Westfalen

Big bad B. Bossman. The Whale. Bossy B.

Those are just a few of the nicknames for Baleno, my second level, almost third level, dressage horse. I bought him from Ann Sparks Whitten of Horses Unlimited, at an auction, and he was a bargain, but a more Alpha gelding you'll never meet. He's absolutely, positively in charge.

We've gotten to be a good team after the first tough year...now, four years into our partnership he no longer rears and tries to rub me off on the fence, and he's getting really good at dressage. Out on the trail, though, he can only be described as a turd. He'll spin and turn for home, and he knows he can out-muscle me, but I whack him once and then he behaves again, for awhile. Then we repeat that performance.