ROSSO BAROLO ELWOOD | 17 YEAR OLD BAVARIAN WARMBLOOD | LEXINGTON, KY
Elwood, Rosso Barolo Elwood, is a 17 year old Bavarian Warmblood. He was originally imported to the United States as a breeding stallion but ended up being too small.
Elwood lives with his owner Joan at her personal farm located just outside of Lexington, Kentucky. The pair does Dressage, and trained with Susan Posner before his retirement. This little flashy chestnut if defiantly the star of the show. When it came time to take his pictures he puffed himself up and curled his neck just like he was showing off.
Elwood is afraid of his own shadow but managed to muster up enough confidence to carry Joan through PSG. Joan shares that his unique traits are endless but most of all (and most importantly) he is kind. I think this was evident more than anything during his session, he wanted to badly to please us and and make sure he was the perfect boy.
Elwood was given to Joan because he was so spooky. Elwood’s previous owner’s husband forbid her from riding him. Luckily Joan has a special place in her heart and incredibly patience for the horses that other people tend to give up on. Joan gives horses a second chance at life, and Elwood was so incredibly lucky to find her.
This “special” horse loves sugar.
Of all of this accomplishments this “scared stubborn” guy went right up the levels to earn Joan her Silver Medal. On the way up they want to two regional competitions where he brought home the big ribbons and finished very respectably.
“This little horse was so sour when he came to me that every ride and every show was a gift – some more challenging than others. I always had to be careful to listen to his fears and anxieties. We worked through it together. We went farther than I, or anyone else ever expected. He taught me more than I ever taught him.”
There is something so powerful about being able to stop and carefully listen to what our horses are trying to tell us. I think sometimes it can be so easy to get wrapped up in what we are trying to do that we forget to just stop and listen.
Joan shared her favorite memory of her time with Elwood, while at Regional Championships in the Rolex Arena. “We were showing at 4th Level and PSG at our Regional Championships and all classes were in the large intimidating venue of the Rolex Arena. After multiple moments of freezing and spooking in the earlier tests, I decided to give him a mouthful of sugar cubes as we entered the venue. As I rode my test I noticed a trail of sugar cubes left in our trail due to my pocket being left open! We didn’t have a winning ride, but he did appreciate the positive reinforcement and had our best test of the week!”
