Sweet Pea

I met a cute mare on Friday.  Her name is Uskalith, aka Sweet Pea.  She's a 11 year old Arabian mare.  The issues the owner said she has was being a little herd bound. I just rode her in the arena while her herd mates were in the field nearby and she didn't seem to be too upset.  I think taking her further away would show more what she might do.  The owner said she would just plant her feet and not move forward.  I know there is ways to work a horse in regards to that so I'm not too worried about it.

The other thing about the mare is you can see she is a bit overweight.  Her neck is cresty with a fat deposit, there are also areas on her shoulder and hips that I felt some fatty areas.  It's something I'm not too concerned about but would have a vet guide me in getting her back in shape.  She also had a droopy lower lip but not an issue that I can see with her bite.  Makes her look pouty!  LOL.

She was very sweet and easy to work around but her owners just went about tacking her up right away.  Hmm.  She didn't have any issues but the first bridle they tried was too big for her and the bit hung low in her mouth.  The owners friend mounted up and the girth wasn't very tight so the saddle slide over.  They were saying it was because she was so rotund.

The mare did fine with all the wiggling the gal did to straighten out the saddle.  The gal rode her around both directions at the walk, trot and canter but Sweet Pea didn't seem very happy with the bit.  I suggested to the owner that I had a couple bridles in my trunk that might fit her but she had another option in her trailer so she went and grabbed a bridle that fit better and the bit sat in a better position.  The rider asked if I wanted to try her out but I asked to see her ride again in the new bit.  Sweet Pea did much better, she didn't toss her head or fiddle with the bit so much.

As you can see above, the bit was low in her mouth.  Again you can see her droopy lip.  Next I rode her, I didn't think to check the stirrups before getting up but the owner and her friend were more than helpful in adjusting my stirrups for me, one on each side.  I wanted to laugh so loud I felt silly!  Sweet Pea had a nice walk but was sensitive to leg pressure, I did a pseudo serpentine with her to see how she responded.  Sometimes when I used my leg to turn her she would start into a trot but at least wasn't getting ridiculous and I could pull her back to a walk easily.  Collection doesn't exist but I'm not expecting that on any horse I find.

After the ride I asked if I could groom her.  I ran the brush all over her body, on her stomach toward her teats and under her tail near her lady parts.  She was very easy going and didn't have issues.  The only thing was she didn't want to pick up her feet.  I asked the owner if she used a different cue, and she did.  She would squeeze her chestnut and the mare would lift up her leg easily.  I tried the same and she was fine.  Sometimes it's just a matter of the horse learning new cues from another person.

She has fine lines on her hooves, like really shallow cracks.  I don't know if this could cause infection or why her hooves have this, I've not seen this before.  Her hooves seemed fine though.  Only thing with her legs was windgalls/windpuffs.  They didn't feel hot at all and the owner said she'd always had them and so had her mother.  I know they usually aren't a worry, especially if there is no heat or gait abnormalities.

I told the ladies I liked her and that I needed to think and perhaps have my trainer take a look at her sometime if I'm still interested.  They completely understood, they just wanted to find her a good home with someone that would spend time with her.  She's cute and has trail experience so we shall see.