Anyway, I got an email out of the blue from his breeder wondering of I had found a suitable prospect yet. I had gone to her barn a year prior to look at another horse she had for sale. I emailed back and told her that no, I hadn't found anything that had caught my eye. She emailed back with pictures of Turbo, and the rest is history.
Here are a couple of pics from when I went to see him a few days later.
And my favorite "Omg what was that?!" look -
Turbo was quite a handful when I got him. He was nippy, pushy and ultra nervous. I found out later that the nervousness was from the owner of the barn he was at back then. He was an old wanna be cowboy who thought it was fun to jump at him and make him flinch. He also was scared of Turbo to the point that he wouldn't lead him into his stall. Instead, he'd open his stall door and chase him in with a whip. He thought the way to handle a scared yearling was to muscle him around. That doesn't work with a draft horses baby that is bigger than your full grown Quarter Horses! The final straw was stopping out one day and finding Turbo in his stall, in 2 feet of manure HOBBLED. And why did he hobble a yearling? Because he didn't like how Turbo moved away from him when he would come in his stall. DUH YOU FLIPPIN' PSYCHO! YOU BEAT HIM WITH A WHIP! End rant.
Turbo with Rachael as a yearling in the summer -
Scary plastic bag!
Turbo moved to his new barn and has come a long way. He doesn't freak out when there is a loud noise, he respects whips without being afraid of them, he is no longer pushy or nippy, and he is just a nice horse to be around.
He had a rough time after his gelding in February of 09. He was already too big to do an on the farm gelding, so it was off to the vet clinic for gelding on the tilt table. On the bright side, he loaded and unloaded like a champ!
Turbo at the vet clinic January 09 -
Turbo in the indoor arena, January 09. Sorry for the blurry pics!
We worked Turbo 2 times a week free lunging in the arena so he could learn voice cues. He also wore a bridle most days to get used to carrying a bit, and he also sometimes wore a surcingle.
Pics from March 09 -
Silly Turbo after a workout -
Enter Vegas:
Turbo was a holy terror to the other horses at the barn. They were scared of him, not only because of his size, but also because of how rough he wanted to play. He towers over the other horses at the barn, which are mostly Arabians, Morabs, and Quarter Horses. He is the tallest, followed by Vegas. The tallest gelding that he went out with is about 15.2 with shoes on. Turbo needed a playmate that was big enough to defend themselves, fast enough to get away if need be, and dominate enough to put him in his place. Vegas is all of the above. :)
Turbo catches on to the excitement in the barn the day Vegas arrives. He likes to chew on the cross ties when he is bored or nervous.
Out with Vegas -
Mom, did you see that? She was mean to me!
Vegas has done her job well. She did more "training" in 2 weeks than I could have done in 2 months. Turbo is a pretty well behaved young horse now. He surprised me the other day. He is usually antsy in the cross ties after about 10 minutes if he is not the center of attention. I had him in the cross ties this week and was having a conversation with the woman who will be starting Vegas under saddle. We talked for about 30 minutes, and Turbo stood like a gentleman the whole time. My baby is growing up!
Here are the most recent pics of took of him in September -
Kim and Turbo share a moment -
We sticked him shortly after her cut his leg at 17.3 hands (and he's butt high, AGAIN!). The vet medicated him using 1800 pounds as a guideline. I'm looking for a new blanket for him, and I'm searching in the 94" - 96" range.
Turbo will soon start ground driving, but for the most part he is just left alone to be a horse while he grows up. Depending on his growth (we expect he will be around 18.2 or 18.3) we may start him under saddle in the fall of his 3 year old year (fall of 2010.) I'll keep updating!
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