Mort lives up to expectations

Life feels like it is on fast forward right now but I can’t complain. I was supposed to teach a lesson but had to work later than expected. I recently got a nice promotion at work which is fantastic but brings a great amount of pressure to fit more into the day than I already have been doing.

I got home and quickly threw Junior and Gracie on the trail to go to the trails for a nice trot/canter set. Gracie is the absolute lovely now 4yr cleveland bay/tb filly that I have been bringing along for her owner. It is so fun to be responsible for their early upbringing and see how they grow. She has become such a reliable and fun horse to ride over time. Kurt and I did a nice walk to warm up and then mixed in trot and canter sets. Both horses felt great and were happy to be out and about.

Back home to give them a quick brush and some treats before we grabbed the next set. My board let Kurt borrow her horse so he could act as the steady trail leader for Mort who was doing his first trail ride. Mort is very mannerly and although he was a bit nervous you could tell he was focused. Slim Shady, my boarders horse is a TB but quite slow. Kurt hadn’t ridden him before so he hadn’t figured out the go button so Mort was leading the way and doing a great job of it.

I find it fascinating to see whether a horse is the same out of the ring as they are in the ring. Mort is an interesting horse because he is insecure about being left alone but he is not at all afraid of anything. I was curious how that would translate on the trails but was surprised to see he was happy to lead. He didn’t look at anything and was quite soft and relaxed in the bridle. We had a nice trot down and then played in a big puddle. I had to get some leads back and forth but for the first time I was super pleased. He stood quietly to be untacked and seemed to be pleased with himself.

Now I just have to figure out how to get him to be a better eater. He worries about his surroundings, buddies and any other little thing going on. He takes a bite and then wanders around his stall. Drives me crazy! I thought he had finished eating yesterday but he left all his rice bran at the bottom even though I had mixed it. I had already opened up his door and Diamond came in and cleaned it right up 🙂 Perhaps a feed bag so he can’t drop it all over as he wanders around his stall.

I will get some pictures of him soon. He is looking super and has shedded out and gained weight and muscle. He is a really cool horse and feels like all athlete when you ride him. I am going to free jump him here soon if it would ever STOP raining!