Leo blazing to the finish line.

I have another update from the weekend horse show.  Leo had a great show-ended up with a first, second and fourth place ribbon to be reserve champion overall.  But wow, Friday was bad.  Lauren was thrown hard into a jump when Leo stopped on her in the warm-up ring.  Dev got on Leo (although I noticed he did not hurry to jump another jump once he was on his back).   Dev got him going over jumps, then Leo stopped again.  Dev stayed on, but was thrown way up on Leo’s neck.  As Leo pulled himself out of the jump ( and the poles and boxes that made up the jump), he reared while Dev clung to his neck. Then the big Leo did a fast spin in retreat but still Dev hung on.  Leo got in a little trouble for that.  Dev pushed him through the next several jumps with a kind of banshee yell each time he approached a fence.  Leo did not refuse again. 

With Leo, I am reminded of the old saying that God gives us what we ask for but sometimes we do not know we already have what we need.  Sometimes we need to try a little harder.  We keep asking God to help us and he does but we keep looking for something else. 

Leo went to training at Dev’s in January.  He was sent home with the advice to sell him.  We tried that.  No one wanted him.  Or if anyone wanted him, we did want them to have him.  So, we started the whole chiropractic/vet work-up thing to try and improve him. 

Leo is better.  You can see it in his canter.  Most of time you can see it when he jumps.  But when Lauren took the hard fall on Friday, with tears in her eyes, she told me to get rid of Leo.  Sell him, kill him, she didn’t care.  I said he is so sweet and doing so much better.  Her reply was “you don’t have to show him”.  Fair enough.  I wish I could.   He was hot when we left him Friday night and hot horses are easy colic victims.  Half kidding (I think) Lauren told Dev not to call the vet if Leo went down.  It was her form of DNR-do not resuscitate.  I think she was kidding.

On Saturday as he started through his classes, Dr. Criner-Leo’s vet, sat with me.  She kept questioning-puzzled, “This is better?  This is really better?”  with amazement in her voice that what he was doing could possibly better than anything.   But it truly was.  Perhaps not good yet, but definitely better.  By his third jumping round, he was pretty much jumping like a real horse not a gazelle.  Lauren had gained confidence and relaxed which helped Leo do the same.  By this third round, not only did they do better but they won.  Been a long time since he has won a round.

Perhaps, God is giving us the horse we need.  Perhaps he will never fly like Mickey.  But perhaps somewhere there is someone who just wants to soar a little and this will be their boy. I do not God’s plan for me and this horse.  I will try to make him better to the best of my financial and physical abilities.  I will not make Lauren ride him if he is dangerous.  I can’t.  But I must follow this guy and try to find the right spot for him.  It is out there with me or with someone new.

p.s. the trailer ride home with his friend Mickey along was way better.  Although Dr. Criner might have said, “this is better?”  because he was still rocking and rolling.  Thankfully, I was in the truck and Mickey was riding shot-gun.

Leo starting to get more collected.