Ricco Sauve- Bluebonnet Equine Humane Society

09/10/2024

Our challenge performance. Ricco did so well! He was really calm at the expo.

01/10/2024

Here's a little sample of Ricco's riding skills. He is not cantering yet, but walks and trots with nice forward motion, backs, turns, and moves laterally.
I ride him in both a bitless bridle and with a snaffle. He does well with both. I ride him saddled and ba****ck.
This isn't the smoothest example. He usually stands still for mounting. I didn't warm him up beforehand. I had someone to take video for me for just a short time so we were kind of rushed.

29/09/2024

I took Ricco to the CQHA show in Belton today just to get him in the expo center environment. We rode in the arenas and practiced the trail course they had set up when all the competitors had finished. We walked through the stall area and around the trailers. This was a great experience for him. As usual, he was nervous about everything new - especially other horses trotting and cantering towards him! Once he got used to things he moved very nicely in the arena. He is learning he can travel along the rail safely and spectators are not coming to get him!
I didn't have anyone with me to get pictures, so I just have his ears as we look at the trail course.

22/09/2024

We had a fun get together at the Lometa arena today to train horses and ponies. It was good for Ricco to work in the arena with multiple others working around him. There was some bucking and horses with attitude. We worked on ignoring the others and working on our own skills.
Ricco is learning to collect and extend his trot. We're trying to get a slow rollback. It's a work in progress. 🙂

19/09/2024

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Animals & Pets

19/09/2024

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What is an ideal home for your challenge horse? What does he/she like to do? Trails, jump, equitation, hangout in pasture, etc. Does your challenge horse like to have a job and be ridden daily, or can he/she hang out in pasture one day and then go riding the next day?

Spruce ideal home is with someone who has the time or resources to make sure he continues his education. He is currently what I call green broke. Which to us means he knows how to do a lot of things but needs a confident, experienced person. He is not a babysitter yet, but he is definitely headed in the right direction . He has done nothing dangerous and actually loves to be ridden, and I truly believe he looks forward to attention every day. He is always in a great mood, and he loves learning new things. I think with more experience, education, and exposure, he could make a great trail and / or ranch horse. I could even see him being a great youth horse with the right child and trainer.
Whoever ends up adopting Spruce, I know you will love him like we do.
Spruce's training routine currently-
He is worked 5 days a week ( approx 1 hour per day) Only been ridden by trainers. Ages 17 and up. Max weight of rider should not exceed 150lbs because he is only 54 inches tall at the withers. He has no vices that we have seen. We still lunge him for 10 minutes prior to riding. We have not tried skipping his warm up because I have a broken leg, so every horse gets lunged prior to riding. Great thing is he lunges on or off a line. He is a pretty simple guy. I will be making a list and videos of everything he can do. Those interested in adopting Spruce, feel free to request a certain video or ask me a question about him.

19/09/2024

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Fan page

19/09/2024

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What would the ideal home for Pollyanna be? What does she like to do?

Pollyanna has the sweetest personality and a laid back demeanor. The only time I have ever seen her get worked up over anything is when she's left by herself in the pasture when her buddy is taken away. I think this would improve if she was out with a bigger herd vs just her and 1 other horse.

She seems to really like kids. Now I am not saying I would advise leaving a child unattended with her or throwing a beginner on her without lessons as she has only had 4 months of training, but she does really seem drawn to kids. I think she would make a pretty nice kids pony with additional training.

Under saddle she is easy to ride and direct with a light handle but not overly sensitive. She does have a forward moving trot and canter and we are working on more collection, she will slow down when asked.

She has the potential to go any direction and has been ridden mostly western, but would make an adorable english pony also.
She is very smart and likes learning new things. She is not spooky and is easy to handle on the ground.
The possibilities for this cutie are honestly endless!

She typically gets ridden every other day here and would do best with someone who is able to continue working with her on a regular basis. When she has had several days in a row off she doesn't show any bad behavior, she just tends to root against the bit a little and needs a little more guidance to stay in a circle. She really likes attention and enjoys being groomed and loved on.

Pollyanna is looking for a home with lots of love who will continue riding and working with her and find her perfect purpose 🙂

19/09/2024

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Recreation Spot

19/09/2024

If Ricco doesn't seem to be quite what you are looking for, there are so many other awesome horses available for adoption! I want to share a few of them here, but please come to the expo October 5 to see all the training challenge horses.

19/09/2024

Ricco Suave is a handsome boy who will make someone a wonderful partner. He is VERY green at this point. He is fearful of new things but once he understands what is wanted of him he tries so hard to please. His first response is always over reaction. He is so much like my personal horse. It took me years to get her where she is now, where I can do anything with her. I rarely let anyone else ride her, though, and only an experienced confident rider. Like her, I think Ricco will never be a beginners horse. I would not call him spooky. He is not scared of most things he can see. He will go over and through anything. He may however react suddenly and unexpectedly to sounds or touch. He will make a great trail horse for someone who enjoys challenging trails or possibly a competition horse. We haven't explored different disciplines to see where he will excel yet but he is athletic and I am sure he can go far if someone is willing to continue his training at his pace. If he is rushed, I am afraid it will destroy all his trust in humans.
Ricco does best with regular handling. From head to tail he is going to be a partner to be proud of!

14/09/2024

We enjoyed Parrie Haynes trade days today. We rode in the round pen working on picking up the trot willingly and trotting calmly and of course did the trail obstacles as well! We are continuing to work on moving laterally over logs and while riding forward. This was our first ride in a while after eliminating some pain issues. Ricco moves forward nicely at the walk, not pokey and slow 🙂. He trotted nicely today.

13/09/2024

I got a blow up dinosaur to desensitize Ricco to them. 😂 He ran when it approached the pen. He was quite distrustful, but gradually learned to accept it and we went for a stroll together.

11/09/2024

I want to give a shout out of appreciation to Lisa Hall. I took Ricco to her for body balancing. He enjoyed his session with her and was quite relaxed. Lisa was so kind as to donate her services to Bluebonnet. Then she came to my rescue when my truck broke down and let Ricco spend the night until I could get my truck, trailer, and horse back home. Thank you so much Lisa for your generosity and kindness!
And Ricco thanks you, too!

08/09/2024

We worked on sidepassing today. We've done a lot of this without anything under us. Today we practiced moving over a log. As with most things he wasn't sure at first, then settled in and moved nicely. Next step, under saddle!

06/09/2024

Important notice if you are attending or participating in the Bluebonnet Horse Expo:
While we all love dogs - and I personally want to pet ALL the dogs - this year we're not allowed to have dogs at the event, unless they're service dogs under the ADA Title II and Title III.
So if you'll be attending or participating in the event, please leave your dog at home.
Thank you!

30/08/2024

Basic Skills video