Remember Axle?

How old and when'd you get him?  Thank goodness for your spa treatment! []
 

I got him this past March.  Between the vet and I we aged him at just over 2 in June.  He won't mature out to be over 14 to 14.2 hds.

This is really great to see trainer.  He looks really good. 

Thanks 4my I think with a couple more trimmings his back feet will be where they should be.  The fronts were bad but the backs were horrible and we all know how long it takes to fix bad feet. 
 
I told Phil that we probably could start going to the sale barns and pick up 4 colts a year and at the end of the year have a sale of our own and make just what we would training.  That way we could pick and choose what we worked with...(and who!![])
 
 

Axle is looking great!  All sleek and filled in, also looks so much more settled than when you first got him.  Looks like he's going to be a fun project for you.  Are you planning on keeping him, maybe for Matthew since he's got a good head on him and won't be too big or selling him?  Too bad they're asking so much for PMU rescues now, they have some great sporthorse types.  I got my guy for $900 and now they're asking as much as $4500 for a slightly halter-broke 3 year old with no papers!  I know it costs money to ship them but now you can get a well-trained horse locally for around $3-400. 
 
Good job with him!

Yeah I think I will keep him a while now.  The original plan was to get him riding pretty good and sell him but that was before I knew what kind of mind he had.  If he keeps doing so good I think I might start using him at our clinics.

I thought it was time for more pictures of my project boy.  LOL  I let him out to pasture after August last year and didn't do anything with him again till December/January.  He lost some of his bulk in the winter months and is growing again so that always makes them a bit more leggy looking.
 
When I brought him in I worked him 5 days a week very lightly just getting him really started undersaddle.  Took him out for the first time there at the barn where the creek runs into some trees and he did really well.  Got a bit fast when asked to trot but never broke into a lope.  Worked him for a month and then pitched him back to pasture to "soak" and grow.
 
This was last fall.  Look how he filled out!  I think after he gets done with this growing spurt he will start filling out width wise again.
 
  This was about a week ago.  It was a horrible day to train with gale winds and driving rain hitting the tin roof.  He was a little anxious but still did really well.  When his lope slows just a bit more...oh man is it going to be great.  Its like siting in a rocking chair now but just a tad fast.  He really drives with his hindquarters and gets under himself great.  Some vertical flexion and collection will help him build muscle too.
 
This was today.  He looks really worried doesn't he...LOL we were out there trotting around with a puppy racing out of some tall flowers, a cat sitting on the fence and Phils wife talking to me and crinkling a plastic bag.  Got done with warming him up and took him off by himself down through the trees and across the creek.  For about 20 minutes he was all for it, really enjoying it then he realized we were all alone.  Still no fuss, no fight just some perked up ears and a nicker or two.  He is worlds better at being patient and waiting now for direction or just stoping and resting.  Next month I'm headed down to Shawnee National Forest with him.  He also gets his first set of shoes just prior.  I havn't mesured him for a while but he is over 14.1 now and still a bit downhill so a bit more growing left.  He's ready for the snaffle now too but only for a little while then its back to the hackamore.  I like to go back and forth till they are super soft in either one then the mouth can develope too.

Awesome job you're doing!  He's a great little horse!  You make him look bigger than 14.1!