Opie

Opie's Page

"Galopin EZ" aka "Opie" and me in the mountains near our home in the Durango, Colorado, area.

Sadly, Opie passed away at age 21 in 2005. We lost him to a clostridial infection that was triggered from a bruise. He was an absolutely fantastic horse, and touched many lives throughout his years. For most of his life he was owned by woman I used to ride with when I was in highschool. She rode Opie until she was in her mid 80's, and when she passed away in her 90's he was given to me (thank you Kathy for such a great horse!).

Comb's wash/Arch Canyon in southeastern Utah, fall 2002

Taking a break in the mountains near our home, summer 2002

Elk hunting near our home. No, we didn't get one, didn't even see one, but it sure was gorgeous scenery

When we got Opie we were told that he didn't gait well. He would go in out out of his gait, choosing to trot most of the time. I really didn't know what to do to get him to choose his gait, so we took him to a Jamie Drizen clinic. Jamie had him gaiting right away. It was amazing to watch, and even more amazing to get on my little guy and have him zooming around in gait. It was like getting a new horse. We learned a lot, too. One of the problems was the trim on his front hooves was too long, which Jamie fixed (he's also a farrier). The other problem was that he was just not light and responsive enough in the Bitless Bridle that I ride him in. He seemed light and responsive to me, but after riding him in a Spanish Jaquima I could really feel the difference. Opie also needed more groundwork, as we had been focusing so much on Todd's green horse Indy that Opie's groundwork had gone mostly undone.