Thursday, April 17, 2008
Jimmy's Here!
9:22 AM | 
Posted by
Amy
Paul, Jimmy's former foster dad, delivered him to the barn last night. Jimmy was very looky and sniffed at everything, but settled in quickly. We offered him some grain and hay which he happily munched. Many thanks to Paul for taking time from his evening to bring Jimmy over!
After fussing with my own TB mare, Jewel, I got Jimmy out of his stall to see what he knew regarding ground work. He stood ground tied in the groom stall and let me pick up his feet. He also allowed me to measure his height. I have an "official" stick with a level and was shocked to see that he is officially (only) 16.2h. I would have guessed closer to 17h. Jewel is just shy of 16.2h, but she looks much smaller than he does until you're standing next to her. However, her height is in her legs. Jimmy has shorter front legs, but a massive chest and shoulder. He's very evenly built and has a very large hip and hind leg as well.
After measuring his height and picking his feet, I decided to see how well he led. Without using a chain (just a nylon halter and rope lead) we walked around the indoor. I started jogging and after a couple strides, Jimmy began trotting right along with me. He did shake his head a little as if to let me know that he was feeling good. After that, I decided to see if he would move his haunches and shoulders over. I swung the end of the lead towards his haunches and he quickly figured out to step them over. Then I swung the lead towards his shoulders. This was a little more tricky for him, but after a few minutes, he figured out how to step over versus stepping back.
Because he seemed so responsive and polite, we decided to venture outside for a bite of grass. The outdoor arena is a grass arena and makes the perfect grazing spot in the evening. Jimmy was very polite about walking around the outdoor and only stopping to nibble for grass when I stopped. Even with traffic whizzing by and kids playing ball across the road, he was very sensible. He was able to get a view of the other horses on the property when we were in the outdoor. He called to them a couple of times, but never got upset or worried. I even introduced him to my dog Landry, and he took it all in stride.
Below is a picture of him from last night.
After fussing with my own TB mare, Jewel, I got Jimmy out of his stall to see what he knew regarding ground work. He stood ground tied in the groom stall and let me pick up his feet. He also allowed me to measure his height. I have an "official" stick with a level and was shocked to see that he is officially (only) 16.2h. I would have guessed closer to 17h. Jewel is just shy of 16.2h, but she looks much smaller than he does until you're standing next to her. However, her height is in her legs. Jimmy has shorter front legs, but a massive chest and shoulder. He's very evenly built and has a very large hip and hind leg as well.
After measuring his height and picking his feet, I decided to see how well he led. Without using a chain (just a nylon halter and rope lead) we walked around the indoor. I started jogging and after a couple strides, Jimmy began trotting right along with me. He did shake his head a little as if to let me know that he was feeling good. After that, I decided to see if he would move his haunches and shoulders over. I swung the end of the lead towards his haunches and he quickly figured out to step them over. Then I swung the lead towards his shoulders. This was a little more tricky for him, but after a few minutes, he figured out how to step over versus stepping back.
Because he seemed so responsive and polite, we decided to venture outside for a bite of grass. The outdoor arena is a grass arena and makes the perfect grazing spot in the evening. Jimmy was very polite about walking around the outdoor and only stopping to nibble for grass when I stopped. Even with traffic whizzing by and kids playing ball across the road, he was very sensible. He was able to get a view of the other horses on the property when we were in the outdoor. He called to them a couple of times, but never got upset or worried. I even introduced him to my dog Landry, and he took it all in stride.
Below is a picture of him from last night.
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