Head throwing.

   The one bad habit Udex has is the fact he throws his head. When I look at it in the big picture though I am pretty lucky that his only bad flaw is throwing his head.. It could be a lot worse!
  When I first got him every time he threw his head I would loose my balance a bit. Now since I am so used to the head throwing I hold against it very well and respond to it without loosing balance; like it never even happened. The head throwing gets worse when he is low on energy. When he has a nice large amount of energy he usually throws his head five times, max. However, on a day he is rather low on energy, the head throwing goes on and on and on. With every four or five strides I would get one or two head tosses.
  Well holding against the head throwing is not that difficult to do once you get in the hang of it. You just have to push him a bit more, and at the same time be hard with the outside rein and ultra loose with the inside rein! Of course there are a few other easier tricks to do to make the head throwing stop.. But being the sneaky person I am I would rather keep that a secret and let you figure out on your own what to do with a head shaker!!! hee-hee.
   The reason Udex throws his head though is from none other then the harsh training tool of rollkur! His lumbar spine is locked in place and you can imagine that it is hard for him to work on the bit after being behind it for so long and having a sore back. I wouldn't ever make Udex do something that wasn't good for him. I have a very nice gel therapy pad (that my trainer was oh so nice to donate to Udex for the time being.) so Udex's back is not taking so much impact! It is good though that I am riding Udex right so he can repair the damage that he has sustained to his back. I know the head throwing will stop once his back gets better. For now he just has to stay strong and get past the hard work so he can feel over all better soon!!!

I am so thankful that I have the talent to sit such a bumpy horse.

   I know this is a blog about my horses rollkur recovery.. But for this blog entry I am going to discuss the importance of having a good seat, and share about my seat experiences. For some reason I feel I need to discuss this subject
   A good seat. It's what every dressage rider desires. Well, at least this dressage rider. The first thing I look at when I see a rider riding, is 1) The hand position/placement and, 2) The seat. A good rider, who uses his legs properly should display a still, quiet, steady seat, with little movement. A perfect example of this seat is Dutch dressage rider Edward Gal, or Adelinde Cornelissen. They both have lovely seats with great movement. If you watch these riders preform, take note at their legs. Their legs are not moving with them, instead their legs stay quiet and steady. If I was a horse, I know I would like to have a rider who didn't plop on my back too much, or ping me with the spurs with every trot stride!
  I have seen so many riders with just the opposite of a steady seat. I am rather ashamed to see many of Americas riders have a seat where everything moves. Legs, head, tummy, arms, etc. All I can see with these riders is the spurs digging in the horses side every step. That can't feel good, it just can't!
  Obviously, I made it a very big focus to have a good dressage seat. There are a few good secrets that I did to get my seat the way I wanted it; minimum movement. I practiced every ride so, so, so much. I took my pony and would gallop fifteen minutes straight on trail rides sitting the entire thing to improve my seat. I would come home sore as can be, stiff with every step.. But I knew in the long run it was what I needed to do to get what I wanted.
  Eventually, my seat became very desirable. People who had seen me ride stopped to tell me what a great seat I had and that I had a talent for it. When I would take my pony out on the trails (we would go to empty fields and do lots of dressage!) many passers by would stop and wait until I was finished riding to just tell me I had a lovely seat. A few times several people also pulled by in their cars to compliment me!
  It was so rewarding to hear such kind words about my seat. I had worked so hard to get it that way! Every compliment I got made me feel so great about myself!!
  Anyways, Udex is a rocking horse from rollkur. Which in other words means he has a lot of movement. Also the fact he is extremely skinny doesn't help either. He also has huge, floaty movements which make sitting him all the more harder. Everyone who has sat on my horse says, (even after just a few steps in walk!) that he is the most difficult and bumpy horse they have ever sat on.
   When I first got him, I became extremely discouraged. He was extremely difficult. In walk I was moving so much it was scary!! In trot I would bounce so high out of the saddle, I could only do a few steps. Canter was almost impossible. That trot right before canter and coming out of canter was so hard to sit!! Seeing a lot of other riders, and even my trainers ride him and have the same seat I did with him was even more discouraging. I truly thought that I would never be able to sit the horse. I had friends lunge me and I held onto the saddle and just practiced sitting trot until my stomach muscles felt like jell-o. I tried bareback trot many times as well. Still, even with all this practice, I had no luck. When people would come into the arena to watch, instead of complimenting my good seat like others had once done, they looked at me like I was a crazy person who couldn't ride worth a darn. Even explaining as to why I was sitting him the way I was, they still thought I couldn't ride. There were nights I just came home and cried. I worked so hard for a good seat, and here I am with my horse.. Every step was a challenge not to fall of!!
  Everyone knows that dressage tests require you to sit the trot, rather then rise. I felt that I didn't have a chance with my horse. His sitting trot was so bumpy, I fell off so many times I can't even count. Every time I managed to loose balance though, I got back up and tried again and again and again. I knew I couldn't give up. I wanted to sit my horse. I worked hard for my good seat, and no way was I going to let that slip away with Udex. I then decided I was going to sit my rocking horse better then anyone else had ever sat another horse.
  Thats when I tried harder and harder and harder. Now, -almost six months later- I am successfully riding my horse at every gait very balanced and smooth! I have learned to adjust my body to become one with the bumpy rhythm of Udex in all three gaits. My seat doesn't look like as good as it does with a normal horse, but it still looks extremely well considering the standards with Udex. My friends who first rode him still can't sit him.
  Anyways, although in the beginning I was extremely discouraged about my seat and Udex, I now realize that it was a blessing in disguise. My already great seat became even better. I can now sit a horse without even moving. Because I had to work even harder to get the feel of my horse, other horses feel like sitting on a sofa. Once again, I am thankful I worked so hard to make my seat work with Udex! In the long run all those hard times really payed off. I am sooo thankful!!!! A good seat makes the ride so much easier!!!

