A huge thank you to our listeners for submitting their horses for evaluation!
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We have the results! Here what the owners have to say:
From Melissa, the owner of Looking Ready:
"I just listened! How do I describe Louie’s personality on and off his back….quirky is probably the best way to describe.
He is actually very lazy under saddle but once I get him loosened up he is much better. He does have a random and very athletic spook that will come out of nowhere sometimes. He is very easy to collect and will lengthen nicely if he is relaxed.
He does have very nice form over fences. I do not really jump much though. He is actually very spooky about jumps until he gets to sniff and touch them. If I lunge him over a jump first, he’s much better under saddle.
Video from before Melissa bought him:
He has been shown 1st level but has schooled all the 2nd level stuff and some 3rd level. He isn’t can be very difficult at shows because he gets scared. Once we get through our first ride, he is usually more comfortable with the surroundings. If he goes to the same place, he is better. Louie is not a fan of change.
On the ground he is usually very pleasant. But he has a I touch you, you don’t touch me attitude. He definitely needs his person which thank god he has said I am his person. I have seen him go after people he doesn’t like!
He loves all animals and gets along with any horse. He is much happier now that he lives outside 24/7 vs being stalled part of the day/night. He can be a really bad weaver in a stall."
From Jaime, owner of C Two:
"Good job! You were pretty spot-on about C Two (aka "CC") She is a very athletic, forward moving horse, but has a great brain, willingness to work, and desire to learn. She has honestly been the easiest restart I've had and I feel like she would just learn anything you wanted to teach her and try her best to do it well. We've mostly foxhunted her...she's a staff horse that whips-in and hunts the hounds, but she's also taken a guest in the field a few times...but I've also been training her for eventing and hope to do some local shows in the spring/summer. She's a very nice jumper with great natural balance and uphill movement despite still needing more muscle in the hind end. The cherry on top is that she's also very sweet."
Jaime included the following videos:
A recent jump school:
Her first XC school:
From Amanda, owner of Ruby Bleu:
"I think y'all got Ruby Bleu pretty spot on. My thoughts:
Yes, he very much knows he's special. He's got the kind of swagger that lets you know he's a Hall of Famer.
He is an ATHLETE. Like... if he hadn't been a successful racehorse for so long I think this horse would be running around the upper levels of eventing by now. No joke.
Like y'all said, he's very well-balanced. Not just in his confo but also in every gait, and he's got a panther walk. He knows where his feet are and he's incredibly intelligent, thinking hard about everything (sometimes his intrusive thoughts give him bad ideas, but ya know... he DID think about it first ).
Yes he's a bit long, and again like y'all pointed out - that's preference. I like a lot of "front porch" as Emily called it, and I personally prefer to ride a horse with a longer back for eventing as opposed to a short one. And yes, agree that he for sure needs more topline, that's where we're starting first as he begins his retraining.
His feet are I'd say on the smaller side of average. Yes a tiny bit high-low. Yes the transition has been difficult, especially through our very wet Florida summer. RIP hoof wall.
His sire, Messner, was a 3/4 brother to Malibu Moon, for whatever that's worth. Messner was also owned by Rubes' breeder and previous owner, Donnie Brown (I will def be sending this episode to Donnie, thanks for giving him a shoutout).
Niamh's guess that he'd carry himself naturally in a nice frame is spot-on. He moves more uphill than he stands, and naturally goes "on the bit" in a lovely outline for dressage. He gives you a really good feeling under saddle even though he's only a few rides in to his re-training.
This horse is def not a show hunter and I'm fairly certain I might die if I tried to foxhunt him. He's competitive, he's quick in his brain and on his feet, and he's bold. Not a kick ride for sure, he's sensitive but sensible and wants to be ridden 6 days a week (that work ethic is legit). Those are good qualities for me, but he would not be for everyone. To me he's very quintessential Bernardini and I'll be absolutely shocked if he can't jump.
Bonus points for noticing the Hawaii - it was an extra selling point for me.
This horse has been very special to a lot of people so I hope I can do him justice in his new career!
Here's a link to his full pedigree report that I did for him, with more info on his sire and dam and his mare family. I think y'all got him mostly right, though! We'll see how things go as he starts his new career."
Click here to submit your horse for a future OTTB on Tap Evaluates episode
Click here to listen to all of our OTTB on Tap Evaluates episodes
