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| My Royal and I pre Surgery |
I was given Royal the Autumn before I lost Cajun. He had just turned 4 and had come off the track with an injury that necessitated stall rest. He was at my then farriers barn, and after 3 months off I was asked if I would take him. He seemed sound now, and he was free. I was told he was extremely quiet but, ugly. Maybe I could sell him down the road as a kids horse? I agreed to take him, and he was delivered to my farm on a cool fall day. He stepped off the trailer and I fell in love.
Why? I have no idea. He was little, maybe 15 hands at the wither? He was all angles and points- 3 months spent on stall rest had shrunk his muscles and left his already small physique looking wasted. He had no topline, so his neck looked upside down and impossibly short. He had this incredibly long, low back and sky-high withers that made him look like a 30 year old rescue. And he was plain brown, all dull and dusty, with only a smudge of white on his forehead. And grumpy!! He may have been quiet, but he stood with his ears pinned and his nose wrinkled like he had just bitten into a lemon. Oh and he cribbed! Man did that horse crib!!
But those eyes! Something in those deep black eyes just got to me. I knew within seconds of meeting his eyes that this was something special. I also had an inkling when I put him into his stall one day, and he was in a rush to escape the cold. He tried to push past me in the doorway and I asked him to stop, back up and wait. He tossed his beautiful little head at me and began to PIAFFE on the spot right there! Not a tense western jog you sometimes see people brag about and think "um...Do you get what a piaffe is??" no, no my friends! He arched his neck, tucked his bum and piaffed. And he met my eye and seemed to say "See? I'm pretty special, don't let this exterior fool you."
I took Royal to the barn I was leasing and began training him. Right from the get go he was fun. He had all the ex-racehorse issues that are normal- he liked to lean on the bit, his neck was stiff like a board, and bending?? Ha! Whats that?? He also had something I have come to realize is far more important then anything else; he had brains and heart. He tried everything I asked of him, and he tried his heart out. Slowly he began to lengthen his neck out and reach into the contact. He began to bend. He had a MASSIVE trot. He may have stood 15 hands but he trotted like he was 17 hands, and man you better be ready for it because it took skill to ride. His canter...Oh it was delightful, still one of the best I ever rode. One day after a particularly good ride I got off and hugged him around his now muscular neck. Instead of grumpy faces I now got nuzzled and with tears in my eyes I said to him "I promise I will always take care of you. You will always be mine. I will do anything for you, you are a gift". I don't know why I said it, I honestly just blurted it out. But those words would come to mean so much to me.
Royal improved at a steady pace. He was my steady eddy, my guy I could ride through anything, very uncomplicated and very different from Cajun. But he had his own quirks. He continued to crib like a pro. He also hated the extreme cold and the extreme heat, and bugs. He would have been perfectly content living inside all the time. He didn't particularly like other horses either. He preferred to be left alone, and I often let him wander from paddock to paddock as he liked. A good 6 months into training I began to notice some problems, a pattern really and I couldn't figure out what it meant. My first ride of the week went awesome, my second went ok, but he was a little stiffer, and my 3rd ride was not good at all. After a day off it started over until the 3rd ride when he was stiff, grumpy and his rhythm was all weird. Something was up. But he was sound on the lunge, the vet and farrier could see nothing, and after a saddle fitting appointment, his tack all fit well. I analyzed video of my rides, I had people watch me work him, and I tried different techniques. One day I did more stretchy work, one day I rode him up, and I even tried a half seat at canter. The pattern not only continued, but slowly got worse. Other things were popping up to. Always a sensitive little guy, he occasionally got tummy aches when the weather changed, or when the bugs were bad. But it was always mild, and he got over it quick. But it began to happen more frequently and he often seemed genuinely uncomfortable. I knew something was up but was at a loss.
Our second year together brought many changes. I had lost Cajun, and had moved to a different leased barn. Royal had made Cajuns passing bearable, giving me something to love and focus on. But as Spring turned to Summer Royals condition deteriorated. He coliced more often, and my good rides were happening less frequently. His bad rides were now full of resistance, his tail swishing and he was beginning to refuse to do things he always found easy. He felt lame and I felt lost. The vet could find nothing wrong during a lameness exam, but later that day when I rode Royal he was off again. Was it me?? Was it my training? Finally during one ride the answer came out. I asked Royal to trot and after 3 steps he bucked. Hard. Royal NEVER did that. I jumped off, completely stunned, only to have Royal stretch out, and pee. Blood. Pure blood.
It took a urine test and 2 ultrasounds to realize that Royal had a massive bladder stone. It would bounce around in his bladder when he was ridden gradually causing him pain. As it grew, it took less time to cause him injury. By now he was very ill, colicking daily and not wanting to move at all. The only cure was surgery in a city more then 8 hours away and costing several thousand dollars. What could I do? I had promised him. I had to do this for him, he had given me so much. Thankfully my parents decided to help me out, and I sent my sick little baby off for surgery. By the time he left he was so miserable I was scared he wasn't going to make it.
But he did. And he came home to me 3 weeks later. It took a few months for him to fully recover but he did that too. He was like a new horse! I rode him regularly, and his training progressed like never before. He started canter half pass on my front lawn 8 months after his surgery, we played with canter pirouettes, and we even worked on piaffe half steps. The only trouble he had was with the flying changes to the left- the side his massive scar was on. The surgeon warned me about scar tissue and how it could interfere with his movement at some point. Still he did them, we eventually even got 3 tempis and could do canter zig zags with changes. I just had to really set him up for them and he was sometimes a bit late. He was such a beauty with his muscular topline and his brilliant red coat. He still had his high withers and his long back but I thought he was stunning.
I cannot describe those rides to you. He felt huge, 17 hands as we flew around on the grass in my front yard. I just thought things and he did them. He made me feel special, light as a feather and floating on a cloud. It all sounds cliche, but it was so true. I often had tears in my eyes, loving every minute of being with him. I could feel his happiness, and he could feel mine. I loved seeing him every morning and hugging him goodnight at the end of the day.
I lost him 2 years ago this spring. He coliced, and it was bad right from the start. He threw himself down so hard his head began to swell. I had to end it, end his pain. The vets think he had so much scar tissue it broke off and obstructed his intestine. He was 15.
I remember one time after his surgery I took my Royal Blue to a clinic. Leading him into the arena the clinician saw his long back and high hip and began to discuss how limited he would be. As I tightened the girth and climbed aboard I thought I could see Royal smirk as he looked at me. "Who is this guy?? Who does he think he is?" he almost seemed to say. I warmed up Royal and began to work, and suddenly the clinicians voice had stopped. We worked thru Royals skills, he flowed around that arena giving it his all. The clinician called me over for a break and laughed. "I am so sorry! This horse is not limited at all! What a cool horse!" I swear Royal nodded. See, I never let Royal know he was limited. Who said he was? Just because he wasn't perfect? Because he wasn't a million dollar warmblood? Royal knew exactly who he was, and that I believed in him and that made him unstoppable.
He taught me to never judge any horse by how they look, or what you think they can do. Give any of them a chance and they will usually blow your door off. Most horses are held back not by any physical ailments, although I know that is a reality for some. No, most are held back by their riders focusing on their weakness, on what they are not instead of what they are. Good training should improve the horse and keep it sound. It should be something that strengthens them and lifts them up not wears them out. Royal taught me that. I wasn't perfect, but neither was he. It worked.
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| Royal and I at the only show I took him too. |
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