Yes.. WE JUMPED!

   Today I rode Udex with my friend and one of the school ponies, Ernesto. I mentioned my friend, Tamara in previous posts. (-: [[She is an E-A dressage rider. She is sixteen and has been riding for twelve years. She recently got her first horse... A beautiful two year old Friesian gelding; Mailo!]] Anyways, she rides at my barn with me sometimes since her horse is green!
   Anyways, Tamara and Ernesto, Udex and I, were just riding for fun in the arena. Neither of us really focusing on dressage or anything, just having fun and lounging around. I was rather bored (and extremely curios,) so I decided to set up a little jump for Udex! Once I tried free jumping him, and he swerved around the jumps and refused to do even one. Today I was determined to make him do one! I set up a reallly small jump. Probably just about 5 inches off the ground, if even. He did the jump! It was cool. He wasn't too happy about it, but it was fine. Then he got smart and started to swerve away from the jumps. Haha. I got a funny video of that. Crazy horse! (clever too!)

hahah silly pony

  Afterwards we kind of just walked around bareback. Yeahhh. Udex "dropped" his you know what, which means I need to clean that thing.. and soon. So much smegma has collected... Yuuuuck. That has to be the only downside to geldings! Hehe
   So Udex was great! Definitely not a jumper, but still; really great! SO proud to call this boy my horse. <3 He is sooo amazing!

I saw an extension I had no idea existed.

