Well, here goes nothing.

Rewind a year and a half ago to March of 2010. My mom and I traveled three hours away to a beautiful private barn nestled in the hills of little Binghampton, NY to look at a coming three year old dutch warmblood gelding by the name of Aiden. As we walked into the barn we were greeted by a couple of mares and weanlings, and a very nice young lady showed us around the barn. At the end of the aisle, she directed our attention to a stunning big chestnut, just under 17h at the time, with a to die for flaxen mane and tail. Right then and there I knew, this was our guy. He was very curious and alert of his surroundings, loathing the attention as I greeted him and gave him a scratch. Sweet boy. His owner led him out to the cross ties where she brushed him quickly and picked his feet. He was a bit antsy, playing with the cross ties, flapping his lips and making faces - as if he was bored...you know, standing still was a lot to ask of a 2 1/2 year old at the time. But that was my kind of horse - one with personality. She brought him into the indoor arena where we watched him move freely, he seemed to have three very wonderful gaits that we were more than pleased with. 


After arriving home, my mom and I talked about it and later that week came to a decision. Aiden was going to be mine. 


So, once Aiden arrived at the barn, I couldn't have been more excited. This was really my first expensive horse that I was training all for myself from day one. There is a great amount of responsibility that comes along with buying a 2 1/2 year old, including tons of patience and hard work. Above all that, willingness to continue day in and day out and taking the good days with the bad - because it's not all rainbows and butterflies in starting a young horse. So, I worked with Aiden from April 2010 until early August the same year - lots of ground work, getting him to respect me and making it known that I was in charge, not him. This eventually led to lunging in tack with side reins, so he could get a feel for contact and learn to accept and go on the bit. Also, he learned to go both directions while staying forward and balanced in each of the gaits before it would be time for backing. About mid-late August, with the help of the assistant trainer on the ground, I backed Aiden for the first time. Now, it wasn't just a one day process of course. It took a couple of weeks from putting weight in the stirrups, to laying over his back, to finally swinging my leg over quietly. Of course, Aiden was nothing short of a saint during the whole process - I couldn't have asked for a better candidate as my first horse I've actually worked with and backed myself from day one.


Everything went wonderfully from backing him through the first six months of working under saddle. I was a working student at a dressage facility at the time, and over six short months we were schooling training/first level very nicely with hopes of getting in the show ring come summer of 2011. Until things changed. Aiden began showing lots of resistance, not wanting to go forward, retaliating against my aids, kicking out, and was even going noticeably off in the front. Something was not right. I had my vet come out and he flexed him, did thorough x-rays, and even nerve blocks. He seemed to have found a bone chip in his right front, and suggested he have surgery to have the chip removed. He explained that removing bone chips was a quite regular procedure, and the recovery time wouldn't be terribly long. If all went well he would be back in work in a few months. So, we decided to bring Aiden 4 hours away to New England Equine Surgical & Medical Center, where he would be evaluated by specialists and then operated on to have the chip removed later that week. The staff was wonderful there, they kept us updated on MRI and bone scan test results and the day to day status of our boy. A couple of days after we dropped him off, we got a call with better news than what we had expected - he didn't need surgery after all. Aiden had a hairline fracture in his coffin bone, which in time would fuse back together and heal completely on its own. We were given strict instructions for his recovery - one being to have bar shoes put on him to keep his heel off the ground for the least amount of impact. I was also looking at about 3 months stall rest, then an additional month with handwalking 3x/week, to limited turnout. Simultaneously, I decided to leave my working student position as I really needed to direct all attention to Aiden and his needs. I moved to another beautiful facility about ten minutes away from where he was. It was a very long, depressing spring and summer to say the least, as my horses are everything and it was upsetting for me knowing he had to spend the majority of these nice warm months in his stall. But, I knew it would all eventually pay off in the end.


Well, that's exactly what it did. Now we're coming up on the month of October 2011, and I am more than thrilled to say that Aiden is finally back to work again. This is our third week back under saddle, and this horse is some sort of amazing. We go for walks around the property outside, and he LOVES the outdoor ring - something we never saw at my previous barn, unfortunately. He seems to have picked up right where we left off, floating around in his natural frame all happy-go-lucky. I'm hoping to get to the barn tomorrow, if not Friday morning where we will add some light canter work to the mix. I'll be sure to update afterwards!