The Snoot: Part II

Basically this is a post on the firsts I've hit with Opie so far....which is basically just an excuse to share Opie pictures because THERE IS NO SUCH THING AS TOO MUCH SNOOT.

wrapped all around in case he went wild and whacked
himself. clearly he's a very wild child.

First Walkabout

I didn't want to get on him the first day he was at his new home, but I do feel strongly that fresh OTTBs need to maintain human interaction and not just get kicked out of the field to "be a horse and let down". Most of these horses have never just been kicked out in a field since they started racing. I used to be really good at running, but I would hate if someone was like, "You're going to be a runner again now, so go out and run all day! You're welcome!" Bitch, no. My life is eating snacks now. I'm good at it, and I need some hand holding to get back to the running game.

But that was a pretty poor tangent since I'm never going to be a runner again. #lolno

i turned around to see how he would react to the little
bridge but he just followed along behind me right over it.

Anyway, my plan for Day One was a walkabout of the property to let him check things out and see how his manners on the ground were. After a quick groom where I got my first introduction to grey horse poop stain (At least I know he had a nice snooze overnight?), we headed to the outdoor first. Opie was on a mission to see ALL THE THINGS, and I started giggling immediately. 

You guys. He's Zoe's long lost brother. 

snoot it.

snoot these too.

He's doesn't have Zoe's adorable and out-of-this-world smooshy nose, but that big white snoot loves to put itself on everything. It's like his snoot is his lead man. If the snoot says it's safe, there's nothing for Opie to worry about. 

snoot this tractor

even snoot yourself

Once we were done snooting all there was to be seen at the front of the property, I asked barrn mate K if she would walk around with pond with us. She was in the middle of a walk break on the horse she was riding, so she agreed and we headed out with some moral support should the snoot need it. 

spoiler alert: he didn't.

Our first obstacle was the bridge that crosses over a little creek/runoff from the pond. It's maybe three strides to walk across it, and Opie was game to just follow me wherever we were going on this adventure until he heard my foot hit the wood. He stopped for a second, but before I could even take another step to show him it was fine, he was like, "Well, whatever! Adventure awaits on the other side. Carry on!" and marched right across. 

We took a minute to practice standing patiently in the field behind the pond as standing still is definitely Opie's weakest point. Gosh, what a massive problem to have on a baby racehorse. 

We tromped through a muddy patch before walking over a low cross rail without even looking at it, and then heading into the little wooded path and walking over a stacked log jump with no hesitation. He needed some convincing to get over the actual creek/runoff since there was water in it, but a few times each direction and he was half walking, half hopping over it without hesitation.

Dudes, this horse is so cool. He just loves everything, and sees new things as amazing and fun and where is the next new thing so he can snoot that too. As soon as someone is around as the same time as me on a trusty trail horse, we're leaving the ring.

if you liked it then you should have put a snoot on it

First Ride

After getting a better feel for his personality, I didn't think I'd have any issues getting on him Monday. A was there to ride her horse so I asked her if she'd hold him for me at the mounting block before she got on because standing. It's not Opie's thing. 

I hooked him to the crossties with lead rope still attached while I tacked up and he was pretty squirmy, but never actually hit the ties. He would stand still then look down the aisle and be like, "Ahhh, I'm getting ridden, time for ADVENTURES!!!!" and start dancing around again. 

We finally made it to the ring and as expected he was like, "Yeah, this mounting block is stupid. I have things to snoot, bai." A finally popped him once on the shoulder--something he's fortunately very responsive to--and he held still long enough for me to swing up. 

my long lost riding buddy who moved back to nicole's was in town for the weekend
so obvi she had to stop and meet opie. we tried to get him to run around, but he was like, 
"imma take a pass on that" and trotted all of ten steps.

Since he's a little dude--maybe not little little, but certainly nowhere near the height and breadth of Bobby--I was really worried I was going to feel like a fat sasquatch on him. I was pleasantly surprised to find that he already takes up quite a bit of leg width-wise and I didn't feel big on him at all. 

We marched around at the walk both directions for awhile. He wasn't spooky or looky or even particularly strong. He wanted to take a pull, but I just gave him a quick, sharp tug and relaxed the reins a few times here and there and in no time at all I was actually having to give him a little squeeze to keep him from straight up plodding. Same thing at the trot. "Can we go fast? No? Well, okay. And now I'm already tired."

When we had him loose on Sunday, he was trotting towards B and I to get a cookie when he saw the ground pole. He slammed to a stop and put the snoot on it which had us both doubled over in laughter. The snoot deemed it safe so he popped over it and didn't think twice about it from there on out. I walked him over a different stack Monday from both directions without any troubles. So cute, so smart!

I let him finish with about twenty minutes of w/t work. He didn't so much as glance at A's horse in the ring with us, and when Farrier pulled in and started unloading her truck he was like, "Adventure? No? Better keep strolling then." Farrier ducked in to boop the snoot and take a picture to commemorate our first ride. 

side eye because i'd just kicked him for dancing all over. he was also chewing on
a peppermint so don't feel too sorry for him.

She also pulled his racing plates behind so he could get turned out for the first time without fear of clipping himself with toe grabs before he gets all new feet tomorrow. First turnout is going to be a WW tomorrow because this post is already too long and picture heavy. Let's just say thank goodness there was some nice fall foliage to make the pictures pretty because there wasn't a whole lot of excitement.