|
|
|
|
|
|
|
 |
|
|
|
LATEST NEWS |
|
29/06/08
|
|
New pictures uploaded on Le...
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
~ LED ~ |
|
|
name: LED
date of birth: 16 May 1999
breed: Maremman
height: 1,77m
sex: gelding
color: very dark bay
present training level: Prix St Georges / Intermediaire I |
|
|
Led is a born star. He has a hot temperament, an extremely powerful physique and has always been perfectly
aware of his full strength. He was sadly gelded at the age of five, very late, due to medical reasons; because
of this, he has kept the mind of a stallion and behaves accordingly. His wanting to be the center of attention
at any time is looked positively upon by RR who has directed his super-egocentrism into stunning presence in
the arena, and he certainly never goes by unobserved.
RR bought him when he was only one year old, and his main characteristic even as a yearling was his
superiority towards all horses, and his bully-like temperament. Submission for Led, in all spheres, has always
been inconceivable and he is the type of horse with which any form of coercion would give you a one-way
ticket to the local hospital, therefore a completely personalized type of training was to be invented. He was
broken to saddle uniquely with voice aids and infinite, patient coaxing. It took seven long years to turn a fundamentally ferocious horse
into the superb, willing, happy and cooperative athlete that he is at present, and for RR this is the greatest
accomplishment any trainer can achieve. Led is probably the only Dressage horse who never learned what
submission means, but instead performs what he has mastered simply to show off his ability and
superiority, making him a very interesting ride indeed.
On his side, Led has a tremendously quick mind: he will learn with ease and, accordingly, gets easily bored by
any repetitious training. Onlookers tend to be surprised when watching him exercise at home, as his routines
are not routines at all and any movement is tackled amidst many, just like it is required at the higher levels in
Dressage where one movement is linked to the following one with no time to reorganize in between. This
individual characteristic, quite obvious since the very beginning, rendered basic level work a little tricky but
gave RR the absolute certainty that here was a horse who could handle the mental pressure of incessant
demands in the future top level competitions.
He is a horse who has been and is considered a fellow athlete. He has been taught his 'trade', so to speak,
and is invited to improve his ability, instead of being 'worked' as such. Led does not accept commands of any
sort, which strike off his immediate fighting instinct, but excitedly leaps into any demand RR provides for the
simple reason that he adores showing off what he can do. You cannot wish for more, in a competition
horse!
'His' Music
Led has an inborne ear for music. He picks up the rhythm and enjoys working when the stereo is blaring away
more than when in silence. Of course, the music used at home to underline his actions is carefully picked to
suit his cadence at all gaits, but it has not been as easy to pick as one may think, to begin with, because
Led has developed his own taste for music and he is quite obvious in externating whether he appreciates a
song or not: he blatantly refuses to work properly and shakes his head if the music played does not meet his
personal taste.. when that happens, it is quite hilarious! Among his favourites, Steve Vai's 'You are Here'
takes the lead regarding the Trots (it must be something in the amazing frequence of the guitars), followed by
Duran-Duran's '007: A view to a Kill' (to which he Passages no end) and the Kill-Bill movie soundtrack main
theme. Another favourite is Alan Parson's Project's 'Mammagamma', to Walk to, and many songs from the
theme of 'The Last Samurai' movie.
His Training
Led is at present working at Prix St Georges/Intermediaire 1 level while some upper level movements such as passage and full
pirouettes are being tackled already, working towards the maximum he will eventually reach. Although his present level is the Small Tour level, he works and performs already in a full GP frame (in other words, he 'sits down' with no problems). Update as from march 2008: Led keeps refining his transitions, which he actually enjoys underlining as if they were stand-alone exercises; this causes the transitions to be quite striking and very, very neat. Understanding Led's ways of interpreting various aspects of his 'trade' constantly surprises RR.
His Tack
Led gets ridden in simple front bandages and SMB boots on the hind legs, Wintec 'Isabell Werth' saddle with
Stubben stirrups leathers and irons, PolyPad numnahs, Veredus Gel saddle pad, made-to-measure bridles and
bits from Shop4Bits manufacturers.
His food!
The main thing that comes to mind when thinking of Led's feed is 'a LOT'! His diet is based on black (french) oats,
flaked barley, flaked maize, sugarbeet pulp, extruded linseed and bran in different proportions, plus various extras such as corn oil, mineral salts, electrolytes and vitamins
when needed, fresh vegetables and of course grass and the best possible hay and alfalfa available. Aw.. and
tons of Polos. He also eats tack when reachable but that's another issue..
His feet
Led, like all RR's horses, follows the Barefoot principles. He is never shod.
NOTE: to know all about the barefoot ideals read HERE (opens in new page)
Curiosities.. behind the scenes
Led, like all horses, does little things that are absolutely 'his own'. One, he sleeps lying down and sprawled
out like a starfish with no elegance at all (his Dressage aplomb tends to be left out of his box..). Another
trick he loves repeating is filling his mouth with water, look outside his door for any unaware passer-by, wait
for the unfortunate fellow to reach him and with a sort of artificial sneeze gives instant impromptu showers
by the dozen, every day. He finds thorough enjoyment with this trick.. He LOVES water: he'd be
forever playing with it, in any form he finds it. He 'jacuzzies' his nose by leaning into his automatic water
drinker and blows into the water to make bubbles.. he will grab hold of any open hosepipe to squirt water on
himself and anyone about and he loves what most horses loathe: being sprayed a strong jet of water straight
in the face nose first, when showered. He also uses his legs to demand things quite a lot, his front end
waving in the air all over the place to have a tidbit or a Polo (which can be quite frightening to those not
used to seeing it because of his size.. and the size of his feet), but in the end he gets up to such antics that
anyone just finds him irresistible, laughs, and gives in. Led always wins in these cases! One not-so-pleasant
characteristic he has is his ability to throw almighty bucks with his head up high, giving the rider no chance
to avoid it - the only thing to do in that case is sit it out and get on to the next thing, as he usually bucks
out of sheer exuberance and not purposely to send RR into kingdom come.
His joker temperament has gradually grown side by side with his training: this has been RR's green light that
all was just right and edifying for this spectacular horse who will most certainly have his say among the best
in the very near future. Well done, Led!
|
|
|