   Today I decided to free run Udex as his warm up, and then get to work with the pessoa. I have recently switched his feed to a performance mix with his pellets made into a mash. Although its only been a few days of him being on it, I can already see a big difference. For example, lets take today! I saw an extension I had no idea existed within Udex. When he free runs he has a great extension, I love it. Never over exaggerated with his front legs, but always has them "pretty high up there." Today however he gave out such a mighty extension. I could not believe I was seeing my horse give out a trot that was the exact same as his grandpa, Weltmeyer. It was so floaty, high, elegant, and most of all, he did it with ease. That did make me even more excited to take him back up the levels again! I can't wait!!!!
  Pessoa session was good with Udex. He always does his best, even when you can tell it doesn't feel so well on him. I do feel cruel putting the pessoa on him. I know if I was a horse I would not want that thing on me.. But at the same time I have to remind myself that it is helping his muscles and going to make him the horse he used to be again. I just want to pull out my hair and scream! ROLLKUR! Ughhh. It's the reason for a lot, if not all, of the pain and problems in poor Udex's life. If only that small choice of not using rollkur was made... Humm.. Overall, I am thankful though that he was rollkur ruined. Because of that I can help to get the word out that rollkur is cruel and hurts more then it does good. Udex needs justice.
  So yup!! Udex was a joy!! My 14th birthday is Thursday, and I plan on buying Udex a double bridle and a few new bits. Who knows how soon we will get to the double, but it's still a nifty thing to have!! I know he prefers the double, since he was trained with it. I am so thankful for my talented sweet horse. <3 If I was asked to design my very own dream horse, it would have been Udex. <3

I'm so PROUD!

   Oh my gosh.. Wow. I am so, so, so, SO proud of my boy! He was truly amazing today. Round the bit the entire time, so responsive to my leg.. and best of all, I was able to sit him. Now six months ago I couldn't even do rising trot due to Udex being a rocking horse from rollkur. A rocking horse is pretty much a horse who has his front and back moving at different paces, like; a rocking horse. You can imagine how difficult it must be to sit a horse with so much movement, extremely skinny, etc. Today I am so proud to say we are successfully doing sitting trot, and that it looks really well.
   I really don't feel like writing right now.. I will push on though and continue because I do want to look back on this one day.
   So pretty much Udex was amazing. I have videos and pictures but it is going to take too long to upload. He rounded his back making him so great to sit, was properly on the bit.. and our circles were amazing. So. Perfect. I am so proud I don't even know where to begin!!
 Okay, so trot. Trot was fantastico! He was round, collected, and truly amazing. I did a lot of sitting trot today!! I am soo proud of my seat!! I sit him really great, and especially great considering how difficult he is! I keep looking at the videos and feeling so proud of myself and my horse.! WOW!!!!
  Canter was also really great! Since Udex did so much and rounded his head and worked hard, we wanted to be easy on him and just did a bit of canter. The few minutes I did do of canter however was beautiful. He was so collected (I didn't realize how much until I watched the video!) also my seat in canter was exceptionally well! Yay!
  We had a bit of head throwing but not enough to stop me and riding him on the bit. Of course, he still does tend to hide behind the bit if I am the least bit hard on his mouth. (Thank you rollkur. ugh.) But his recovery has been going so well!! (-: I couldn't have wished for better!
   I have found that since I have started praying, reading the scriptures, and getting more involved with church again Udex has been going great. Just goes to show that blessings do come your way when you have faith in god and really mean it.
  I am so thankful for my pony, my great trainers, and wonderful family. (-: I can't imagine where I would be without them!!! I love them all soooo much!!!

A job well done?

