[Kosciusko]

This Gypsy is not up for adoption.

This young horse is MiloThePitbull's Summer Event Yearling.

Username: MiloThePitbull
Name: Show Me The Moon//Rhydian
Age: 1
Gender: colt/stallion
Eye Colour: Purple
Halter: dark blue with a white moon
Height: 17.1hh
Genotype: Ee, aa, ZZ, Toto, Bb

Event Deadline: September 30th

[heffalumps]

Username: MiloThePitbull
Name: Show Me The Moon//Rhydian
Age: 1
Gender: colt/stallion
Eye Colour: Purple
Halter: dark blue with a white moon
Height: 17.1hh
Genotype: Ee, aa, ZZ, Toto, Bb

[heffalumps]

tasks
1. First Meeting
I walked over to the green and yellow filled paddock where the handsome colt I was picking up grazed, he was a nice looking horse and seemed to have a good way about him. My eyes glanced behind me as the dirt covered white horse trailer backed up to the small paddock the the colt was in, the first challenge would be getting this boy home. With a deep breath I climbed over the wooden fence with a clear blue plastic bag full of carrots to coax the animal over to me. I called out to the horse "Come OooOn!" I cooed and rattled the bag before getting a carrot out and holding it out to the large animal.
Despite my usual luck with coaxing horses with treats, this colt didn't seem to be interested in the food as he bolted off to the far side, away, from me and my attempts. I sighed heavily and headed towards the fence, I had given up for now and wanted to get something to drink before trying again. I liked what I had seen of the colt, he had good movement, seemed intelligent and was an attractive looking colour. I had always dreamed of getting a blue taffy, I had secretly tried to get a blue taffy with my Icelandic tolters but I had no luck.
It had been about twenty minutes before I started back over to the paddock with my colt in it, while I was resting, I had thought up many name. Ryan, Orion, Tommy and Omar where a few of the names that I though might have suited him but on second thought, not so much. The colt seemed interested in the float and was smelling it just to see if this strange this was scary or dangerous or something like that, so I approached him slowly and to my pleasure the colt loaded himself into the float.
The ramp creaked as I lifted it up and clicked it into place, the colt was a little bit spooked as he didn't know what was going on or what this strange metal box was. I sighed as I checked over the float and made sure that everything was locked in place so that nothing bad happens on the way back to my stable. It was a long drive and I had to constantly pulled over to check on the colt to make sure that he hadn't injured himself. And still so many names ran through my brain in a conveyor belt type cycle: Johnny, Sarge, Flash, Cash, Dash, Bliss, Blue, Rhydian.
Wait....Rhydian was a nice name and in my opinion suited the colt very well, so for now on he would be known as Rhydian. But the next problem was coming up with a show name. For some reason I found coming up with show names dramatically harder than a call name as it was hard to come up with something short and sweet yet with the meaning you want to put behind it. Sometimes I would use parts of the Sire's registered name and mi it with the Dam's but I didn't know those facts with Rhydian. Maybe something to do with the night sky, or the moon or the stars. It was bound to be a cloudy night tonight and I wont be able to see the full moon which was supposed to be showing through and shining down on the dark side of the Earth tonight. Then it hit me, Show me The Moon! It was perfect! Well, to me atleast and I figured that it would be a reminder to the first time I met this wonderful little darling of a colt.
[word count: 617]

[heffalumps]

2.Taking Home
Rhydians view
It was dark in that metal box and I didn't like it, the ground was cold and so were the walls but the overall temperature of the air around was nice. I didn't really like this, I sort of expected this day to come. I mean, I like the human! She gave me treats and played chase’s with me that was fun. But you know what's not fun? This box!
I felt a jolt and we had stopped, new smells were around me in all directions, I couldn't wait to get out and see what happens next! Suddenly, light flooded the metal box and fresh air cascaded all around me and I knew that I was free to run and jump and play in the paddock. The ground here was hard, it mustn't have rained for a while as I couldn't see any mud to run and play in but one thing was for sure, I wasn't lonely at all.
New sights and smells were all around me and in my yearling state, this was extremely exciting! There were small flightless, brown, annoying birds walking around the place, I didn’t know what they are and honestly, they were tarrying! The human called them chickens, even the name was terrifying “Chickens.” I though in my mind, sound it out and you’ll see how scary they are. I watched as the human closed the cold iron gate then watched me, like EXCUSE ME that is not the polite thing to do! The best you can do is just leave me alone for a while to give me some space but no….this human wants to be my friend!
.
My view
Dear Diary,
It was a long drive home and it was loud too. Rhydian wouldn’t stop whinnying and pawing the ground, I know that it’s just instincts but im just not used to that kind of ruckus. I know there were several times in the two hour trip that I just wanted to turn around and return the horse but I know if would be worth it.
The first time I pulled over was at a service station about forty five minutes away from where I had picked up the colt and the stupid thing had managed to put the front half of his body over the rail in the middle of the float. It took me like half an hour to get him to stand up on one side of the float, it still has me wondering about how he did it! I knew he was a smart one but I didn’t think he would be able to do something like that.
By the time we were only thirty minutes from home, I had heard something snap and was forced to pull over. Turns out that Rhydian managed to do the same thing again but this time, he was leaning so hard on the metal bar that it actually snapped clean in half. Needless to say, I wasn’t happy with what had just happened so that added another ten minutes on the usually two hour trip. Now that the dividing bar was broken, that was another 500 dollars out of my pocket and another trip into town.
Unfloating was pretty good, the colt unloaded himself and is doing pretty well. I think he was a bit confused about the chickens as he would charge and retreat constantly. I don’t know what he was thinking but he has me wondering.
Anyway, that’s it for today. So to sum it up in the past seven hours I have managed to pick a colt who is too smart for his own good, break my float and loose an extra 500 dollars, Until next time (if I’m still alive).

