When we went to his paddock, he perked his ears and came over and was very friendly. Liked his face being pet, although was a bit wary at times, and then decided that eating my sweater was a good idea.
He's about 15.2-16hh. Not as big as I'd like a horse to be, but as a potential resale project, it's not that big of a deal to me.
This horse ties, which is one thing I LOVE about him. My mare does not tie, and if is tied, will freak out, and pull back until she's on the ground. Babysitting her at shows is not fun. Jesse was alright tacking up.
He was a bit nervous with the saddle pad being put on, and then got cranky with the girth being tightened, and every once in a while, would try to nip at me when I had my back turned or was tightening the girth, which should be a pretty easy habit to break.
When I mounted, he was a good boy and didn't move until I asked him to, which was nice also. I walked him around in his little 30'x30' paddock and trotted a bit before moving into the opened space.
When asked for the trot tracking right, he seemed stuck, and not wanting to move, like an over-worked sour school horse. Put his head in the air and put his ears back. I pet him, let him know he was a good boy, and clucked and asked for a bit more forwardness. After about 1 little loop, he did a baby rear, and a couple baby 'bucks' and a littler rear after that. and then Kicked/bucked a few more times going right. I got him through that, and asked for a walk, and changed directions. Asking for the trot in the second direction, he seemed much happier, stretching down, although somewhat sticky going forward.
We then brought him out into the bigger area to ride a bit more. Trotting was much better, and he was much more forward, although going around the short sides, he would become sticky, and I needed to squeeze and kick with my legs, and cluck. When he went forward again, he got a 'good boy' and a nice pet. Trotting to the left, he stretched down in his neck again, and seemed a lot happier to move forward, although got somewhat sticky on the short sides.
Overall, Jesse seemed like a nice boy, a bit spoiled and timid, but re-trainable. I'll be going down to see him again tomorrow!
This horse's background as far as I can remember it in the correct order:
The current owner bought Jesse (Anglo-Arab) 3 years ago. He was doing Dressage and hunters. The daughter took him up to 'A' Rated hunter shows. He was a champion of some hunter or dressage division. Horse trained with Jerry Shurinck for a while, but the daughter decided to go back with an old trainer. Sometime after that, the owner sent the horse to a trainer's and (as my trainer thinks) once she knew the horse was being taken back to owner's farm, she began using Jesse as a lesson horse. When Jesse got back to owner's house, the trainer claimed he was lame. ( I believe he was sent to training last summer). Jesse hasn't been ridden since the fall, or longer, with only one ride this spring. Trainers this horse has been to say he would excel at eventing, and will never be a western horse.
Pictures and a video:
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