Apollo

Hey everybody. It's been awhile that's my bad. But we have two horses left in our 9 horse count down so without further adui here is horse number 8. He is a palomino quarter horse that is 15 years old and his name is Apollo, also fondly called Apapllo. Apollo is the laziest horse I have ever  met. . . . until he sees a row of fences in front of him! Then there is no slowing him! He loves to jump its his favorite thing to do besides barrel racing but his aged legs cant take the strain of those tight turns. He is only used over the low itty bitty fences but it's enough to keep him excited and energized and he is still learning his striding so its a good combination for our intermediate jumpers

 He is a very good intermediate horse but not so much for beginners. We put all the kids that need work on using their legs more on Apollo because unless he knows that you mean business and can cue him correctly with your legs he will be a lazy little bugger. He likes all the people around him but he obviously plays favorites. His favorite person is one of our lead staffers named Ashley. he will do anything for her.
      
     Just this Saturday Ashley did something that all riders do eventually; she took a fall! Now falling is not that bad it's the same as falling off of a bike it hurts you might get bruised but that's it. And that's exactly what happened to Ash. She took a roll over his shoulder in a group jumping lesson lesson. I was riding in front of her on Stetson doing our warm ups and I can witness but as she fell Apollo's eyes went HUGE with fear and sorrow. He slammed on the brakes and bent his head and nuzzled hers. When she got back on a few seconds later, Apollo walked off as slowly as he could and kept checking to make sure Ash was still on his back.
     And people say horses can't love. Watching this exchange our entire lesson got misty eyed.