This year, Tyger was dumped into my lap a good two months into the show year. This dictated that we were not going to get as much done as we will this upcoming year. I have her show schedule planned, and while I may cut one series or another depending on how her leg holds up (more on that in a minute) my plans for now consist of two shows a month until November. My thought process on the heavy show schedule is thus: if she can hold up to rigorous showing on the local circuit, then moving on to showing at the Zone and Regional level next year should not be an issue. Up to now she has been holding up to our level of training well. This week, our training will consist of jumping tomorrow, a flat day on Sunday (it's my son's birthday, so it may end up being a day off), jumping Monday, a day off Tuesday, a flat day Wednesday, jumping again on Thursday, flatting on Friday, then the show on Saturday. This is somewhat normal, a back and forth, every other day schedule. Occasionally she will get one more day off a week, but her work load is about 5-6 days, with work sessions lasting about forty five minutes on the flat, half an hour over fences, with time over fences to increase with her fitness level.
Now, I haven't talked much (read as: at all) as to how I came to acquire Tyger or her past history. The mare has a lot of pretty good training in her. She jumps well over four foot (I tested this yesterday, the first time I've jumped over 3' in a good while... I maybe had an absolute blast) and while she needs a little tuneup work on her approach and move off, her ability to jump and willingness to do so is nothing that needs to be even remotely doubted. Tyger lives to jump. She is an absolute lazy bum on the flat, but the moment you put jumps in front of her she is a completely different horse. I'm falling more in love with her the more I ride her.
Tyger was imported by her old owner, JJ, when she was 5. JJ, bless her soul, paid 86k for her. ... I blinked a bit at that one. Eighty... Six... THOUSAND. Holy. Crap. I don't think I've seen that much money in my life let alone dream of spending it in one place. Ok, well, maybe I have. I have drooled over multi-hundred-thousand dollar horses before. Guilty. However, I never in my right mind ever dreamed I could come even remotely close to doing anything beyond touching one every so often, let alone own something of a caliber that could stand in the same room as one of those.
Now, how did little old poor me come to have such an amazing animal dropped in my lap you might ask?
Tyger doesn't vet.
She is not at all lame, unsound, in any sort of pain, discomfort, have an OCD, or anything of that sort. She has, however, broken her cannon bone. Currently, she has a pin that resides just below her hock. When she was 9, she kicked the trailer and broke her coffin bone, resulting in about a year off for Little Red. JJ paid for multiple surgeries, all the layup time, rehab, and then sent her to a $1400 a month hunter trainer last year (Hunt Tosh, if anyone was wondering, who did an awesome job with her) to try and give her a less stressful job. Tyger was having none of this, and while, yes, she can pass for a hunter on the flat, she could no way... ever... pass for one over fences. She gets a little too... excited. Beyond all those basics, I really don't know much about the injury. The plan is currently to speak with JJ's vet and find out all I can about the injury, as well as upkeep, but I was told (by Andrea, whom I greatly trust and respect) that she was operated on by the top surgeon on the east coast, and if he says she's as good as new, she is. Remember, I am paying $5 for the mare with the intention of getting a solid lesson horse out of her, with the benefit of being able to show her. Her past injury does not in any way worry me any more than I would not pay more than said $5 because of risk of re-injury.
So, that's how she came to be mine. And that is why I'm so cautious as to what I do with her. This year we will be closely monitoring how her coffin bone holds up the the strain, and that will in turn dictate what we decide to go for next year. My hope is that by next year the business will be off the ground enough that I will be able to fund a tour of the zone and go after some year end awards with the USEF and USHJA. After that, we will have to see what happens. Ideally, I will have bred Ellie, and she will be ready to step into Tyger's shoes (har har har) in three or so years once Tyger is ready to back off a bit and maybe have a baby or two while packing my kids around. Then, by the time Ellie is ready to retire back to being a local show horse, her foal will be ready to take her place, and Tyger's thereafter. Time will tell, but, a plan has been laid. Keep your fingers crossed for me folks. It's a long road to the Olympics.