(621 words)

[heffalumps]

3.Settling In/Making Friends
Dear Diary;
Well today was….eventful if that’s a way to describe it. Rhydian is still terrified of the chickens and will bolt to the other side of the paddock whenever one comes near him. Honestly, I have no idea what’s going on in that head of his, I swear that horse would jump the fence to get away from the chickens if he wanted to. I don’t actually think that he is that smart any more, or maybe he is so smart that he appears a bit dumb, I dunno thought, I have plenty of time to figure that out.
Anyway, Rhydian has made some friends in the few days he has been here and I think that they have helped in settle in a lot better than he would have without them. I have noticed that he is a shy animal and likes to stick to himself so I haven’t really had the chance to get too close to him before I brought Pedro in from the back field. No Pedro is not a horse, a mule or a Donkey. Pedro is a Llama.
As soon as Pedro and the sheep came down from the back paddock I could tell that he and Rhydian would hit it off straight away, and what do you know? I was right. In my opinion Rhydian and Pedro are adorable but Pedro is definitely the leader of the pair as wherever Pedro goes, Rhydian isn’t too far behind. If Pedro gets a drink, Rhydian gets and drink, if Pedro starts grazing, so will the little blue taffy colt.
Rhydian also seemed to hit it off with one of our older geldings, Tommy. Now, Tommy is twenty five years old and still going strong but is retired. I really think that he will be a big help in the training of the youngster. Rhydian isn’t as close to Tommy as he is to Pedro but the three of them are together 24/7 and it is hard to see them without each other because the group just gels so well!
He has settled in very well with the company of his friends and has even started to open up more. When he first arrived, he wasn’t interested in eating a lot but now that Rhydian has made some friends all he asks for is more, more and always more. The colt now enjoys being here in my opinion and doesn’t like to leave his companions unless it’s a race to the three biscuits of hay that the trio has to share, then he will leave them in his dust.
This afternoon, I went out to feed the chickens and I found Rhydian running around like a mad man because they were in his paddock and he was honestly terrified. I don’t think that Tommy and Pedro know what the youngster is thinking because they just seemed to watch him gallop around with an expression on their faces like “you’re crazy, and not in a good way” sort of look.
Until tomorrow, Diary. Things to work on:
-Stop Rhydian’s fear of chickens
-Move Pedro and the sheep over to the sale yard pens
-take float into town
(word count: 531)

[heffalumps]

