A Baby Boomer Dreams of Arabian Horses - Rhythm's Story - Part 8

Part One of the Baby Boomer Series

Rhythm's Story starts here

It's a funny thing about stallions, no matter how old they get, or how big their testicles get, they can always suck those things back up - well not really inside but pretty darn far up. They do it when it's too cold outside. They do it when they feel threatened sometimes. And they'll do it if you shoot cold water up there! LOL Believe me, I know, I've done it dozens of times. What has that got to do with Rhythm being resistant about loping, you ask. Well, that's exactly what I wanted to know.

I don't know when it first happened that I noticed the young Arabian horse only had one testicle down low. But I knew it was weird immediately. The horse was now four years old and he had both testicles like he should. They were bigger than life, actually twice as big as Legs's. How come all of a sudden I only saw one in this horse who had two visible testicles from the instant he was born?


Every person at Harvey's clinic where the horse stood on his hind legs talking to mares will tell you about them. They were the subject of much discussion that day....and for that matter many other days after that. What can I say, this horse was hung in every sense of the word. It couldn't be missed.

So suddenly, I find myself only seeing one testicle. Then I'm wondering when did I see two. How long has it been? A day, a week, a month, now I really want to know. So I started keeping track. Sure enough I wasn't seeing two testicles anymore at all. What had happened to the other one? And more importantly to me, was this the root of the problem with the horse's lope?

So I called to make an appointment with the vet. It was really hard to do because even on the phone he was calling the horse a cryptorchid. There was NO WAY that Rhythm was a cryptorchid and I didn't want him being referred to as such. I was having enough problems getting this breeding business of mine off the ground. Rumors like this can fly like wildfire through the Arabian horse grapevine. That was the last thing that Legs or I needed especially since it wasn't true.



A cryptorchid is a male horse who only drops one or sometimes even no testicles down into the scrotum. The testicles get caught up in the body cavity on the other side of the inguinal ring when it permanently closes. The testicles cannot produce sperm so the horse is sterile. AND since the time when that inguinal ring closes is genetically determined cryptorchism is a genetic disorder.

I was just going to have to trust this vet was smart enough to figure out the difference between my mature stallion with some kind of problem and a cryptorchid. There was no way I could figure this out on my own, I needed the vet's help. So I made the appointment and I waited.

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

Rhythm's Story - The Problem

More pictures of Rhythm is the bosal. The last one I put in so Lori could see the angle better and that this bridle is well underneath his eye. If the bosal is on properly it should never hit the horse in the eye. And used properly, the bosal is not uncomfortable for the horse. But like anything else, it can be abused and make a horse sore. This one happens to be made from kangaroo and is very very soft.

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A Baby Boomer Dreams of Arabian Horses - Rhythm's Story - Part 6

Part One of the Baby Boomer Series

Rhythm's Story starts here

During this time, Rhythm was still being turned out with both of his brothers, Chase and Chance. Unlike a lot of breeders, I like to keep my colts together as long as possible. The interactions with other horses make them happier healthier horses. Heck, Legs went out with geldings for years until finally an older gelding decided to beat him up.

Chase, Rhythm and Chance were like the equine version of the Three Musketeers. They were quite a threesome. They could get into more trouble together out there in the field, just like a group of little boys.

Rhythm, or course, was the leader. Right from the beginning the other two colts knew that he was in charge. All three horses would run and play their mock battles for hours on end. Rearing and striking and lots of hock biting, typical practice for one day taking over a herd. Not that running a herd was going to be in any of their futures, but that's not what their instincts told them.

Nothing ever serious happened even right after Chase and Chance were gelded. All three Arabian horses still continued to played well together. As long as there was a clear difference in power, there was no reason to be concerned. The problems come when one horse thinks it can stand up to another instead of being subservient OR when horses get together and gang up on the low man.

That is what happened to break up those three musketeers of mine. One day Rhythm and Chase took off after poor Chance. I heard the commotion and had to go and retrieve him from the field. They didn't hurt him, just scared the poor guy half to death. He was shaking and sweating profusely. That was the last day all three Arabian horses went out in the same field.

Chase always seemed to be a bit insecure so I figured that he and Rhythm would continue to do well together. But the little monster did get up the courage to go after Rhythm. It was probably another eight months after the incident with Chance before Chase decided the time was right. I heard this blood curdling scream and looked out just in time to see Chase flying at Rhythm with ears flattened to his head and teeth bared.

The red colt was shocked! At first Rhythm just stood there like he just couldn't believe it. Then he had to high tail it and run! He had used up the time needed to take up a counter stance staring in disbelief. To this day, I still can't believe that Chase went after Rhythm that day, but he did and that was the end of that. No more turnouts together for Rhythm and Chase, although I was able to but Chase back in with Chance. Sometimes herd behaviors are just, well......unexplainable.


That was the last time that Rhythm was turned out in the same field with another horse. Rhythm was just to valuable as a stallion to be taking any chances that he might get hurt. I always hate when that day comes because horses are such social creatures. Separating them just doesn't seem fair.

But at least having started off putting them together, I have horses that can be turned out side by side. They still get to do their face boxing over the top of the fence and nobody can get really hurt so they don't lose all social interaction. It makes them much happier stallions.

