j1ffy
Well-Known Member
I'm gutted to say that Indio's dressage career is over. After years of suspecting a neck issue, we're now 95% sure he has a mechanical limitation in his lower neck and is bilaterally lame on small circles and downward transitions. He's very happy hacking so he'll carry on doing that but our ambitions to carry on at Medium and debut at AM are well and truly dead.
Indio has taken me further than I ever expected. When I first started at Prelim, I thought Elementary seemed a far away goal yet we've loved competing Medium and have been playing with the changes. Indio's been a wonky donkey ever since a field accident at 5, but he's tried hard and given me everything he could - on top of being the most delightful, cuddly and kind horse I have ever met.
I first met him in Spain, when my then boyfriend (now ex-husband...) decided he wanted a horse of his own and bought an unbroken 3yo without consulting me! Luckily Indio was perfect from day one, I remember almost crashing the car after this ride in March 2011 on the then 4yo, as I left our trainer's yard on cloud nine and forgot which side of the road to drive on:
We moved to Asia for a few years so Indio stayed in Spain for a while longer. He had the field accident in summer 2012, and subsequently we found a bit of metal in his near-fore so he had an operation to remove that, time off, then he just wasn't quite right. He had some time hacking out with my friend's riding holiday horses and improved, so I brought him to the UK on my return in November 2014. With chiro, physio, Bowen treatment and steady schooling he improved and we made our competition debut in June 2015. Against all the odds we didn't go flying out of the arena in the right canter
We went affiliated a month later, and qualified for the inaugural BD PRE associated championship, gaining a placing in the Prelim class at our first stay-away show. In 2016 we qualified for Prelim Regionals at Mount Ballan and were placed at the Novice Area Festival at Wellington:
Early in 2017, he started showing some unevenness on circles. Finally we had something clear to work with, and after suspecting a neck problem he nerve blocked positive to the front fetlocks. X-rays showed some bone chips, so those were removed but there was damage to the cartilage so arthritis become something to manage. He coped brilliantly with his box rest:
Super-sub Pocholo took over, and together he and I rode the length of the Ridgeway, did some ODEs and I got my first taste of Elementary dressage. In summer 2017, Indio came back into work and we slowly got back to full fitness. That winter was very snowy so we didn't make it out for a while, but come 2018 we debuted at Elementary and competed at Novice at the BD Senior Inter-Regionals. We also took the jump and had a go at Medium, which we both enjoyed (Indio loves his half-passes). The Area Festival didn't go well as I rode like a muppet, but it was great to give it a go:
We were also lucky enough to do some amazing photoshoots in 2018:
2019, and our plan was to improve scores at Medium and maybe have a go at AM. We were selected for Senior Inter-Regionals again, this time at Medium (eek!). Finally we headed to Wellington for the Area Festival, but he was an absolute pickle and I suspect that's when his issues had caught up with him.
I'm feeling very emotional and very grateful writing this. I can't wait to bring on his little nephew, Chilli, but in the meantime I need to decide what to do dressage-wise for a couple of years. I enjoy hacking but not all the time, so my absolute ideal would be to find a trusted loaner for Indio and maybe something for me to compete / train on so I don't go to seed. Worst case Indio will be turned out at a lovely local retirement place where he'd be very happy stuffing his face in a big herd, and I'll go to Talland regularly for some lessons. But right now I just want to give Indio cuddles and thank him for all he's done, I'll never have another horse like him.
Indio has taken me further than I ever expected. When I first started at Prelim, I thought Elementary seemed a far away goal yet we've loved competing Medium and have been playing with the changes. Indio's been a wonky donkey ever since a field accident at 5, but he's tried hard and given me everything he could - on top of being the most delightful, cuddly and kind horse I have ever met.
I first met him in Spain, when my then boyfriend (now ex-husband...) decided he wanted a horse of his own and bought an unbroken 3yo without consulting me! Luckily Indio was perfect from day one, I remember almost crashing the car after this ride in March 2011 on the then 4yo, as I left our trainer's yard on cloud nine and forgot which side of the road to drive on:
We moved to Asia for a few years so Indio stayed in Spain for a while longer. He had the field accident in summer 2012, and subsequently we found a bit of metal in his near-fore so he had an operation to remove that, time off, then he just wasn't quite right. He had some time hacking out with my friend's riding holiday horses and improved, so I brought him to the UK on my return in November 2014. With chiro, physio, Bowen treatment and steady schooling he improved and we made our competition debut in June 2015. Against all the odds we didn't go flying out of the arena in the right canter
We went affiliated a month later, and qualified for the inaugural BD PRE associated championship, gaining a placing in the Prelim class at our first stay-away show. In 2016 we qualified for Prelim Regionals at Mount Ballan and were placed at the Novice Area Festival at Wellington:
Early in 2017, he started showing some unevenness on circles. Finally we had something clear to work with, and after suspecting a neck problem he nerve blocked positive to the front fetlocks. X-rays showed some bone chips, so those were removed but there was damage to the cartilage so arthritis become something to manage. He coped brilliantly with his box rest:
Super-sub Pocholo took over, and together he and I rode the length of the Ridgeway, did some ODEs and I got my first taste of Elementary dressage. In summer 2017, Indio came back into work and we slowly got back to full fitness. That winter was very snowy so we didn't make it out for a while, but come 2018 we debuted at Elementary and competed at Novice at the BD Senior Inter-Regionals. We also took the jump and had a go at Medium, which we both enjoyed (Indio loves his half-passes). The Area Festival didn't go well as I rode like a muppet, but it was great to give it a go:
We were also lucky enough to do some amazing photoshoots in 2018:
2019, and our plan was to improve scores at Medium and maybe have a go at AM. We were selected for Senior Inter-Regionals again, this time at Medium (eek!). Finally we headed to Wellington for the Area Festival, but he was an absolute pickle and I suspect that's when his issues had caught up with him.
I'm feeling very emotional and very grateful writing this. I can't wait to bring on his little nephew, Chilli, but in the meantime I need to decide what to do dressage-wise for a couple of years. I enjoy hacking but not all the time, so my absolute ideal would be to find a trusted loaner for Indio and maybe something for me to compete / train on so I don't go to seed. Worst case Indio will be turned out at a lovely local retirement place where he'd be very happy stuffing his face in a big herd, and I'll go to Talland regularly for some lessons. But right now I just want to give Indio cuddles and thank him for all he's done, I'll never have another horse like him.
so sorry he cant carry on going to parties but hopefully the next chapter is just as much fun for you both xxx
