It's hard to believe but nearly a year ago, magic happened and a classy chestnut gelding found his way from Delaware to Southern Pines to me.
It's taken me almost that long to learn how to ride him properly; he is so different from my burly Appendix boy. He has made me a better rider and I hope that I have made him a stronger, more comfortable horse. As we tackle Five Points next weekend, he will be back in the sandhills where the fabulous Suzanne and Allie of CANTER MA got him restarted, only now, baby's got a whole new look.
After 12 months of conditioning and training and trying and failing and trying again and oh there was that whole bone scan thing and then there is the ever present rider handicap, one OTTB went from sexy to S.E.X.Y.
September 8, 2011 -- Away Again steps off my trailer into a new life:
October 16, 2011 -- One month later, bathed clean and ready to learn:
April 28, 2012 -- It's springtime, don't make fun of my weird shedding, mom! The first day at the new farm:
August 31, 2012 -- I'm too sexy for dressage, check out mah neck (and I have not learned to pose yet from my brother and my mom is terrible at this when trying to hold the rope and her cell phone at the same time):
Shiny chestnut boy. :)
ReplyDeleteLooking gooood :)
ReplyDeleteHoly Topline!! well done. :)
ReplyDeleteSchweeeet!
ReplyDeleteWow, talk about a neck transplant! What a cutie he is!
ReplyDeleteThank you!!! I've been wanting to get a new pic of him because I'd been noticing he seemed extra sexy lately, but it wasn't until I looked at the old one and compared it that I realized how much he had changed! We were waiting for the farrier, so I figured what the heck. Then I downloaded it and was like, wow, he's even shiny! (He has never had the Mr. Shiny gleam)
ReplyDeletePeople are gonna ask you where you hid the WB brand, LOL. You gotta show this photo to the people over on COTH whining about the lack of substance in today's American TB. No issue with THIS boy's bone and muscle!
ReplyDeleteHahah, so true, RW -- I read all the time over there about how American TB's are horribly bred, have no bone, are worthless, have horrible feet (Encore has phenomenal feet), blah blah blah.
ReplyDeleteI always resist, but I want to be like, duh, if you see one you don't like, DON'T BUY IT and keep looking. Encore is hardly an outlier, there are a lot more well built, well bred OTTB's out there@
Happy Anniversary!
ReplyDeleteEncore looks amazing. I appreciate how tough it can be to get a light horse to fill out. :)
Your baby TB sure has come along in a year. Encore looks fabulous. Good job! :)
ReplyDeleteThank you, thank you -- although I don't know how much credit I can take -- I started with a pretty great template, good conformation, good brain, and a good start. I only built on the excellent base he already had!
ReplyDeleteHappy yeariversary! Love the beefy man-neck, MUCH better!
ReplyDeleteI started putting together a similar post of then/now pics of Salem a few weeks ago (still haven't finished cuz my middle name is "Procrastination") and he, too, has Hulk-ed up quite a bit--these TBs CAN muscle up, we just have to feed them properly. :-D
Fat Fat Fat!!! Omg, he is costing me a fortune in horsey food, but it's finally sticking! Can't wait to see Salem!
ReplyDeleteHe looks awesome! Well done.
ReplyDeleteThank you SB!!!
ReplyDelete