Battle of the Geldings?!?!?!

So I get  home last night and go outside….. it was quite dark (as you know now at 745-8)…. Gabriel was barking up a storm and I could hear a ruckus from the “arena”….. I could see Hannibal Lightning standing patiently by the gate to enter the dry lot… in the background I could faintly see a “whirling” of shapes and shadows…. As I got closer I was able to make out   Takota running around in circles throwing up kicks here and there… I could hear snorts and movement….. I got closer still and was able to make out the outline of two rearing bay geldings… one a copper colored red bay, the other a dark bay…. It looked kind of like this………(red bay on left, dark bay on right):

Only in shadow, in the dark, in a makeshift riding arena, with no water, and ground poles and barrels strewn around……. Up they both would go, then one (or the other) would come down, spin, semi kick and run off only to return….  It was actually quite dramatic… I let Hannibal onto the dry lot and took his muzzle off…. Throughout this whole thing, he stood by the gate calm as could be, totally oblivious to the drama behind him… focused on “the lady that brings the bounty.” LOL!!  When I let Lightning in the two bays ceased fire and both stood staring at me….aka “the lady that brings the bounty”…. It was all quite interesting…. I’m not certain if they were play fighting, or jockeying for position, or a combination of both…. I can say that Kopper was quite subdued and removed when he entered the dry lot… I’m thinking maybe Dusty FINALLY is getting tired of his (Kopper’s) shenanigans?!?!?

And this is them in "real" life....... shortly after introducing Dusty, aka Mr. Withers, to his new herd....

"Herd Politics"

(Kopper is the 14.3h red bay arabian gelding with the Napoleon complex, Dusty is the 16.3h dark bay OTTB that encourages and enables the little dictator, Takota is the gray 1/2 arabian mare....errrr...gelding, and Lightning aka LB is the 15.3h black/white tobiano TWH gelding)

and then we have Lightning Bug.........

About a year after bringing Kopper home, I added Lightning Bug, registered name Grosse Pointe Lightning, to my herd last May (2009).  He was supposed to be for my (very green) beginner rider husband; husband had gotten it into his head that he wanted a black and white Tennessee Walking horse... well..it hasn't quite worked out that way.  Lightning is quite a handful and NOT for the beginner... essentially, his story is, he was purchased as a 3 year old by a beginner/first time horse owner.. this was after he had been sent to a Tennessee show barn for "training."  Previous owner and Lightning "clashed"... she "loved" him, but did not "like" him (more story there).. he literally walked all over her and had no respect for her; she was intimidated and fearful of him (which he took great advantage of).. even so, she kept him for 10 years... and rode him a handful of times (maybe the same amount of rides as years, 10+?).  She has a minature horse farm, and said he didn't like her minis.. therefore, he was kept in a separate paddock by himself.  Well...through a circumstantial chain of events I found out about Lightning, he fit the bill (well at least the description) of what my husband wanted for his horse.. I called about him in January, went to see him in March, rode him in April, and brought him home in May..

Lightning when I first met him March 2009

He wasn't the "prettiest" horse...I'm a sucker for typey Arabians, and he wasn't a "happy" horse.. All the same, something about him said "take me home"...so two months later, I did...fully knowing that he was not the "right" horse for my husband... nor was he the next horse I wanted for me (I planned to add an OTTB, or Arabian to possibly event with)

Lightning May 17, 2009~ 1st day home

He has been a marvelous "teacher" for me...because of Lightning, I discovered the best farrier in the world, learned a ton about PPID and IR, learned about equine nutrition and diet, and learned more about hoof make up, and laminitis (more on those chapters later)..the list goes on and keeps growing....

Lightning in July, 2009, taking him for a walk around the neighborhood

Lightning has been one a heck of a challenge.. In the beginning, I even doubted why I had him... and kicked myself for bringing him home... Now I am grateful, Lightning is an excellent "teacher"... not schoolmaster teacher, but teacher as in, due to our "discoveries" I am inspired to learn more about a numerous array of subjects (equine related~training, diet, trim, ailments, saddle fit, etc.). I have discovered that he hasn't had any "real" training... both on the ground and in the saddle.. I have been working at that and have "restarted" him from the ground up; I am working on giving Lightning a solid foundation from which we can build on.. Lightning is eager to please me and learn, yet, when he doesn't understand, he had/has the tendency to "blow up." We have worked alot on ground manners and respect, I have employed "natural" horsemanship methods for much of that.. Clinton Anderson, John Lyons, Pat Parelli, and Kenny Harlow to name a few.. Seriously,it's really more of a common sense approach..thinking like a horse, getting into their minds so to speak...and they all have the same basic principles and ideas behind their "methods."  I have morphed their methods to suit our needs, tweaking them and combining them....in addition, I also incorporate more "traditional" training methods.. under saddle he has no real speed control or brakes, he does not understand transitions and was not taught w/t/c under saddle (or rather w/gait/c)... we are working on that as well...I have enlisted the help of a trainer I like and respect whose  specialty is dressage, bio mechanics, core, and balanced horsemanship.. she does it all though... dressage, jumping, reining, driving, eventing... AWESOME!!

We are in partnership now, Lightning and I, and are teaching each other ... He has done a complete 180 degrees from the horse I brought home..

Lightning now...August, 2010

 It has not been easy and we have a way to go.. He has changed though, I see it in his demeanor and in his eyes.. he has learned to respect and trust me..and I say, even love me... I look forward to our journey together...