It seems that Spendid High wants to jump and he is letting me know that in no uncertain terms. This is a bit disconcerting as he is 18 years old and I turned 60 and have hardly jumped since I was a teenager. No matter, if Melness wants it, he seems to find a way to get it.
The night before he began conditioning on the Aqua Treadmill, I had a dream where he jumped into a ring full of jumps and then started jumping them on his own. I had another dream where he jumped into the bushes in the backyard of where I grew up. Then, he had a nose fly bother him the other day when the competitors arrived for an AQHA show that weekend. I had specifically told him that he needed to behave and that this was not to be The Mel Show.
Well, the nose fly made it necessary to exhibit his airs above the ground in hand that were closer to have an NFR bucking horse do his thing while attached by leadline to a person. Nevermind, he had to do this in front of people who just wanted to lunge their horses to get them settled. Mel decided it was boogie time.
Then he ran around like a crazed fool in the round pen where I left him to get some fly spray–herbal, of course. During that time, it was as if he had to make the impression that while they were there to show as Quarter Horses, he was a Thoroughbred and that they ought to look at him. Honestly, I think he must choreograph his moves so as to exhibit maximum dramatic impact.
It was The Mel Show and seems to be still. Recently, he decided he had to make a fuss at 6 a.m. because his neighbor was irritating him. So he kicked in a board–not a flimsy one but broke in two a substantial board. I showed up at 6 am this morning at morning feeding time so he could not have a repeat. Mission accomplished–and I think he may have an ulcer because he is usually not as testy as this unless he’s got fire in the belly.
Can’t really say where this is all going to go because, as I told him, if you want to jump you have to do walk, trot and canter and circles without theatrics consistently and we are not there now. I hesitate to say how many years it’s been to get to where we are, which is not past the first step of Col. Podhajsky’s method. Now we are aiming at the DeNemethy Method to start him over fences.
I guess it may happen because he seems to get what he wants, eventually. Last year a lady took some humorous photos of me depicting what I said was “George Morris’ Least Likely to Succeed Rider.” I had left Mel disheveled and with the pink wound dressing on his scars from other horses bite wounds and I was a mess in so many ways. I said it was proof Mel needed an upgrade in riders. This year, not much has changed on that front except I will be going to audit the clinic of the master himself. This should be great. I don’t fit his profile and my weight is not show weight. Just sitting in the audience I will probably be the very mess of a person who is indeed least likely to succeed in that rarefied world.
It will be fun to watch and I do not care if I get chewed out. That’s how I grew up. I just may not be able to stay for long, as I have to get back to feed his Royal Mellifluous Splendid Highness his supplements for his digestive tract. I am sure that Mr. Morris will not be amused. Last year I asked if they have room to stall a therapy animal who is legally a service animal during the clinic, and I unsurprisingly received no response. I do not do things or go places out of range of Mel and his pressing needs.
It is never a dull moment with Melness. Tomorrow he gets adjusted which means he will have to pull some move afterwards to insure that his favorite vet comes to see The Divo soon again. She gets him and he acts like a Drama King for her as she asks him to do his carrot stretches. He’s still a noodle and at least has one of the three goals of Col. Podhajsky’s calm, supple and obedient. Supple as a cat and as mercurial as a lightning flash–that’s life in the fast lane with this 10 year career racehorse who is just beginning his newest adventure. Heaven help us!
isofaithfulandtrue 