It's been a long time since I have been back to my blog, but I thought I would make a return. While this used to be a blog for school, I am going to use it as my own personal blog now. Use it as a space to write about my adventures with my own horse, Trovao.
First I should tell you a little about my boy. Trovao is my very beautiful 15 yr old Lusitano/Andalusian. I have had him from the day he was born and he is my pride and joy. I had the pleasure of training him right from the get go. So I guess you can say, he is all my fault.
I've loved horses ever since I was a little girl. One of my favourite movies as a little girl was Wild Hearts Can't Be Broken. It's based on the true story of Sonora Webster and Dr. Carver's Diving horses. A fantastic watch for all horse lovers out there. In the movie, she trains a grey horse that she calls Lightning. This movie always made me want my own "Lightning". Well, when I was 15, I was blessed with becoming the proud surrogate mother of a beautiful colt. He was born during the year that, in order to register him, his name had to begin with a "T". (I used to ride on a Portuguese farm, that bred and trained Lusitanos and Andalusians.) My friend owned his mother and she had compiled a bunch of Portuguese names and told me the meanings. Trovao was the one that stuck out the most to me, and surprise! It means Thunder and Lightning! Well I can tell you that he lives up to this name. He does not know the meaning of stop, slow down, WOAH! Out on the trails, my friends and I love to let the horses go for a good boot. Many have said that all they can hear from behind is the thundering of his hooves, and then they see a flash as I go whipping past. Or, I just leave them in the dust, as he opens up a new gear.
For the longest time, I was a dressage rider. I studied Classical Dressage, which is a beautiful discipline. It taught me a lot of the fundamentals needed to train Trovao. I would feel great after our rides in the arena, but as the years went on, each ride became less and less enjoyable. We would fight all the time. I had begun to lose the bond I had built with my horse, and that was sad. One day, I finally got the nerve to take him off the property on a trail ride. This was not a great experience on our own.... Cows.... they are the devil. On this ride, I met some fellow riders who told me to get in touch with a lady who rides on the neighbouring farm. She often trail rides and was always looking for a trail mate. Well that was the best thing that could have ever happened to us. While I still make Trovao perform flat work on the trails to keep him in line, my love for riding has been rekindled, and our bond is stronger than ever.
So what I plan to do, is recount the past couple of years and the progress we have made, as well as my stories going forward of our rides. I hope you will enjoy reading about them as much as I enjoyed experiencing them.
Until next time,
Ashley and Trovao
