Bar DS Corona Pandemic

Pan is 5. He was born April of 2020 and did not start any formal training until 2025. He then was transitioned into full training slowly. 

Pan currently stands 14.3hh with a western build. He has decent bone, and is developing a very nice conditioned body shape. 

Pan is a lover and a pleaser. He is not prone to argue and is the first one to greet you at the fence. He is very easy to catch and be around. He can be a dominant gelding in his pasture though. I'm told he spent many years with a stud colt and learned some aggressive behavior there towards other horses. He is safe with the right friends though, and has been is housed with 2-3 other horses without problems. He has been housed alone for about 9 months, so his attitude towards other horses may have shifted. 

Pan has had a lot of ground work completed. I like to start my colts with lots of time on the ground before graduating to the saddle. He is very respectful on the lead and lunges well. He is very responsive on a long lead and is very handy on the ground.  

** Updated, as he settled into regular work, his tie anxiety has resolved. 

This is Pan's #1 flaw. While he is safe to tie (has never pulled back or done anything dangerous), he is very impatient and anxious at the tie rail. He does not stand still and spends most the time tied pawing. We are working on this, but it is an annoying issue. 

Pan has been loading into the trailer great for me. He always jumps right in. Although, as with tying, he does spend a lot of time in the trailer pawing and fussing. 

He has been trailered often successfully with mares, geldings, foals and studs. 

Please Note: we only have a stock trailer. He has not been in any slant or straight load trailers to my knowledge. I assume he will be fine, but it would be a new skill to him. 

Pan is a 6 out of 10 on the energy skill. He is not a dead head at all, but he also is not full of spunk and energy. He moves out great on the trail, enjoys being both in front or behind, but I do not see endurance in his future. He currently likes to ride less than 8 miles a day. We have done some longer rides (12 and 14 miles) successfully, but the last few miles were a push. This may change with conditioning, but he is not the "go all day" type of horse yet. He does take a little bit to settle out of jitters when starting arena work, he tries so hard to start and his sensitivity is increased until he relaxes. 

We choose to leave our horses natural and barefoot on the ranch. Part of this is due to the fact that Jenny does all the farrier work on the place and she is not well trained in applying shoes, the other part is the desire to keep their feet natural and healthy. Pan has not been ridden consistently enough to warrant shoes. Pan has been doing great barefoot in the arena and on dirt trails, but he does require boots on rocky ground. If riding on rock regularly, I would recommend shoes.  

He came to us with little foot work. He is still green with feet handling. We are working on this, but this is an area he can approve on. 

** he how is great with his feet, he still has never had shoes on because he is handling barefoot great. 

Pan spend the first 30 days back home with us isolated in quarantine. He did not show any signs of illness. Since his medical history was unknown, we have started his vaccination schedule over with a commination vaccine and booster 4 weeks later. He has also been dewormed multiple times since home to ensure health. Now that he is current on vaccinations and worming, he has not required any other treatments. He has not been to a vet since he is home. He has not shown any signs of illness or lameness. He did show signs of slight stone bruising after a hard mountain ride on rock barefoot, but with the addition of boots, this had not been seen again. 

While I do not expect anything to be found, I do recommend a potential buyer invests in a pre purchase exam so all is known. 

** he is all current on health work. 

Pan is good to saddle. He was started with a pack saddle and worked into a regular saddle. He is very comfortable wearing saddle bags and packing loads. He stands nicely to saddle and unsaddle. 

Pan has been mostly ridden in a loping hackamore. He remains very responsive in this gear so we have not seen much need to move him to a bit. He has worn a bit a couple times for experience. He was more responsive in a snaffle bit while doing "fancy" arena work, but we continues to use the loping hackamore for most of his rides. Since he has only worn a bit a couple times, he still needs more work biting. He is not rude at all, just does not understand the experience yet. He will get there. 

He is very respectful to halter and bridle with the hackamore.

** The trainer has done a great job transitioning him to a snaffle bit, he is very responsive to it and does not need anything harsh. She did try a shank bit just to see if he could handle the pressure and reports have been great. I ride mostly with my legs, so I still prefer to ride mostly in the hackamore.  

Pan is a fast learner with his arena work. We are starting to develop some fun buttons under saddle. He is working on great self carriage at the walk, trot and canter. His stop is amazing and most days rolls into a strong back. He is starting to get handy moving his front and hind end and have started adding it together for side passing. He is far from finished, but has a solid foundation on these skills. We have not spend much time on head placement as I like colts to learn to carry themselves naturally before asking for collection or change in natural head placement. 

** After 60 days in the arena, his is excelling in this space!

Pan loves riding out on the trails. He has been out in the mountains a handful of times now and is always alert and happy. He is becoming very dog and wildlife safe already. We often ride with 3 crazy dogs who either spend their time wrestling under the horses feet, or springing out of the brush at the horses while chasing rodents. He handles this like a champ.  While very happy on the trails, he is not fully relaxed yet. He is still convinced many stumps on the trail are monsters out to eat him. The nice thing about this fear is his reaction. His startle/spook response is to freeze. He has never spooked or bolted. He quickly realized this sump is not a threat and we can move past the obstacle. ****please remember, he has only been ridden by an experienced rider who specializes in problem horses. While safe for an experienced rider, there is a chance this spooky tendency could become a problem under beginner hands. 

This will be a very short section. This horse is excelling at almost everything I toss at him and I often have to remind myself that he is still very green with less than 30 rides. The areas we still are working on, but making improvements on are: standing tied, standing in the trailer, water crossing and not fearing every stump in the woods.

***I know would say that his only "flaw" is that he is not suited for a beginner rider. He needs someone that will be clear with their cues and understand how to advance his training. He is very safe for beginners, but I don't want his training to get confused with beginner ridders. 

Ok, If I have not done a good enough job making Pan sound amazing, its only because I want to make sure that any potential buyer understands that he is still green and learning. But he is by far the BEST colt I have started to date. He is learning faster than any horse I have trained and has never made a step that made me feel in danger. I cannot say that for any other green horse I have worked with. 

So! Why do I not keep him??? 

Well because as a gelding, he does not have the ability to add to our program. He will better serve our program by getting out in the world and promoting my program by showing off how amazing he is to others. I also have 4 junior stallions and multiple other projects that need my focus next year. So now that Pan is in a good place and learning so well, it is time for him to find his new forever home.