Comet starts his training!

I started Comet in his western pleasure training yesterday! Got his head down much more than usual and I think that's the first time he was actually using his body correctly, he was collected for the most part, was balanced and it was much smoother than normally. Obviously he's not gonna be a western pleasure star his first day but got him down to a much slower/relaxed pace and got his head almost down to be even with his withers, ALMOST ;) We'll see what today brings, been riding him later in the day due to the heat!

Meet the horses!

Ok so obviously you all know Comet but here are a few of the guest stars you might see every now and then. First up is Starlight, a 23yr young Arabian mare. She came to me when she was 18, some lady that hadn't ridden her for 3yrs brought her to the barn so the barn owner could give her away to someone. She had some mare issues but nothing major. That was almost 5yrs ago, and I think she's more hyper now then when I got her :P Her name was previously Skunk, I got the name Starlight from Saddle Club and I normall call her Star for short. But she's a good girl who goes pretty dam fast for a 23yr old and still has a lot left in her! Here's a vid of her and her best buddy Kareen (my friend's 22yr young Arabian mare) running around in the pasture!
Next up is Dawson. Dawson isn't my horse but I ride him for his owners since they can't come out as much as they would like. We are still in the early learning process of each other but he's a very well trained western pleasure/jumper, the only problem he has is loping, he is pretty stiff and not very well balanced and he bucked A LOT (I know great for me right? :P) but he's getting better. Let me tell you, he is one of the sweetest horses I've ever met, and him and Comet are inseperable! Both of them come running to me at the gate saying pick me pick me! And they share their hay piles and play with each other in the pasture. Dawson's "owner" is a little 5yr old girl whose the size of a peanut, Dawson's around 15.3 or 16hh so he can crush her like a twig but they are so cute together! Dawson will watch where he steps and she will always run to get Dawson and doesn't care what horse is in the way (she's always supervised obviously), she wants her horse! She rides him english and I school him western along with her mom. They also have a cute little jumper named Keely, she's a Welsh pony and boy are both of them talented! I just wish they could come out more often but due to some issues they can't come out nearly enough :( but Keely gets ridden/loved on by another little girl at the barn so neither of them are being neglected! Grrr I couldn't get the video up so here's just a picture!

Comet's Story

Hey everyone and welcome to Comet's blog, this will be mainly about Comet, but will throw in some guests like my other horse Starlight and all their friends at the barn! Let me start off telling you a little bit about Comet. When I first met Comet it was on a trailer with 4 horses pulled up at the auction, I could only see a little bit but I saw a black and white paint with a little white diamond on his nose. My barn owner bought that black and white paint for his son. When we brought him home we soon found out why he ended up there. Comet had a serious problem, he layed down with riders. Everyone hated him, but I saw something most people didn't, I saw a horse that needed someone to love him. But the day I got him, June 26, 2008, all that changed. Comet and I were trotting and he suddenly took off, did a big bronco buck on the hill and I swung off and ate the dirt HARD. I got back on like any other rider but that didn't change, Comet reared 3 more times and I was already light headed so I got off and walked him around so he wouldn't think that he could go in after that. Well Comet then trampled/got away from me twice. I absolutely hated him and cried everynight about bringing him to auction after that, I also never really rode him again after the accident. But when my barn moved on January 23rd, 2010 I discovered Comet was different, he was actually moving. And from there on we only progressed, now we can trot by clucking and canter by kissing, jump over 2'3", gallop in the open field and much more. I highly reccomend to check out Comet's Story on youtube (posted below), it is a very moving and inspiring video. Comet and I have been through so much in these short 2yrs and I hope we will have many more journeys together! I'll be taking him on his first trail ride tomorrow so wish him luck! Take care everyone! :)

Lori