Cob Jockey

It occurred to me recently that Disco is the absolutely perfect horse for me to learn how to start.

He's just so darn easy. I trust him under saddle more than I trust Connor, and for good reason: he doesn't spook, doesn't buck, doesn't bolt. 

Left him standing in place while I set my Pivo up, and Brynne marveled, "I think he's the most chill stallion I've ever met. Normally they're quite full of themselves, and he's just...not!"

I mean - this was his first ever "buck" under saddle during my lesson last weekend. 

Did you miss it?

His good behavior has meant that I get to focus entirely on the process of starting a youngster without dealing with some of the more challenging behaviors that often occur. And I need that - I'm not the most confident rider, and this is a big deal for me, to start one and not screw him up in the same ways I screwed Connor up.

What I haven't done yet is worry about where his head is. Brynne has been great for me in sketching out a roadmap of skills that we need. The first thing we needed was forward - go when I say go, maintain a given speed/gait without nagging until I say otherwise, and take me forward. Absolutely nothing else mattered.

Now that we finally have that, at my last Brynne lesson, we introduced the idea of following the bit, which is a precursor to a lot of other things. It's also something I was not going to introduce myself without trainer supervision to help me with the timing and just knowing how far to push it in the moment. It would be so easy for me to get against him or to not release in the right moment and leave him confused and frustrated.

Erring on the side of giving and letting him walk out of it a second too early rather than a second too late.

Brynne, who has started many young pulling breed horses in Dressage, gives me so much confidence and is such a good fit for us right now. On Sunday, she figuratively sat me down and said, "You're going to need to ride him a bit differently to teach him this skill. He needs a big, clear aid for this and the space between the reins to feel like he can turn. It's still effective riding, but it's not going to look like you'd ride a trained horse."

I needed to hear that, because I mostly have been riding him like I ride Connor, which is good and bad. Good, in that he's generally rose to the occasion so far, but bad, because when he needs me to be loudly clear, I sometimes am not giving that to him and it might make certain things harder for him to learn. 

Rocking vetwrap on his bridle because his forelock got stuck under his grazing muzzle halter and rubbed him raw last week

As she was walking out last weekend, she said, "I know it probably feels like you're not getting anywhere fast with him, but trust me, you're making a lot of progress and you're right on track. Just keep doing what you're doing and trust that this is just a stage."

...and what we're doing is creating sleepy baby horses

There is finally peace in our time.

Grazing muzzle time.

Connor has needed a grazing muzzle ever since he moved to this farm in 2017. I left him un-muzzled for the first three weeks just to see what would happen, and he quickly turned into a blimp shape. We've been using GreenGuards ever since, with brief, completely unsuccessful attempts with the Flexible Filly and Best Friends muzzles in there too.

Keeping the muzzle on him, though, has been a full-time job. He's a serial killer that I try to stay one step ahead of, but usually feel one step behind. He'd poke his nose out of the corners, break straps, step on it, get it off over his head, destroy scissor snaps, and no matter what I did, would bash the thing so hard into the ground, the sides would snap. I've had to buy a new one every year because he's so hard on them, and yes, if you just did that math, that's closing in on a THOUSAND DOLLARS IN MUZZLES since 2017. Thanks, buddy.

GG halter, leather GG insert, cheapo Amazon Tough 1 halter fleece, GG Houdini strap and corner twine, because the GG velcro isn't strong enough to keep his schnoz where it's supposed to be

This year, Disco got muzzled first, and I let Connor go as long as I could without one. This immediately cut down on shenanigans of all kinds, with both boys coming in with no marks for the first time in a while. And maybe Connor was grateful for that, because when I finally did muzzle him, he was...fine.

Who...is this horse?

No bashing. No getting it off. No shock-denial-anger-acceptance trying to rub it off on the ground. Just...polite grass nibbling. I haven't even had to replace any straps yet. I am SHOCKED. Stunned. Still in disbelief every time I see him politely nibbling with his GreenGuard unmolested on his face.

Not only that, he suddenly became easy to catch, too. Usually if you want to lead both boys in at the same time, you have to catch Disco, put Disco outside the gate holding the lead rope over the gate, then Connor will baaaaaaaaaaarely let you get close enough to throw a lead rope over his neck and catch him.