4.Halter breaking
Dear Diary;
Today the real fun of owning a yearling began! So it has been a couple of weeks since Rhydian first arrived here at Thunderbolt Stables and I have to say, we have grown quite fond of each other. He know comes running to his name and has grown slightly less dependent on Tommy for company as Pedro is out in the back paddock with the sheep again.
Today I decided to halter break, or start to halter break Rhydian which proved more of a challenge than I originally imagined. So I’ll walk your though it”
7:30-8:00 AM and I was already digging through my multiple crates and boxes of riding gear because you can never have enough and trying to find a halter that would fit Rhydian as even in his young age, he was a big boy.
8:00-9:00 AM and I had found a nice halter of my little boy, it was only a faded blue nylon halter but it was my old faithful as I had used it on many horses over the years and never once has it failed to help me halter break a youngster or even an adult horse. It was now time to feed the horses and Rhydian would have to come into the big round pen if he wanted his breakfast.
9:00-10:00 AM, both Tommy and Rhydian had finished eating and I had haltered old Tommy with the leather halter that we had won at our last show together. But the challenge was going to be Rhydian for sure! I put Tommy in the yard beside the round pen so that he was there to comfort Rhydian when the halter was on. I approached Rhydian and patted his down to let him know that he was a good boy then put the lead rope around his neck. He was fine with this as we just stood there for a while.
10:00-11:00 AM, now it was time to put the halter on. I stood slightly infront but to the side of the colt and put his nose through the strap. Okay, he was pretty good for thin as in the past few weeks I had played around with his head a bit so that it wasn’t scary. But the challenge was doing the up the crown piece. He through his head up and down and all around and my soft, comforting words weren’t cutting it.
11:00-11:30 AM, we just stood there with the crown piece half way through the buckle for some time before doing it up. My arm was dead. The crown piece was on a looser hole just to get Rhydian used to it before I tightened it up.
11:30-11:45 AM, I took the halter off and put it back on several times and for the last few time Rhydian didn’t move his head. I think he is starting to get used to it so I unclipped the lead rope on his halter and allowed Tommy to go into the round pen with him.
11:45 AM-13:00 PM, that was lunch time and break for the horses.
13:00-15:00 PM, I had gone out into the round pen and taught Rhydian not to run away when I got to catch him by using treats as a reward. I clipped the lead rope onto him and Tommy, this was something the older gelding could help me with.
15:00-15:30 PM, this was by far the hardest part of Halter breaking so far and it was actually getting him to move. I went to walk off and like always, Tommy followed behind and beside me. Rhydian was unsure at first but after the lead rope was stretched to its full extent he decided to catch up to Tommy. The young horse dropped back and pulled to the side and tried to rush ahead but being the intelligent horse he was, figured it out pretty soon.
In a whole, I think everything worked out pretty well today. We’ll do more tomorrow but in my opinion Rhydian is close to being or is after this one day, halter broken.
(word count: 682)

[heffalumps]

5.Green breaking
Dear Diary;
Now that we had the halter thing down pat and Rhydian could lead fine with and without another horse, I thought I was time start green breaking the little fellow. He had to be able two and a half years old by now and I know he can lunge because I taught him that only a couple of months ago, so it’s about time Rhydian learns the basics.
So I caught him from the paddock like usual and gave him a good brush down because it had been raining for the past few days and of course every day when I went to go catch him from the paddock he ended up looking like a mud monster. Rhydian enjoyed a good brush down but im pretty sure that he enjoyed a good mud bath better than the attention he gets when he gets brushed.
I was just going to teach him some more ground manners today but instead, I decided it was time. So while the horses enjoyed their morning breakfast I went and searched for my light weight, synthetic all-purpose saddle as it was the best thing for breaking in as it was light and didn’t put too much pressure on a young horse.
I took the saddle and thick saddle cloth into the indoor arena and hung into on the fence then went to fetch Rhydian. After lunging him around in both directions in a walk, trot and canter I finally decided that his attention was focused on me. I led the horse over to the rail where the tack was, he had seen it plenty of times and didn’t shy away, which was a bonus.
Firstly, I grabbed the saddle cloth and allowed him to smell it, alright, he knew it wasn’t scary. Then I rubbed it down his neck and all over his body on the left side and went around to do the same on the right side. It was apparent that he didn’t mind the saddle pad so I walked over to the on side and with his watching, placed the saddle pad onto his back. I gave him a big pat and did it several times on both sides as you need to teach them how to do things on the on and off side.
And that was that.
The next day I repeated those first few steps and then it was time for the saddle. There were no stirrups on the saddle yet so that he could get used to the weight on his back without having the stirrups flying around everywhere. This was a little harder as you could imagine but I allowed his to sniff it and I held it above his back for a few minutes, just doing the motion of saddling before actually putting it on.
After about half an hour of doing that on both sides it was time to place the saddle on his back. So if one motion, I swung the saddle up and placed it gently on his back and as I expected, he moved around. I comforted him with words and a piece of apple that I had been hiding in the saddle bag I had hung on the fence. After a few minuted of the saddle just sitting there I reached under his stomach and did the girth and sir-single up so that it wasn’t tight but wasn’t too loose either.
That’s when he began to buck, he bucked here there and everywhere but that spark went out pretty fast after the realization that it wasn’t going to hurt him. So I lunged him around for a few minutes in a walk in each direction, then picked up to a trot then a canter. He threw the expected pigroot but that was okay.
And yesterday we repeated the previously stated and it was time for the bridle. To my surprise, this was actually easier that the saddle as he didn’t seem to mind it. Rhydian opened his mouth when I put my thumb in the side of his mouth and didn’t freak out at all. I lunged him with the reins tied around his neck, the stirrups on the saddle and the girth done up properly.
Overall, his progress is coming along fine.
(word count:713)

