Full Name: Rio July (She was named after a book character that I know nothing about.)
Breed: Pinto Halflinger (Her mom was a Halflinger bought at auction pregnant to an unknown stud. This Amazing gorgeous girl was the product.)
Birthday: 7-23-13 (My birthday comes just 7 days after hers)
She is just a pony right now. I'm not sure of her exact height but I'm guessing its somewhere around 13 hands. I desperately hope she does NOT go over 14.2 hands into being a horse. Reason being? Keep Reading.
I want to train Rio to be an eventing pony. For those of you who do not know what this is, an explanation follows.
Eventing is a full test of the obedience, stamina, and training of a horse. Competitions are held over three days with a different test each day.
Day 1: Dressage. This tests the obedience, training, and movement.
Day 2: Cross Country. This tests the stamina, jumping ability, and willingness to conquer scary or difficult obstacles.
Day 3: Stadium Jumping/Show Jumping. This tests the horses ability to pace itself, execute tight turns, and jump higher jumps with increased accuracy and speed.
So, this brings us to WHY I want my pony to stay short. If she stays under 14.2 hand she will be considered a pony and can compete in pony eventing (if I do a good enough job with her training) with jumps that are her size. If she grows over 14.2 hands she will be considered a horse and would have to compete against horses with jumps that may be too difficult for her. It is VERY rare to find an eventing horse that is under 16 hands.
If she is taller than 14.2 then I may try to do eventing anyways or I might do dressage, hunter jumping, competitive trail riding, endurance racing, and reining.
As you may have noticed I have very high aspirations. But I believe that we can do it. I absolutely love horses that are extremely versatile and can do just about anything. I have had the pleasure of training and riding some of the in the past.
We will see what happens. :)
I got Rio on January 23rd 2015. Here are some pictures of our first 3 months together.
Since she is not even 2 yet I wont be riding her for quite a while. She has learned how to wear a saddle, bridle, surcingle, polo wraps, and side reins.
Why has she learned to wear these things?
Saddle: She is learning to wear the saddle now so she will be used to things on her back way before I get on her. That way, when I finally do ride her it wont be shocking and traumatizing for her.
Bridle: She learns to wear this so she can be accustomed to it. I will teach her through long lining how to turn and stop through the bit before I ride her so that when I ride her she will know what I want and wont be traumatized.
Surcingle: She wears this so I can attach side reins to it.
Polo wraps: Rio wears polo wraps on her legs when I train her to minimize the chance of injury. When a horse is working continuously in a circle (as with longing) it places a lot of stress on their legs. Under this stress, horses can injure their tendons even when working slowly. Polo wraps provide extra support to the legs.
Side reins: Side reins are used to encourage the horse to carry itself in a collected body carriage and also accustom the horse to some gentle pressure on the bit. Side reins are often used incorrectly and result in physical and mental damage to the horse. As you can see through the photos the side reins are VERY LOOSE, she is free to turn her head and alter her neck position. As training progresses the reins will be shortened very slowly as she naturally carries herself more upright with the greater amount of weight over the back legs with an elevated spine and neck. The reins will never be shortened to the point where her movement is impeded. This causes stiffness in the neck and back and works against the natural free flowing movement that we strive for. The reins are used to encourage her to carry herself properly. They are adjusted to be shorter AFTER she adjusts her body to encourage her to continue striving for better posture.
Quick fact since its related. The joints of domesticated horses last longer than the joints of wild horses because many domesticated horses have been taught how to move correctly thus reducing stress on the joints.
These pictures were taken after her bath and she ran around some.
These were after her workout and bath when she had her post-training grain as a treat.
On May 1st I moved Rio into a new boarding facility that is bike riding distance from my house. Now her training can really progress because I see her 4-6 times a week instead of 1.
Here are some pictures of her after the move. If you will notice, in most of the pictures she is wearing a tail bag. I am doing this so her tail can grow longer. One of my favorite things about her is her wonderful thick hair.
The two other horses in the picture are Buddy and Captain. They belong to my friend Brooke.
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