4 weeks of Fred!

Ah sorry I haven't done a post for a while, since getting Fred a lot of my free time is obviously spent with him! Every evening I exercise him in some way and that doesn't then leave a lot of time in the evenings for all my other chores and and any rest time I get I like to wind down and watch some TV so finding a moment to write this has been a struggle!

So as the title of this post suggests, Freddie has been with is 1 whole month and we've loved every minute of it. He's really coming out of his shell and more importantly the good food, grass and work is meaning he's gaining weight nicely and is also muscling up as well.

On Friday night Mum and Georgie felt it was time to get on; I've been walking Fred out in hand with his saddle and bridle on for 4 weeks now and he is well used to being girthed up, having the saddle on etc so we decided as Georgie is both lighter and more experienced than me she should get on. So with safety first she donned a back protector, hat, gloves etc and we started lunging him, wanting  to just settle him in beforehand. Plus it's been proven that lunging properly with a saddle on encourages horses to engage their back, stomach and bottom so I felt it beneficial to make sure he's using his muscles first before putting someone on board.

Well Fred was a dream, I legged Georgie up and we had no problems, slight back up but that is to be expected as he hasn't had anyone sit on him for about 6 months. He walked round beautifully and when Georgie felt confident he was ok she asked for trot, which he did beautifully, and actually worked on a contact. He has obviously been ridden by someone who has nice gentle hands and he has a nice soft mouth which is unusual in racing!
Plus he's a very smart horse who is quick to learn Georgie tells me so that's really promising.

The following day I got on and Mum and I took him for an amble down the road for a short while to see how he'd cope and he took it all in his stride, he walked with real speed and purpose and was looking at everything and taking it all in!

I also walked him last night and again he was a very good boy! I've continued to lead him out in hand with either the saddle on or the passoa and he's loving all of that, it's strengthening our bond on the ground which I feel is so important.

So where does that lean now then? Well I am going to continue to get on and hack him out short rides twice a week and the rest of the time I will be leading him out again in hand and continue lunging.
I am really happy with his progress thus far and he's really rounding up nicely and his back and bottom coming up too.