Zippy picture
Nic took some video clips of Zippy trotting on the road today to show people at a conference that barefoot horses can move freely on tarmac. I got this shot off one of them - it's at walk. He's over 16.1 already and just look at the length of those legs!! Believe it or not this is his "up at the back" phase. He is so uphill built that he looks balanced in this shot (but he is also going uphill).
You can also see just how immature he still is for a horse who is only two months off his third birthday. But his movement is now so spectacular that I can't begrudge him what will be a long wait until he is ready to do any serious work. I could back him and sell him for at least £10,000 with his summer coat through, but I think I'll keep him - how else am I ever going to get my hands on a horse like him, because I'm certainly not going to pay that kind of silly money. All his legs point slightly outwards at the same angle, but he moves straight so I am not concerned about it.
Can you imagine this, muscled up and over 17 hands:
Jazz was tired after yesterday but he did consent to be ridden for 10 minutes just to give Nic the feel of his trot. She did what everyone does - burst into giggles of surprise at the sheer energy of the upward movement. I forget now that I never used to be able to sit it, I've got so used to it. It's good for me to be reminded - and he does look so elegant under saddle, which is something I never see, of course, because I'm usually in it.
My emails with Mary Lou suggest that Tetley is settling in well and is only upset when he is brought in without the other horses. I think that will lessen as he gets more confident of being in the new place. He is certainly being very well looked after and Mary Lou loves riding him so we seem to have a happy ending to the story you've been following. And what a saga it was!
C.
posted by cptrayes @ 3:34 PM
6 comments
6 Comments:
Zippy surely is a stunner. I have to laugh a bit as I can recall your uncertainty about him when you first got him. As I recall he was weak behind, immature, and kind of "weedy." *G* I'd suspect you have changed your opinion? *VBWG*
As for Jazz, it is so neat when someone else rides your horse and you get to see: first that he's trained well enough that someone else can actually ride him and second, that he is truly gorgeous.
Sounds as if you had a good day. I am still looking at cloudy skies and close to winter temperatures. At least I got a load of hay in my new little trailer. That was fun.
I had such fun sitting on Jazz - BOING BOING BOING!!! He is great, and I would love to ride him every day for a few weeks to try and learn to sit that trot....but I must admit I am holding out for sitting on Zip in 6 months to a years time - that should be totally spectacular :-)
What a great pair they are - beautiful movement, and huge characters (ren't they all?!?!) - I had a ball!
Thanks Caroline and the boys for a lovely day, and lets hope we wow them at the WCF conference!
geez what a change in Zip....he looks much more mature.
something for us all to remember when buying youngsters... what you see is not what you get, necessarily - since they improve so much with age....
Unless I've missed something, the story is not finished.
What happened about the RSPCA? Not enough evidence? They are short of resources like all voluntary organisations of course.
Patience Pandover. I hope to have news tomorrow of events at Beckbrook.
Jean, isn't he just the most thoroughbred looking warmblood you've ever seen though? And he is still very backward for nearly three. My friends have 2 year olds who are further forward physically. But he has come on an awful lot the last few weeks.
Claire, don't forget that real youngsters (foals/yearlings) can also go badly wonky before they are old enough to break - it's a gamble buying youngstock.
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