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Post by heather on Dec 14, 2011 13:07:15 GMT 1
This is Monty, my new yard manager's ex racehorse, Monty. Kay has done a great job with him- she has done most of the IH courses, and is very much on the same wavelength!- and he is now really ready to progress at 11 yrs old. He has done prelim dressage, hunted, show jumped etc, but Kay is very keen to take him on in dressage, training classically of course! So this was Monty learning his lateral work, he had actually had three weeks off having tweaked a leg in the field, and had some heat in it, wasnt lame, but we felt it better to give him time off. But he hadnt forgotten a thing from his last lesson, and has only done travers and half pass twice before.  Shoulder in   Early travers    Half pass   And a nice stretch to finish!  We hope to take him to the highest levels of classical dressage, so will update along the way, if members are interested. I have long said if I didnt have Iberians it would be ex racehorses, and now I have one here to work with, and such a lovely chap he is, so willing to learn! Kay is excellent, fantastic with the ground work, long reining etc, and a very good rider too! Heather |
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Post by dalesfan on Dec 14, 2011 13:10:12 GMT 1
Gorgeous  I have an ex racer called Norman who looks very similar to Monty...keep us posted! |
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Post by mandal on Dec 14, 2011 13:44:49 GMT 1
Lovely pics. I think tb's make very elegant dressage horses.  |
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Post by kafee on Dec 14, 2011 18:31:57 GMT 1
Very handsome, no, mandal's right, elegant!
He looks to my untrained eye to be 'soft' and accepting the bit happily, and working on a very light contact.
Lovely to see a racehorse with a new life, which so many of these beautiful horses don't have.
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Post by jen1 on Dec 14, 2011 20:25:39 GMT 1
nice to see an ex-racer being re-juvinated
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steve
Grand Prix Poster
Posts: 1,640
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Post by steve on Dec 14, 2011 22:32:56 GMT 1
What a fab horse looks a super type!
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Post by suzirock on Dec 14, 2011 22:55:01 GMT 1
Well he looks lovely, what a lucky boy! Love the position of the saddle, the absence of a martingale and noseband, and a simple (loose ring I think?) snaffle bit.... |
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Post by heather on Dec 15, 2011 9:39:46 GMT 1
I've long said that if I didnt have Iberians, it would be ex racehorses, so now I have one here to work with! I have worked with many ex racehorses over the years, and there are some extremely good horses to be found off the track, so I am looking forward to showing what Monty- Monty the horse, that is!! - can do!
Heather
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Post by mandal on Dec 15, 2011 10:50:33 GMT 1
I recall some wonderful pics you put up Heather of a (I'm sure a TB) horse with a ewe neck which it carried high like a camel. His/her progress with you was awesome.
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Post by heather on Dec 15, 2011 11:18:43 GMT 1
She was Lusitano x TB actually Mandal- this was her ;-). I managed to get the photos in my new book, even though they were low res, and they look fine! This was her, 9 yrs old, first day.  Same mare, 9 months later:  This was an ex racehorse, 8 yrs old, two months off the track, owner up- this was a BHS demo at home.  Me up, about 20 mins later:  Never done shoulder in before, a few mins later still  Two months later at our conference, but he had no further schooling from the demo, just hacking and conditioning.  What a star!! Heather |
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Post by mandal on Dec 15, 2011 11:26:25 GMT 1
She was Lusitano x TB actually Mandal- this was her ;-). Ah yes,thanks for clarifying. Those muscles she developed also are awesome. The other pics show how important the way we ride is to me. Fab. I wish. ;D |
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Post by sarahbing on Dec 15, 2011 11:29:38 GMT 1
Blimey, If you hadn't posted that Heather I would have seriously questioned whether that really was the same horse from photos 1 and 2, 20 mins apart.
Wow is all I can say ;D
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Post by Kelly Marks on Dec 15, 2011 20:35:02 GMT 1
Wow! Some lovely photos there! Some lovely work and lovely horses! (Must find a new adjective soon!)
Well done
Kelly xx
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Post by Catrin on Dec 15, 2011 20:58:51 GMT 1
Monty is even showing signs of muscles down the side of his neck! Ex-racers can be amazing, they try so hard to please and once the penny drops come on in leaps and bounds (actually they do the metaphors when they do understand you and the literal when they don't).
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Post by heather on Dec 16, 2011 12:42:34 GMT 1
Monty is simply amazing. He moved up yet another gear from those photos and video I took when teaching Kay a few days ago- only posted the video for EE members at the moment, but happy to post here too for IH members if you would be interested- it is however 23 mins long, so takes a while to download if your broadband is as crap as mine! Yesterday, from the rein back to trot, the elevation in the trot showed how easy it is going to be for him to develop a fantastic passage, and he also took his first few piaffe steps yesterday, he is an absolute superstar!
Heather
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I have an ex racer called Norman who looks very similar to Monty...keep us posted!
