Picasso

Flashy Picasso was on a semi-hiatus from training when, back at the beginning of February, he developed an abscess that really took its time resolving. Only in the last couple weeks was he back to looking sound, but we wanted to be totally sure. So at a recent vet appointment, we had him checked out to ensure there wasn’t some bigger issue we were missing. Luckily, our vet felt that Picasso being off was directly related to the healing of that abscess, and he was cleared to resume business as usual. With so many horses arriving all at once, we had our hands full while Picasso healed up, but it was still very exciting to get back to work with him. The little bit we did before he came up with the abscess was indicative of a really special horse underneath the layer of dull tune-out that had been instilled in him from his time before SAFE.

Lexee N, who has been working with Picasso as of late, has the following to say about her experience with this handsome guy:

“Picasso has been a real pleasure to work with as his try and search are starting to poke through all the droning he’s gone through previously in life. Although easy to saddle, he was clearly not halter broken well, and also was distracted. Again another horse who fights pressure instead of giving to it. And though it’s not his fault, and never will be, unfortunately it was ingrained in him likely from the beginning. We will keep being diligent to show him there is another way.
From practically getting run over or nearly rearing in attempts to back up, it became clear that for this handsome man, slowing down and being really calculated was going to be key to his understanding.

When we first started he would not stop just going around the pen at a full canter when all we asked was for him to walk. So we roped him and showed his how to use his hind to slow himself down. Soon he was able to do this on his own as he was becoming more and more balanced. With it too came his peace of mind and a thinking brain. He started understanding the feel and understanding where pressure was applied, or that if he was put in a bind he could find away to move away.

His very sweet, and dopey personality is shining through and there is so much hope for this boy as a great riding horse. He still has some learning to do to find balance so he can prosper but we’re hopeful he can turn that corner sooner rather than later.”

Like Lexee said, this fellow just needs a bit more time under saddle to help put a few more tools in his box, but we have no doubt that he will make someone a nice riding companion one day very soon!

Picasso has a name befitting his paint-erly coat. He lives alongside his neighbors, little mares Poppy and Moshi, who he is quite attached to.

We went through all our checks, and saddled Picasso here at SAFE. He is very heavy on the forehand, and has a propensity to stumble forward and does not have much of a backup on him yet. He struggles with tracking to the right, and is still learning not to be as anxious about the flag touching him. But he has already made significant progress in freeing up in his motion, he is less stuck moving up through the gaits. We expect him to quickly blossom into a nice riding horse.

Picasso is up to date on vet and farrier care. He has had a dental check (a float was impossible at the time because he kept stumbling forward, even under sedation, but he has no significant issues with his teeth), his sheath cleaned, and is up to date on his vaccines. He was also dewormed upon arrival, as he arrived with a positive worm load. He is gentle about being groomed, but needs work on giving his feet without trying to jerk them away – he has been trimmed twice since arriving at SAFE, with a 6 week trim schedule set going forward. He gets daily thrush treatments to help combat the thrush all the Graham horses arrived with. Our vet estimates that he is around 20.