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## csimkunas6 (Apr 18, 2010)

Haha love him being called a "potato"!!! Fits him well! He is a cutie though!


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## anndankev (Aug 9, 2010)

Didn't you take him to a feedlot day after day the first go round?

And he started liking it better and better each day?

Until the first time asked, he drug a cow that weighed more than himself?


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## Fantelle (Oct 26, 2015)

Awe, he's as cute as potato can be!


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## Zexious (Aug 2, 2013)

He's adorbs! Sounds like a positive first ride <3


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## Golden Horse (Feb 20, 2010)

Spud, now there is a name that would suit!


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## karliejaye (Nov 19, 2011)

Oh Mylanta! He is too cute! Sounds like he is smart as the dickens, too. I love those horses who seem to get their training pretty quick, makes for a satisfying ride.

I like both Spud and Russet as possible names, though JJ seems to fit him, too.


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## secuono (Jul 6, 2011)

Saddle looks to be too forward on his shoulders.

He's so cute! *grabby hands*
_Posted via Mobile Device_


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## SwissMiss (Aug 1, 2014)

He is soooo cute! Especially those ears!
And I second "Spud"


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## lostastirrup (Jan 6, 2015)

I'll third "Spud" seems like a great name.


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## smrobs (Jul 30, 2008)

Anndankev, that's exactly right, and that's what made me love him so much. He's just got such a huge heart and a big brain in that tiny little body.

Manga, you are right, the saddle is too far forward, but the semi-bad fit combined with his complete lack of shape (other than potato :wink: ) and lack of collection, I couldn't keep it in place. It will get better as he loses weight and remembers how to use himself correctly.

Denny, I love you!!! Spud just fits....so Spud he is LOL.



Now I just wish that silly horse owners would educate themselves. Spud is a lot luckier than he knows. After looking closer at him (specifically his feet) and talking to brother (farrier for previous owners), it appears that previous owners were graining him daily :?. From the way his feet look, they have basically kept him in a constant state of low-grade laminitis for God only knows how long.

Thank goodness he's still sound and will recover and grow good feet again. I'm also thankful that he isn't condemned to a life with well meaning but ignorant owners who probably would have seen him permanently crippled before he was 15.


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## anndankev (Aug 9, 2010)

So, do you ride Spud and Rafe in the same saddle?


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## ShirtHotTeez (Sep 23, 2014)

smrobs said:


> So, put the first ride on little potato pony today. He hasn't had a real ride since I put 30 days on him in 2011 LOL.
> 
> Warmed him up in the roundpen pretty good before getting on.
> 
> ...


Oh I love him, he is so like a pony I used to ride called Nugget


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## smrobs (Jul 30, 2008)

anndankev said:


> So, do you ride Spud and Rafe in the same saddle?


For the moment. It's snug on Rafe but it doesn't make him sore. I'm saving up for a custom saddle for him but $3k+ is a lot to drop all at once.


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## ColtyandSaxonsmama (Feb 28, 2014)

He is adorable!! Tater or Tater Tot would work, too.


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## DraftyAiresMum (Jun 1, 2011)

I think Spud needs to come to Arizona and be a little boy's pony and be spoiled with a big black-and-white brother! ;-)
_Posted via Mobile Device_


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## LoveTheSaddlebreds (Jul 9, 2009)

I'd like to get someone like you to put the first 30 days on my -potential- future youngster(s), you seem to have a way!


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## smrobs (Jul 30, 2008)

LOL, not anymore. I put his 30 days on him 4 years ago when that was all I was doing. Now I have a real job that usually leaves me 2 days a week to ride (sometimes evenings if I get done early enough).

When I was riding him, I was day working in a feedlot, so we were hitting the pens right about daylight and kept going until 3-4 in the afternoon, sorting, roping, working gates, etc, day after day. That will make a broke horse in a hurry.


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