I continued to work on getting Rhythm ready to show. He really was a fun horse to ride. Sometimes he would shake his head at me expressing his displeasure at me being on his back. Occasionally he would swap his leads behind at the lope. But on the whole, he was a good boy.

It wasn't long at all and the horse was doing the most beautiful and slow true jog you can ever imagine. Almost so slow, you'd think he was jogging in place. But it was a true two beat jog, no walking in front or behind like those horses that are slowed down mechanically or don't have the talent to jog that slow in the first place.

The same was true of his lope. As he learned to round up on cue, he just got slower and slower and softer and softer. I don't think you'll ever see a more beautiful three beat lope. The horse was so fluid and smooth and he had gotten there so quickly, I just couldn't believe my luck. The horse was really turning out to be everything I had imagined. I could hardly wait for show season.

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

Rhythm's Story - Part 7

This picture is Rhythm bitted up in the round pen. He is in the midst of a lope departure. You can see how deeply underneath himself this horse gets.


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Trying to Get my Breeding Business Back on Track - Training Young Horses

Before I tell you about my "accident" I thought I should tell you a bit of how I got to this place this weekend. This process of starting these horses under saddle has been going on for a while. This most recent effort has been going on for a couple of months. If think if I don't start with the history, I'll be straying all over the place so I'm thinking this will make more sense.

This fall while I have been catching up on some "history" in A Baby Boomer Dreams of Arabian Horses posts and trying to stay semi-current on posts about Rachel and Grandma
, I have been trying to get on track with training horses as well. The last few winters have just been so ugly that I have been unable to accomplish much riding outside. The end result was I just didn't get horses into the show ring.

There's no way I am going to get quality show horses sold without getting them into the ring. Even my open houses have been ineffective at getting "buyers" and particularly trainers out to my farm. The people who do come are wowed by the horses but not really shopping. It takes fancy horses in the ring to lure prospective show horse buyers out to see what else a breeder might have.

My original business plan always included getting my horses into the ring. Because these lines mature late, I've not had much luck getting them started, let alone shown, as junior horses. Then between the weather and "life's" other forms of interference, I just haven't gotten them into the ring at all except for yearling halter. The result is I am at a crossroads, no more breeding until I get some show horses down the road.

To make sure that the horses get enough miles under saddle this winter, we've taken some stalls at the same barn where Rachel keeps Dandy and Hope. I decided I needed to do whatever it takes to get some horses broke enough to show and for that matter get Legs to Nationals in the amateur owner to rider (AOTR) western pleasure. The Arabian horse can't be an ambassador for my farm sitting at home.

Originally the plan was that I was going to take four of the un-started youngsters over to the barn to work. That would give me a total of six to work there. In addition I would haul in another three for a total of nine a day. I could rotate those being hauled in so that I could be training a total of twelve horses. That was the plan anyway..........

I started off with the two five year old stallions, Scandalous Storm and Scandalous Reflection. Scandalous Hope was already at the barn. The mare is the oldest Legs' baby that isn't started yet at six, so she was on the list as well. Once I'd built up a little stamina, (don't you laugh. While I don't let my age stop me, it does slow me down from time to time) I was going to add Louie and Percy into the mix at the barn. Both are three year old geldings.

The commuting horses would be Legs, Vee, Dare, Faith, Tag and the last was undecided. I have lots of choices but not sure which way I wanted to go for sure.

Soon after I took Storm and Reflection over to the farm, several of the young horses here came down with the snots. That stopped me in my tracks for hauling anyone out of here, including Legs. Even though he wasn't sick, I couldn't be sure he wouldn't carry something to the other farm.

I had been on the backs of both Storm and Reflection late last year. I rode each of them four times in the round pen at home. The first two rides were on a leadline with Colleen doing the leading. The next two were on my own. We just walked and jogged a little. Then the weather turned ugly and I was stopped dead in my tracks.

Up to that point I had sacked both horses out repeatedly. Then I had saddled them and lunged them in the round pen wearing the saddle and a bridle with loose reins tied to the saddle flapping away.

After the lunging, I did work on the ground, teaching each horse to move away from pressure on his sides and to give to pressure on the bit as well. Even on the ground before I apply pressure to the bit, I drive the horse forward from behind. Once the horse begins to step off, I take a very light hold on the rein. At the first sign of a give, I release. It doesn't take much and I have a horse flexing nicely around me on the ground.

Once the horses got comfortable with moving off the pressure on their sides and giving to the bit, I began shortening up the length of the reins when they were lunged (biting up) exposing them to light pressure on the bit. As each horse got more accustomed to feeling the pressure and giving to it, I shortened the rein some more. I continued this work until both horses were light, soft and going forward while bitted up. I don't remember how long I did this with each horse but it was near a couple of months.

Then I got on them. Not because that is where I like to go in my training program, because it isn't, but because that was when I had help. I skipped my next step, which is ground driving, and got on because Colleen was available for a couple of days. That's been the story of my life in training young horses, a little here......and a little there........

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

Part 2

To those who have asked for me to add some designs to my zazzle collection, I am experiencing some problems with the process. So I am waiting for Zazzle's techs to help me solve my problem. I haven't forgotten you.

This picture is Scandalous Legacy as a yearling.

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