Morning bring-in at sunrise. Pink so I can find the bodies, I mean, boots.

After they were both muzzled? I catch Disco (who am I kidding, Disco catches himself. Walks straight up to me and waits every time he sees me. Is this real life?), ground tie him, then walk two steps over to where Connor is waiting and snap his lead rope on.

Like I said - peace. Unexpected, delightful peace. 

Seeing Moo last weekend crystallized some nagging feelings about Welsh breeding and showing I've had for a while. I love this breed, why am I not more passionate about getting involved in every single part of it?

Maybe the most fun I've ever had at a Welsh Show

The answer, I think, is that I'm a performance person first and a Welsh person second, and there are a lot of Welsh out there that can't perform in a sporthorse way. There are, certainly, a lot that can and some breeders that do focus on it. But those often aren't the ones that we (as a breed/association/judges, UK and US both) put up as our "Supreme Champions", which is a halter class. And while we have performance classes at breed shows too, quite a lot of them actually, they don't get the same breathless respect as "Did you hear who the judge put up as Supreme?", which in turn does influence breeding decisions and the overall direction of the breed. 

It bothers me that we (breed/association/judges, UK and US both) wouldn't pin this horse very well in halter.

He didn't just win at NDPC, he DOMINATED his divisions (Second Level and Second Level Freestyle). Nobody else was even close to him.

Compared to this, which does pin well, both in terms of conformation and unfortunately in terms of weight also. You almost have to get your horses overweight to pin well in-hand at the more prestigious shows, which doesn't sit well with me.

Real photo colored in to protect the innocent.

What are we doing to promote good canters in Welsh Cobs? If our Supreme Champion only ever has to walk and trot and stand still in hand, are we inadvertently breeding poor canters into our horses? I think we are on the whole, although certainly not everyone is, and I don't think anyone means to. The back conformation above can do a big, ground covering driving trot with his hind legs out behind him, but he won't have a sport horse trot or canter.

More plz.

Without outcrossing - are we fundamentally changing the breed if we breed sportier trots and canters into Welsh Cobs? One of the hallmarks of a Welsh Cob IS that efficient, ground covering trot that goes out, not up. They were bred to have a trot stride as big as a full-size horse, keeping up with warhorses while pulling supply wagons and needing minimal food along the way. They were ridden also, but they weren't so much selected for that as they were driving.

Connor doesn't have a great sporthorse canter. Lisa HAS bred better canters into successive generations of her horses since the Connor days (20+ years ago!!) which is one of the reasons I love her program.(Yes, this was a counter canter.)

If we fundamentally change the breed, is it still a Welsh Cob? If it canters up rather than out? If we select for pushing power rather than pulling power? This is a question by itself, but see next question.

Also never scored well in Welsh halter classes

Are we (rare breed people using their animals in sport) trying to make everything a Warmblood? I don't think so, but I do think we're trying to adapt our animals to what people want to use them for in 2025. Just like I used to say with my old house I renovated, I'm always going to respect it for what it is and I won't try to turn it into what it isn't, but that doesn't mean it needs to be a museum to a time gone past. It's allowed to evolve.

I don't need you to be a Warmblood, I just need you to be you.

What is it that makes a Welsh Cob a Welsh Cob?  To me, it's a compact, hardy animal with a strong sense of self-preservation that can be trusted to generally make good decisions in their own interest and the interest of their human. They blur the lines between pony and horse, have great hair (duh), a relatively upright neck, and connect deeply with people in a way not every breed does. They have a sense of humor and a conformation that enables them to do a lot of different sports well, even if they're never going to the Olympics in any of them.

So...what can we do about it? I have some thoughts on that too, but that's a post for a different day. 

Since we're halfway through the year (uh, OMG?) I wanted to do a mid-year review of my 2025 Disco goals, which were:

• Trail ride as much as possible. Especially early in the year when the trails are quiet.
• Attend some smaller schooling shows, either as a non-compete or showing Intro tests, whatever he tells me he's ready for.
• Attend one show with atmosphere - maybe NDPC just for the in-hand breed show day.
• Start taking regular lessons again - more on this soon.

1. Trail ride as much as possible. Especially early in the year when the trails are quiet.

About that...

Normally you can't see that hill through the foliage...

