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Daisy is a plump little paint – not the most athletic looking horse you are likely to come across. To look at her, you would think she could be a foot taller and a foot thinner. She spends most of her time out in the field grazing – often refusing to come in at night for dinner. Just the other week, she spent 20 or so minutes galloping around the field to avoid being brought in.

I’ve known Daisy for perhaps six years now and occasionally give Jen, her owner, the odd lesson as she gets ready for a show. Last year we were working on some laterals and encouraging her to pick up he right lead in the canter. Although her canter work isn’t the best, Daisy’s trot can be an absolute pleasure to sit.

We had been working on the shoulder-in for sometime, when suddenly it clicked with both Jen and Daisy. What had been a struggle suddenly came very easily and they could both move from shoulder-in to counter shoulder-in in a stride or two at the trot. With the increased engagement of the hind legs, Daisy started to become quite collected and floated around the ring. This inspired Jen to ask one of my favorite questions ever – “Tim, is this what an Olympic horse feels like?”

This past week, with Jen out of town, Jenny and Kris hopped on her to give her exercise. I brought my camera along and snapped some photos as she did some great trot work for both Jenny and Kris. The trot was so smooth Kris was heard to exclaim, “Am I in trot?” with real wonder in her voice. After a fun 40 minutes or so, we had all decided that yes, of all the horses at Merry Acres, riding Daisy is the best approximation we have of what it feels like to be on an Olympic horse.

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