A Baby Boomer Dreams of Arabian Horses - Rhythm's Story - Tommy Garland - Part 7

Part One of the Baby Boomer Series

Rhythm's Story starts here

The Arabian horse arrived in Virginia the second week in January snorting and blowing and talking to the girls. If Tommy Garland was anywhere around, I'm sure he rolled his eyes and shook his head. He probably even half chuckled as he walked off and left the horse to the assistant trainer, Greg Peak, to deal with. Rhythm's adventure had begun.

Now, I don't have a blow by blow account of what has happened at the Garland's training facility in Virginia because evidently Greg Peak doesn't talk much. But I have enough of the details I can probably fill in the blanks pretty darn well. Our boy Rhythm was......well......our boy Rhythm after all. The horse had his own ideas of how this whole adventure should go.

To be perfectly frank, I hadn't really thought much that the horse might see each new person in his life as one who would have to prove that they could be in charge. Most of my horses just hand off to any human and do what they've been taught. While Dave and Lindsay didn't lead Rhythm anywhere, they only worked around him or loved on him in the field, he still always respected their space and moved around using the cues he had been taught. He was a good boy most of the time.

Now, I do, however, remember clearly the first time I put someone onto the horse besides me. He'd been under saddle for a while and was past that point I would call green. I wanted to see what the horse looked like from the ground. So I asked someone else to ride the horse so I could have a look.

It never occurred to me that the horse would object to someone else on his back besides me. Frankly I've never heard of a horse doing such a thing. But that is what Rhythm did........he objected, loud and clear.

The rider put her foot in the stirrup and he looked a bit nervous but stood. But when the rider's weight actually hit that stirrup as she started to mount, Rhythm's eyes bulged and the horse collapsed like he was going to lay down. There was no way he was letting that woman on his back.

I can remember I was clearly shocked and a little bit embarrassed. I'd never seen a horse do such a thing. I scolded the horse and pulled him upright. Rhythm scooted off sideways trying to escape and got in big trouble for his efforts. Then I pulled the horse back over for the rider to mount and she got on no problem.

I never really thought about it after that time because I never had a problem with it again. I just assumed that the horse would be fine with anyone who had the experience to ride him. I guess I shouldn't have assumed.

I took Rhythm and Legs once to the Daffodil Summer Show, I believe. The classes I was to ride in were really close together. Legs's class was first followed by only one class and then Rhythm's. Had it been the other way around, I never would have worried about warming the second horse up.
Because Rhythm was unshown under saddle, I asked my friend Angie if she would warm him up for me. Again, I wasn't thinking that the horse would be a problem. Angie is a great hand, the horse would just know and things would be fine.

Angie and I have been friends for years. She knows what my training is like, we even use the same cues. She trusted me when I said the horse was broke and readily took on the task of warming the Rhythm up.

Rhythm stood just fine. She had no trouble mounting. He jogged around the warm-up like a prince. The lope was a different story. The horse bucked a couple of times at the transition and Angie was concerned mostly because she didn't expect it. Not because the horse did anything particularly dangerous.

When I came back from the show ring to swap horses, Angie asked me if Rhythm had a problem bucking at the lope. I was surprised by the behavior but decided to cancel my class. I didn't really know what I had and didn't want to go into the class with a naughty horse.

I got on the horse to school him and figure out what was happening. I rode the horse around the warm up just fine. He was being so good, I really could have ridden him in that class. Again, it didn't occur to me that the horse might be protesting having a different rider.

I didn't even log the behavior away in my list of things I always tell prospective buyers. I want them to know each and every quirk. Brittany and the young trainer had both ridden him at the park with me by their side without incident. I just didn't get this was a quirk.....until I heard about his behavior at Garland's.

To be continued................

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