Val is Available!

Val was a ham and totally worked it for the camera for her glamour shots!  Some horses are more photogenic than others, and this one really enjoyed her time in the spotlight.

Val is a 13 year old Holsteiner mare, owned by the same person since she was a two year old so we know all of her history, and has been in training since December 2020.  She's 16h tall and is a solid training level dressage horse.  She understands voice commands and has been riding out of the arena in the fields both with other horses and by herself.  She does spook and take off occasionally when riding alone in the back 40, but it's simple to bring her back to the walk and that's the only drawback to riding her out alone.  She does have a loose stifle on her right hind, which improves with consistent cavalletti and pole work.  Her ideal home would be someone who enjoys a big stride on a horse who has more whoa than go in the arena, and who enjoys cross-training with riding out of the arena as well.

Jasi took some riding photos as well.  Val has a quality walk, trot, canter, and whoa, and her stride length gets better all the time.

I do want to take a moment and compare her "before" and "after" photos.  It's really impressive to me what correct riding does for a horse's physique.  Val originally arrived as a bit of a pasture potato - she hadn't been in regular work at all.  With just a couple months of forward riding and lots of walking up and down hills in the back forty her muscling has developed really nicely.

Here is her "before":

and here is "after"

 Hooray for hill work!