[heffalumps]

6.Green Breaking w/Rider
Dear Diary;
I have worked with Rhydian for a while now and he doesn’t seem to mind the saddle and bridle anymore. In fact, when I walk out with them he whinnies so I think that it’s time to take a chance and get on. Maybe he’ll be as good as he was for when I was halter breaking him or maybe he’ll have a little bit of fireworks like when I did the girth up. Who knows? But there is one thing I know for sure, that the only way to figure it out is to just get on.
I grabbed my padded helmet because, my not? And walked out into the paddock with the halter, ready to catch Rhydian who came straight to his name. I halter him and took him into the round pen because that way he couldn’t really run away from me. He was very good while I saddled him and didn’t throw his head when I went to put the bridle on, so I was very proud of him. I then lunged him around for about ten minutes through the walk, trot and canter in both directions to get his attention on me and to make sure that there was no nasty attitude from him today.
Instead of jumping right on, I stood on a crate and put my weight on his back while he just stood here so he could get used to the feel. After about fifteen minutes of this I gathered the reins and put my foot in the stirrup, I took a deep breath to calm my nerves and slow my beating heart. Honestly it was a bit nerve-wrecking getting up on the large horse especially that I knew that he had NEVER had a human on his back before.
It was basically a flash and I was sitting on his back with both feet in the stirrups, he stood there, just waiting for something to happen. Then it happened, Rhydian rushed forward into a series of bucks and pigroots but he had quickly got over it. I tapped him and to my surprise he took a few steps forwards, I was happy with him and gave him a pat then got off.
I had always learnt that when with a young horse it was a good idea to get off when they did something good and give them a break and that’s just what I did. After about an hour, I saddle him up again and got back on. Rhydian seemed to have a routine of bucking a few times then giving it up and walking along fine.
I must have spent a few hours getting off and on then walking around the round pen in both directions, which was pretty good because after a while he stopped bucking as soon as I got on and figured out that what he was doing wasn’t going to get rid of the human on his back.
By the end of the day I had him trotting along as I had decided to give a friend a call and they brought their older gelding along. With the experienced horse alongside him, Rhydian seemed to relax more and was more willing to do what I asked.
(word count:543)

[heffalumps]

7.First training
Dear Diary;
Today I took Rhydian into town for a group lesson for young horses, this way he will learn something new and it will take a bit of stress of me having to train him all on my own. He did very well floating and unlike the first time, he didn’t break anything in the float.
I unloaded him at the show grounds and led him over to the outdoor stalls where all the other horses were staying for now. Since it had been getting down to 3 degrees Celsius lately, I had begun rugging him so that he didn’t freeze. I took of the rug and began to brush him down, there were many young horses here and a lot of world class trainers in almost every discipline so all I had to do was decide what I wanted him to compete in. Maybe dressage as Rhydian did have great movement, yeah, dressage was what I chose so Rhydian would definitely have his work cut out for him in the coming months.
After saddling up and lunging the youngster, I mounted from the ground as I had been trying to teach him this for a while. We walked over to the designated Dressage training ring and began warming up. It was a great day in my opinion and Rhydian is such a social butterfly, I just had to add that before I get into activities of the day.
We started off with leg pressure and leg aids, like teaching the horse the basics of a side pass. Now, Rhydian didn’t pick this up right away like a lot of the Warmblood and Thoroughbred looking things as they had probably been taught it from the ground so it took us a bit to get everything right.
After we had that down pat, we started working on being collected. Rhydian didn’t like this one bit as he liked to be able to stretch out and only like his paces. Medium walk, fast trot and snail speed canter. But like the Side Pass, he eventually understood what I was asking for and received a good pat for doing so well.
The break for lunch was good for Rhydian as he went out into the paddock with a few of the other young horses. He really relaxed and seemed to enjoy playing with the more adventurous colts that he was with but definitely wasn’t at the top of the quickly figured out pecking order.
After lunch we decided to do some jumping basics as I soon figured out that Rhydian was in fact terrified of the coloured jumping poled and refused to go near them on any basis. Needless to say, I spent have of my valuable time leading him from the ground over dull ground polls away from the other horses until he figured out that nothing was going to hurt him.
We had about twenty minutes left by the time I was able to bring him back into the group and by then I was ready to go home. One by one, everyone took their horse over a tiny, tiny jumped which was barely raised above the ground. But even though the jump was step-over-able, Rhydian still had a heart attack and a half at it.
(word count:546)

[heffalumps]

8.Free Space

A little backstory: one day, Rhydian was grazing....when out of nowhere one of those pesky chickens appeared out of thin air. I managed to snap this pick of him running, well jumping away!