Dalton says hayyy

Finally home!

"What a friggin' whirlwind" is what I have to say about shipping horses overseas.  And I'm sure Dalton would have said the same if he could talk.  After quarantine in New York, a layover in the Midwest, and then a disgustingly long drive to Texas, the horses were simultaneously strung up and tired when they finally arrived at the barn on Wednesday morning.  They spent the first day in Texas getting fed, watered, and groomed in the stalls and were turned out in the paddocks the next day.  Dalton is furiously shedding his winter coat, which is timely as it is all of a sudden in the 80s and 90s.  Spring is here in Texas, I guess.

As I was writing this post, I went back through my Blogger archives and dug up my post on the "First Weeks with Maeby" as a comparison.

My two rascals - look at the size difference!

First impressions on the ground 

Dalton is a lot taller (17.2 is what we're guessing) than anyone has expected him to be, especially at four years old.  His head and body are both very large but he also knows where to put his feet.  He loves attention and pets from people, putting his head out of his stall whenever someone walks onto our aisle and looking for scratches.  He has also glommed on to Mae as his new best buddy.  He is so large that he can reach his neck over to her stall window and bother her if she happens to be looking out.  He did catch a sinus infection in transit so he has some nasal discharge and a slight cough that we're keeping an eye on.

Dalton doesn't seem to have the best manners when cross tied - impatient to get attention and to get out of there, however he does seem to enjoy being groomed.  Dalton also has the largest hooves that I have ever seen - a big change from Ryon and Mae who both had tiny feet.  

First ride / pic with Dalton

First impressions under saddle

My trainer grabbed the first ride on him last week, as I was out of town, and I rode him for the first time this past weekend when it was 91 degrees (eeps).  I have him in a snaffle with a happy mouth bit and a 54' girth.  I may need to buy an oversized bridle, as he's on the last hole on his current throat latch.  He was very cautious the initial 10 minutes of the ride, which was not unexpected for his second ride at our facility.  I let him walk around and look at everything - he was more interested in what was outside the arena than any of the things inside of it.  His stride is huge and we only spent a little time trotting, but I've already noticed that he has a much floatier trot than Mae has.  During our ride, one of the workers climbed up on the Gator loading hay and Dalton gave the teeniest of spooks.  If that's all he has to throw at me, we'll be just fine.  Everything points to him having a good brain and attitude.  I'm looking forward to seeing what he's like when he's more comfortable and acclimated.

We have quite a bit of work to do on his topline and his backend and are going to start him off with two training rides per week and one flat lesson (for me).  I'll do a light hack on him twice a week to keep him engaged.  Coupled with the rides that I'm still doing on Mae, this is going to be a busy busy spring.