  I was just reading a few of my earlier blog posts... I am really, really, really happy I decided to write a blog about this adventure. I remember my mom telling me that these are going to be times I will want to remember, and me thinking "Why would I want to remember my horse as the skinny, rollkur ruined, damaged, scrawny horse??? Why would I even want to write about it!?!" I thought about it more and more. I also thought about why Udex went through rollkur. He wasn't the best horse if Belgium winning everything today, today he isn't even a breeding horse. He went through all that damage for what? Then it hit me.. He went through that all so that I could share his story and help others to realize that rollkur is not the answer. So since the day I realized that I started writing about Udex and his recovery. I know that by writing this blog, I will change at least one persons perspective about rollkur. It is the least I can do to make up for all the pain Udex was put through, and all the damage we have to step over today.
  Anyways, am I glad I started a blog or what!? I am so thankful my mom pushed me into writing and creating this blog. Whenever I feel a little upset with myself, my riding, or my horse, I just go back and read the earlier posts. I can't help but feel really good about everything, knowing how when we first started we were on a bumpy road. I remember people saying "Poor horse, he won't ever be able to properly use his back." or "Hahah! Thats not a horse, thats an ugly cow! You can't keep a cow at a horse stable! Move the cow, it probably has worms and will get the horses sick!" I just stood there with tears in my eyes as many, many, many people cut us down like that. I wasn't crying because I felt bad for myself. No, not at all. I was crying because of the pain my horse was put through, and why he is the way he is today. How dare someone have the nerve to make fun of this amazing horse, laugh at him, put their arms around their horse to "protect" it from my "cow.", or even point and make faces at him.
  Today, these people are a lot different towards me. Now these people look at my horse, with one of the shetland ponies under his tummy using him as shade, and him scratching the others neck. They look at my horse free running in the arena with a trot they only wish their horse could preform. They look at my horse and all his muscles bulging and veins pumping. They look at us, and see our bond. A few of these people have apologized and tried to make up for the nasty things they said to us in the beginning. My "cow" is now the best horse at the stable. Something about my "cow" makes him the special animal he is today. Looking at older blog entries, and looking through pictures that were recently taken... wow. I can only manage the word wow. I am so proud of myself!!! We are proving SO many people wrong! When I first got him I had my trainers ride him. The first thing they said was "you won't ever be able to sit this horse." I became very discouraged, because I too, couldn't sit my horse. Well, let me inform you that today I sit my horses canter without even moving, and sitting trot looks great!! I am thankful for the people who felt it necessary to try to bring us down. Your insults mean more to me then your cheesy compliments do. If it wasn't for you guys and your hate, I probably never would have felt the urge to prove everyone wrong.
  In my church we are very big on acts of service. We try and serve anyone the chance we get!! We serve out of love, with no pay in return. I know that I am serving my horse. In return I am getting the ultimate training experience, an even better seat, opportunities to train with amazing trainers, and sooo much more. I am so proud of where me and Udex are getting to! We are schooling second level movements! It has only been a little over five months! I really love Udex! So once again, I am happy I have this blog to look back on and feel great about what I am doing for my horsey. (:

If you can't handle a warmblood at it's worse, you don't deserve them at their finest.

   Wow, I swear, whenever I don't post in this blog more and more happens. I have no idea where to start!
   First off, I had a problem with Udex hiccuping when eating. The hiccups led to choking, which led to me having to dislodge the feed stuck in his throat and cross my fingers a vet wouldn't be needed. Every time Udex ate anything I would have a mini panic attack! I have since then solved the problem! He now gets a "mush" (not a mash, but yes, a mush!) out of his pellets. I boil warm water and add that to his pellets until it is mushy, and a pellet soup! I add a bit of molasses for him (yes he is spoiled!) so the pellet mush soup then tastes even sweeter. Man, oh man does Udex go wild for his mush! The other day I had him playing around in the arena with just a halter on while I mixed together his mush... He stood there with his head sticking out of the arena and drooling and licking his lips! Then he got so excited he had a bucking fit! He really, and I mean REALLY, enjoys his mush! I can also say I really enjoy making the warm soup twice a day for him. I feel like a very smart equine chef.. heheh!

