Chico Rico

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Chico Rico

Our journey with Chico (aka Triple Star Picture Me Painted) began in February 2017. He spent his early years in training as a Saddle Hunter and A&P horse.

Chico Rico, as he was affectionately named, was a 12 year old 17.2hh pinto warmblood by Colour Me Cool (sire) and Geel (dam). Sadly, he was put to sleep in February 2021 after recurrent lameness over a long period of time. This was taken to a high level competing at HOY. Between the time we purchased him and his ended show career he had a year off in the foothills of Ruapehu. We looked at Chico to

be our next canter vaulting horse at the Waimauku Vaulting Club. He had a kind temperament with stunning movement and he was solidly built with a flair for performing. We put a couple of years into seeing if that would work out but sadly it didn't. Our hopes for his vaulting superstar career were dashed by recurrent lameness and a back tenderness that we later found was facet joint arthritis. So Chico's story became about a rehabilitation. He spent his time happily with us roaming a 10 acre farm with his horse buddies and the odd outing to the beach, until the last months when we realised that pain had made his life too miserable. We had done all that we could within the limit of resources that we had getting x-rays and vets opinions. But his injuries were too difficult to rehabilitate. Sadly, after years of trying, we had to let him go.

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Videos

Hoof Analysis Sept 2020

I did one of these hoof studys in June. It was the basis for finding out exactly the imbalance in his stride. He has been getting frequent trims to keep his toe short. These slow motion up close videos of the hoof are really helpful. It is hard to see exactly what is going on in motion. The feedback from this will be used to do his trim. It seems to be more telling that just looking at a stationary hoof.

Chico doing liberty lunging

Playing with Chico today at liberty, and having a go at lunging without a rope. He seems to know what to do. This is something we haven't practiced too much, so keeping the attempts short. Nice to see that he keeps his forward down position and stepping under with his inside hind on the circle.

Chico Foundation Training

This video was taken a few days ago. Chico has not been ridden very much over the past few months. He is just getting back into training now, so my contact here is very light, and he is able to carry himself quite well without having to push into the bit. As training increases, I would add more contact so the reins are not floppy, but still keeping him carrying himself in balance. This is hard work to get a horse to do this - I have worked on it diligently. He is not a finished product for dressage or taking out to a show yet after his retraining to work in a snaffle bit with soft aids, but we have achieved some good foundations, and that is in the close horizon (if he does not sell in the next months, I have plans to take him out to a low level competition).

Classical Training

This is Chico back in January doing straightness (classical) training. He is very tuned into ground work and tries his best.

Here was the result of our training session today. Chico reacts when the vaulter puts weight just behind the seat. We are using his stomach to get to his brain with some treats as he is extremely food motivated. His panicky reaction is all in his head now rather than the result of any pain. After many repetitions of leaning a hand down on this sensitive area and then coming up to kneeling, Chico had improved to a point of very little reaction. We will continue rewarding him when not reacting to reinforce the behaviour that we need from him.

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Our Story

Our journey with Chico (aka Triple Star Picture Me Painted) began in February 2017. Chico Rico, as he is now affectionately named, is a 12 year old 17.2hh pinto warmblood by Colour Me Cool (sire) and Geel (dam). He spent his early years in training as a Saddle Hunter and A&P horse. This was taken to a high level competing at HOY. Between the time we purchased him and his ended show career he had a year off in the foothills of Ruapehu. We looked at Chico to be our next canter vaulting horse at the Waimauku Vaulting Club. He has a kind temperament with stunning movement and he is solidly built with a flair for performing. We put a couple of years into seeing if that would work out but sadly it hasn't. Our hopes for his vaulting superstar career were dashed by recurrent lameness and a back tenderness that we later found was facet joint arthritis. So now Chico's story is about a rehabilitation journey to soundness. We would like to get him to a place where he could be a low level riding or trekking horse. Canter vaulting or jumping would not be in his future due to the extent of his problems that will need constant management to keep him comfortable.