Romeo, Romeo, Wherefore art thou Romeo

And then there were two...

While at my friend's house, we were delivering round bales to her friend's house that she rides & trains horses at (nice round pen, nice arena, etc). The friend's, Ryan's, is loaded with little chestnut QHs, more than I've ever seen in one place. All cute, all good conformation. Coming around the corner, I saw a red roan pony that just looked deathly out of place. I said "wow, he's cute.. how'd he end up here?" Friend Tina says "Ryan's selling him.. his nephew bought the horse this past summer, then couldn't find a way to get him back to Nevada where he lives. Ryan has no use for him, and he's another hungry mouth to feed, so he'd take $xxx for him (amount of x's directly relates the cost... so from that, you can assume it's under $1000). I said, "Really?! Well, let's plan to mess with him Sunday and see what he's like..."

Later that Saturday night, the decision was being made whether to leave Chewie there or not. I said, " Before I get too excited about leaving my horse here, let's go play with the pony & see how he does." Romeo hadn't been ridden since July, so I expected spooky & a little goofball. Not the case, at all. In fact, in the round pen, Romeo never bucked, never kicked, and didnt' seem wound up at anything. Tina rode him a little, and we both said, "wow! What a trot! He tracks up!"

Sunday morning, she warmed him up again, rode him in the arena, took him out on a trail (through mud, over branches, through tree brush, etc), and he stayed incredibly calm. She did say "He doesn't turn real good, and should improve with repetition. You will need to canter him in the round pen a lot until he learns better balance, so stick with walk and trot in the arena & pasture. Otherwise, he's great! Crawl on!" So I did...

Here's what I know about him now..
*Hard, short feet. No need for shoes at this time
*14.3H, passed vet check, including flexion on hind legs. Needs worming, vaccs, and teeth floated
*Direct-rein, no contact. Seems to move best in a tom thumb snaffle with a curb chain. I have been riding with spurs. To get him moving forward or turning, I ask nice once, then tap him with the spurs. Cowboy friend of mine rode him pretty hard last weekend, and said "he knows how to go, because he'll do it, so ask him nice once, then make him go. he'll get the idea pretty quick"
*Walk is quick, trot is adjustable, canter is not pretty
*He's strong to the left, not so bright to the right... need more work to the right
*Exposed to an English saddle day before yesterday, and I felt him tense up & move quicker. I think the seat contact is more than he's experienced, at least in a long while
*He's a cribber, only on top teeth (that's why I asked before) Problem solved with a Miracle Collar with fleecie-covers
*He needs some groceries. Ribs can be felt underneath the load of winter coat he's got. He came from a pasture with very little grass, very little grain, very little hay, and no crib-collar, so he'd eat and crib all day, and show no signs of even wanting to graze. Improvements already being seen as the crib-collar makes grazing a more attractive occupation

No big show career planned... just some muscle development, good groceries, and time spent piddling around ...