  This past week Udex and I have gotten back to business! We are back to using our very good old friend once or twice a week.. The pessoa lunging system. For those of you who don't know what that is, it's a way to get the horse to engage in his hindquarters and to develop his topline. Udex needs his topline strengthened, and the pessoa was really helping him to become very muscular! If you have a horse that has a weak topline, little impulsion, needs help collecting, or just want your horse to develop muscles in the proper place.. Then I SWEAR by the pessoa lunge training system! It has been a miracle worker! Anywho, it has been a while since I used it. I was so excited to be lunging him with it on again! Pretty soon he will be looking muscular again! We had a great pessoa session the other night. Udex was great and as always, willing to work. I feel like now we are well on our way to looking great again.
   One thing you should know about a warmblood. They never, -and trust me when I say never- out of energy! You can work your warmblood five hours straight but somehow, from the very center within themselves, they can pull out this tremendous amount of energy to do what not. I can give you a classic example. Ah, the other day I had Udex tied up outside preparing him for our first lesson back. I was so excited since it has been around a month since I last rode. I guess Udex was excited about riding too. The other horses in the paddock outside were running around trying to escape the flies I suppose. Anyways, Udex felt the need to join them, forgetting the fact he was tied up and I was standing in front of him. I had just finished putting on his boots. Seeing the other horses galloping, he decided he wanted to gallop too! Problem was? Udex started to gallop and passage in place (oh the joys of a dressage horse.) and was bucking and crow hopping as well. I quickly pulled my quick release knot (PHEW! Thank goodness I always tie up in that knot!) and took him to the side. (I am only 5'1 and 95 lbs. Udex towers over seventeen hands and weighs over 750 kilos.) Udex was then doing extreme collected, fast, pirroutes, with each circle lifting me a few feet off the ground, leaving me clenching onto the lead rope controlling this huge horse. It took a few good whacks with that lead rope to get his mind back to where it should be, which was to me.
   Anyways, we continued on and tacked up. It was a very interesting lesson. Of course, he was extremely fresh and the only thing on his mind was to go. I let him free run a bit to get his negative energy out, and then lunged him once more. Like I said before, a real warmblood never completely looses his energy. I had him in walk on a nice loose rein, when all of a sudden (being the typical warmblood he is) he took of into a canter crow hopping and bucking. I got him calmed down within a few seconds and continued on. This happened a few times until he finally felt calm enough to continue on! -I have handled quite a few hot horses, so running, bucking and crow hopping isn't anything new.-
  Udex made up for our rough beginning big time though! He was amazing! We worked on haunches in and half passes, both of which he did amazingly. I was having so much fun half passing him around the arena. Riding such a well trained horse is like magic. All you have to do is sit right and give the proper aid, and he goes. Some days if I'm giving too much aids, he decides to go above and beyond and do something crazy. Whether it be a surprise half pass at canter, or switching to piaffe mid trot; he always manages to surprise me!
   Of course, last but not least we have our near tornado touch down today! Udex and his friend Grisu are in a nice private paddock a little distance down the road. It has nice grass and is the perfect size for two big warmbloods. Today when I turned them out I noticed neither of them were acting normal. They were both pacing and whinnying a bit too much for usual. I did not feel comfortable leaving them out for some strange reason. I went on with my barn chores and giving lessons. I had an hour or two break in between, and during that time my mom and I went to the store to get some snacks. When we were driving we noticed a funnel cloud. We were not too concerned, since the cloud was breaking up anyways and was quite a distance away.  about an hour and a half later I was back at the barn helping my students tack up. I found it quite odd I could hear my horse from inside of the arena. He was whinnying awfully loud. The fact him and Grisu were whinnying at this time concerned me! The paddock is quite a distance from the barn!! Of course, I ran to go check on them! Extremely close to their paddock was a funnel cloud!!! It was so close I could see the bottom point spinning like mad!! I could not believe my eyes. My mom got Grisu, and I got Udex, and as fast as we could we made them run into the barn! It was freezing rain and that funnel cloud didn't make things better. To top it off the warning whistles were playing loudly all around, and the air base was giving it's warning of "Attention. Possible tornado touch down. Seek cover immediately." We got the horses in the barn safely. They were so happy to be in. Each munching happily on their hay and letting out little nickers every few seconds as if to show how happy they were to be in.
   Lucky for us the tornado didn't touch down! I don't know what I would have done if it would have! I don't even want to think along those lines. The area of Germany I live in is very hilly, so we do have that working with us against the tornado. The barn is made of cement, which is a strong, sturdy material that would have hopefully stand strong against an F3.
  Well, a lot sure has happened since I last posted. I can honestly say I really, really, really love my Udex. Everything about him amazes me. I can't believe such an amazing horse is actually mine! He continues to amaze me every day more and more and more. My most favorite quote ever..

"If you can't handle a warmblood at his worse... Then you don't deserve him at his finest!"

 

Don't we all love a lame horse?