As I write this, it's still not open, not even for day riding, despite 7 weeks of heroic efforts from a large group of volunteers and state employees. The damage was substantial, and one old timer rightly pointed out that it's going to be a generation before it even looks remotely like it did before, we lost so many trees. 

Photo taken from elsewhere in the park as it was hitting camp. Absolute nightmare fuel.

So, needless to say, the trail ride we did in April has been our only trail ride so far. Any other trail riding spots are twice the distance or more from Brown County, so they're more challenging to fit into my schedule.

Y'all, if you horse camp BRING A NOAA WEATHER RADIO WITH YOU. It was the only way to receive notification about these warnings at our camp, and none of the campers had one. It should be as essential as a fire extinguisher and first aid kit in LQs and RVs.

2. Attend some smaller schooling shows, either as a non-compete or showing Intro tests, whatever he tells me he's ready for.

I'm tentatively eyeballing a September or October show for this, although I feel like his National Drive experience sort of counts for this too.

Photo used with permission from Mark Jump Photgraphy

3.  Attend one show with atmosphere - maybe NDPC just for the in-hand breed show day.

Obviously he didn't go to NDPC this year, and I'm not likely to check this one off the list in general. That said, he's already had a LOT of experience at shows with more atmosphere than I can find anywhere in the US (looking at you, Canadian Royal), so I don't feel too bad if we don't get to this one. 

He didn't go to NDPC, but I did, and I have a new Section D stallion obsession. OBSESSED with this guy. He even politely snuggled Lisa and I in the stall afterwards (with permission, of course!).

4.  Start taking regular lessons again - more on this soon.

Yes! Brynne has made the trip over more or less consistently once a month since January, and while I would give almost anything for more regular instruction than monthly, she has been a big help to me in setting a direction for his early education, and I am so grateful for her. When she comes, she's been giving lessons to most of my boarders also, so it's more than just me that has benefited from this goal. 

Look at me, doing a real live lesson with a real live trainer on the real live property. Feels surreal! Photo by Leah.

 All in all, I'm not feeling too shabby about our goal progress so far!

"It's almost like we have to make him anticipatory right now."

I didn't fully get to process those words from my trainer in the moment as I sat on Disco panting from the effort of getting him to canter, but I sure did later.

Disco has finally earned the "nice" bridle. Also, the Fairfax drop is the most attractive drop noseband of all time and you can't convince me otherwise.

Once again, she had asked me how much I'd ridden since my last lesson 5-6 weeks ago, and once again, I told her "Not much." 

To be fair, he was at Lisa's for 3 of those weeks and waiting on the saddle fitter for almost one, but still. How am I going to "almost make him anticipatory" if it's quite frankly been years since I rode anything on a consistent schedule?

My partner asked if he could keep bush hogging for me during that lesson, and it helped SO much. There's only so much weekend daylight for bush hogging and it all has to be done every 3-ish weeks in the growing season.

It was during a heat wave that I figured out the answer. It was going to be way too hot and humid to ride after work, and although I'd never done this before, I had the thought that I might be able to cram a ride in before work now that the barn is a quarter mile stumble from my bed. 

Turns out? I LOVE riding before work. And it might be the key to everything given the stage of life I'm in right now.

Connor holding court for the main herd outside his dutch door during my morning ride, because he can be trusted to mostly ignore them.

...mostly.

Disco doesn't need duration, he needs frequency and consistency right now, so the 25 minute rides are perfect. We warm up and practice "old" skills for about 10 minutes, I pick one new skill to work on for the next 10, and we cool down for about 5. 

"Send help, call PETA"

The change in him was almost immediate once I started giving him consistency. Everything that was previously dull and slow started to become sharper, and I could feel him paying closer attention to my aids.

Proof that I am, in fact, sitting on a horse before 7am.

It's a whole separate post, my thoughts about where I'm at with starting a young horse for the first time, but giving him a schedule and patterns that he can recognize and think through has been a game-changer for his training. Who knew.

A slightly slow mo canter GIF. Canter is a normal part of our lives now, finally.

Finally, it has been a major personal win for me too. I'm enjoying these quiet mornings and the guilt-free kid/partner time I get after work now, plus the sense of "going somewhere" with Disco is so gratifying after treading water with him since he came home. If I can keep being diligent about my bedtime, this feels very sustainable, even as I look ahead to when these mornings will be cold and dark.