Rain the Pro Drill Team Horse

What a weekend! Definitely jam packed with horses! So this post is going to be all about Rain! He did awesome. I know I've talked about him before but not a lot.

So late winter, we decided to put Rain into the Sanctuary. He has been my personal horse for many years. We have dealt with a number of health concerns and issues over the years after he fell sick. He's my "delicate flower" out of the herd and I have to watch him closely during the winter and summer to make sure he stays warm and cool. You can hear a little bit more about Rain in the video on our Facebook page.

But Rain is close to reaching many of our requirements for coming into the Sanctuary. So we decided to go ahead and make life easier on everyone by putting him into the program. But now he's stepping out of semi-retirement this year to be my drill team horse as Lightening needs a bit more experience and exposure to all things rodeo. He's a good spokeshorse for the Sanctuary!

I was worried that this weekend would be hot and with heat, I worry about Rain and riding him. But it was gorgeous weather, downright chilly at times. Rain loaded up both Friday and Saturday afternoon to head to the Irene Rodeo and he did great. He is out of shape, but who isn't after being pulled out of semi-retirement to run through fast, sharp patterns and routines with horses that he's unfamiliar with (and are younger than him!). He's an amazing horse. I didn't always think so but we've come a long way in these past thirteen years.



Rain certainly doesn't look like he's 19 years old but he is. We've had him since he was six and we've worked through a few training quirks but mostly it's been his health that has always been our main concern. He's a bit hard to describe as he's not a typical Arabian. I'm sure he's crossed with something but he's for sure an Arabian.

He's stoic in his manners and won't take any gruff from Chaos but he does get pushed around from Lightening. It's odd how the pecking order works at the Sanctuary. Only Dude is free of being harassed by any other horse as he's top dog at the Sanctuary.

Rain loaded up like a breeze both Friday and Saturday and stood at the trailer while we got everything ready, even with 20mph wind and gusts even stronger. He performed beautifully. I'll have to try and download a video of the routine we did this year for those that might need a visual on what we do in drill team.

Sadly, Rain is the short one in the middle! Of course the appaloosa and QH he's standing in between are rather large horses! But he holds his own with these fellow ladies and their horses! This pictures if from our Estelline Rodeo performance (June 16 and 17). We won best equestrian at the parade. Yes, Rain does parades as well!

And this is the drill team doing the pinwheel at the Irene Rodeo (June 23 and 24). It's the one move that Rain and I struggle with but we're getting the hang of it. We have one more performance for sure scheduled and another as a possibility but still waiting to hear back. I think Rain did fantastic coming out of semi-retirement to learn the routine in only a few short practices. He's a sharp one. Now if only I could get Lightening going as my new drill team horse so Rain could go back to semi-retirement!