   Lameness. Every owner faces it, just a matter of when. Whether it be a torn tendon, a pulled muscle, a kick from another horse, bad shoes, a fracture, laminitis, a crack in the shoe, a pulled shoe, or as it was in my case this time, an abscess. Abscess do suck, but you can't help but feel relieved when the reason your horse is acting as if his leg is broken is just because of a puss filled blister causing pressure somewhere inside his hoof. Of course, the waiting game really sucks!! A few weeks ago we had a bad farrier who cut away ALL of Udex's already too thin sole, resulting in his mushroom feet being even MORE prone to stone bruises and abscess'. To top it off, Udex was also kicked by a mare in the paddock, making him a little sore. So for about 3 weeks I was taking care of a lame Udex. Taking him on little walks, not riding anymore then walk and a little trot, and getting him corrective shoes (by an amazing farrier!) which are helping his hooves to grow. So almost a month after Udex had gone lame, I was so excited to be back in the saddle! He was feeling well, and I was feeling excited to ride and to take a lesson!! I had a friend out and I rode Udex with her and her horse. He was a joy to ride (as always!) Two days from then was going to be my lesson. The next day I went to go put boots on Udex in the paddock and saw he was walking in the most bizarre way imaginable. His brown leg (front left [FL]) was outstretched and he was refusing to bend it at the knee or to put pressure on it. I palpated his leg (as you should when you see somethings not quite right with your horses limb) and did not feel any heat, any moisture,any lumps, and didn't even see swelling. He was not bothered by my hands squeezing his leg. I picked up the leg and checked out the hoof, just to be sure it wasn't a hot nail! Still he did not seem too bothered by it. He then got uninterested with my squeezing his leg and, being the typical warmblood he is, decided to walk away from me! Now, I know when a horse is lame how they should limp, jump around on their other three legs, throw their heads, or just refuse to move... Usually you can see how the way they are limping, what may be the cause of the underlying lameness. However, I was stumped when I saw how Udex walked away from me. He was walking with his FL leg locked in place, and swinging it outward. I mean, reallllly swinging it too!! He wasn't throwing his head, and besides not putting any weight on that leg, didn't seem to be in any other pain! I had to chuckle a bit because my usually elegant, floaty, energetic horse was now walking like a Spanish horse of some sort! Anyways, after a lot of consideration I decided it would be better to leave him overnight in the paddock with his friends. I know that if he was hurt in some sort, and I did stall him, he would have just paced himself out of fear from being a lone and just made matters worse. It would be far smarter to just let him stay with his friends, doing just a few steps of walk. We would decide whether or not he would have to be stalled in the morning.

  The next morning I came to lunge Udex to try to get a better look at what the problem could be. He was standing off to the corner in the paddock all by himself, FL leg dangling by his side, but his appetite still huge and grazing on the great grass!! I put the lead rope on him, but he refused to walk with me. He stood there with his FL leg dangling. At that point my hopes of the lameness disappearing over night left me. It was still here, and if not, worse. We got a whip out and together, my Mom and I managed to pull him to the stall. It took about an hour to get him to go the short distance. The entire time he was walking on his toe, which convinced me it wasn't a leg, hip, muscle, or joint problem, but rather a problem within the hoof. So Udex went into his stall and happily munched on some hay and nibbled on some straw! He was still the same old Udex though, nervous to leave his friends, but instead of pacing he was hobbling on his three legs!
   For about four days I soaked his hoof in warm epsom salt water several times a day, and hand walking him to a little patch of grass down the street. (He had to walk to keep circulation flowing to the hoof the right way, and of course, he did love his snacks of that great grass!) Finally on the fifth day, at the bulb of his heel puss started to seep out. He was walking normal and had all his go back! He got to be with his paddock palls and eat the fresh grass out there! I was really happy to see him being able to walk normally on over to his friends! -He had missed it so much!-

