Hugo’s 1st Ride

Hugo was set to arrive last Monday evening. My hubby and I ate pizza and drank champagne while waiting at the barn for his arrival in a mini celebration.

 

At a little before 8 pm the trailer came down the drive and I was positively vibrating with excitement.

It was pretty dang dark at the barn, but Hugo wasn’t phased and calmly unloaded down the ramp.

My first shadowy glimpse

We got him quickly settled in his stall, where he immediately stuffed his head in his hay and went to town- a good sign after a long trailer ride! I popped into the stall to check him over (he was totally fine) and have my first interaction with him. I could tell right away that he was a chill and sweet dude, and  I had my hubby take a quick pic, our first together! Words cannot describe how happy I was.

We let him rest the next day with plenty of turnout and I came out in the evening for some quality grooming time. On Wednesday, Steph (one of the assistant trainers) took him for a quick spin. I got a glowing report about how good he was, especially for such a young guy. The temps plummeted at this point, so I had to wait until the weekend for my first ride.

Saturday came around with perfect weather, and I was surprisingly not that nervous. I was trying to keep my expectations pretty low, reminding myself that he’s a baby and if I don’t LOVE him immediately we have plenty of time to mold him into what I want. Turns out I had nothing to worry about. He was WONDERFUL. Perfectly calm, very receptive to my aids, and jumped everything I pointed him at. I honestly didn’t expect to be doing lines during our first ride, but it felt so easy! He didn’t blink at a single jump, and easily did all the strides.

We totally knocked the trot jump but those are stupid and I actually love that it didn’t phase him at all. I’m sure we will knock our fair share of rails in the future, so it’s nice to know he doesn’t have a reaction to it. The lesson when great though, and it also drove home how out of shape I am. I’ve only been riding super lightly the past two months, and Rio barley takes any effort at all. Not that Hugo is hard, it’s just different muscles then I’ve used in a hot minute. I’ve barely been able to move without groaning for the past couple of days.

On Sunday I had my first hack, and it was super nice to take my time getting a feel for him outside of a lesson situation. I already felt like we were clicking even better then the day before. I was even MORE excited for our partnership after ride #2, and cant wait to see what the future holds.

My trainer is working him today, and I’ll have another lesson tomorrow, so expect a new blog post on Thursday!

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