   So right now the abscess has finished popping! I am at the stage where I'm waiting for it to fully heal up so I can start to ride him again!! His walk is perfect, but he still limps at trot! It has only been about two days since the thing popped, so I'm pretty sure he is going to be ready to ride in no time!!! I'm really excited to have a nice ride with him again! I do have to say, over this entire last month and a half I have really bonded with him a lot more.  It's always fun to get to know your horse a bit more!!! I would have been totally lost if it wasn't for our amazing friends Jacq and Dirk giving us advice the entire way! I don't know what I would have done without them!!!! I can't thank them enough!
   Am I happy that my horse is lame and that I was out of the saddle for a while??- No, Of course not. But I AM happy that I got this great learning experience out of the situation! When you think about it, a month and a half of a lame horse is not that bad! Some people have it a lot worse then me! Although I was offered to ride friends horses for the time Udex was lame, I had to refuse. To me it is just not the same, I don't want it any other way if I can't  have Udex! I really love my horse!! He may be the most energetic boy I know, he may be the hardest horse to sit, and he may be the only horse that can embarrass me senseless...  but you know, that's my horse, and I absolutely love the fact he is all that, and so much more. That's what makes Udex; Udex!!! I am so happy to have such an amazing horsey!! (-: I love you Udex!! (-:

Sharing the Arena

Tonight I was very impressed with Udex. Although he has been in the arena numerous amounts of times before, tonight was his first time sharing the arena with another lovely horse. To be more specific, the other horse is not boarded at the barn, but trailed to the barn for use of the arena, (making the horse a total stranger to him.) At first, I was a little nervous to see Udex's reaction to this new mare. I was lunging Udex when the mare arrived. At first, Udex was a bit excited and did start to speed up his canter. Though after about a minute he calmed down and slowed down to a very nice relaxed, ideal, canter. He handled the situation perfectly, I could not have asked for better.

HUGE improvement!

       Now, as you know, Udex's muscles are not as good as they used to be. In order to re-develop his muscles, I need to walk Udex a lot more then I would a normal, up to par horse. When he walks, he is working on using his hind leg muscles, resulting in him developing those muscles! (Yay!)  For the past few days I have been walking him a lot... Today I saw the difference. HE WALKED WHILE HE WAS ON THE LUNGE!!!!!! This is great news!! Before, udex would not want to walk, due to it being a bit uncomfortable for him. Today I saw the past few days really pay off. The fact that he decided to walk instead of just stop or start a trot, really means a lot to me!!! Already my horse is improving drastically! To name a few improvements, he is walking more, looking shiny, listening to me perfectly, recognizes his name, a lot calmer, and so many other things I could add to the list!

    Overall, I am very impressed with him tonight! There are many other ways that the night could have went, but luckily for me, my horse trusted me enough to show him the way. I am so thankful for Udex, and his willingness to learn. Tonight was fantastic!

The Journey

       Why buy a horse like Udex? I mean, who in their right mind would want to buy an underweight, un-muscular, scrawny, HUGE, energetic warmblood? ("Me! Me! Me!!") An ideal first horse for a thirteen year old girl, would probably be a horse that is calm, sweet, muscular, well fed, and well ridden, that you could take to shows several months after buying, and ride everyday after it arrives at your barn. That's not the case with my Udex though!

   While looking for a rescue horse to fix up, I came across Udex. I almost immediately knew that he was the horse for me.
I am truly lucky to have such an amazing horse. I honestly can say that I am proud that my horse needs work. To me, that means that my horse and I are on a journey together. On our journey, we will both become disappointed, share our happy moments, have many laughs, have our falls, have our times when giving up comes to question, spend lots of time on just working out little flaws, and also become frustrated, but most importantly... We will achieve the one thing that matters most in the horse world... A bond. I know that together, Udex and I can accomplish all of our goals and prove many people wrong. The key to success with a horse is trust, a bond, patience, and love. I know that it will be anything but easy to complete our journey. There will be many days when I will question the goal... But I know, that in the end, we will complete our journey successfully and that the prize is oh, so worth it. So here we are, at the beginning of our very long journey. I know that together, Udex and I, we will do this.