Brago is a 1/2 Arab gelding I purchased at a small sale in Jan. '05 along with a weanling I named Boomerang (Boom's grown now). At first, I brought Brago home and found him to be a nervous, distrustful horse. I bought him as my first endurance prospect, as my other 1/2 Arab gelding was getting older and I didn't want to put him through the rigors of conditioning at his age. I needed a young horse, and Brago fit the description of what I was looking for. Around the time I'd purchased him, I had been studying Clinton Anderson's methods of natural horsemanship on RFD-TV. This was a huge turning point in my interaction with my horses, and Brago became my "guinea pig" as I perfected my groundwork skills with him that spring. Brago had tossed me off the first time I got on him (before we started groundwork), so by the time I had ground respect from him it transferred under saddle and it was like I was on a different horse! He went from a distrustful, unsure gelding to a wonderful, eager riding partner who tries for me every time! I absolutely love to ride him, and I thank Clinton Anderson for that. We competed for the first time at the end of the '06 endurance season, and he placed 3rd on a 25 mile LD ride! On the next two rides, he was 2nd and 3rd respectively. I was very pleased with my little endurance horse. He had his first pull in Oct. '07 when he cut his heel bulb and went lame in Virginia. In the 2008 season, I entered him in our first 50 mile, but it rained hard all day and the ride was exhausting. At 43 miles, we were at the vet check and he tied up on me. We had to IV him and everything, but he recovered quickly and we went home. He has since tied up two more times since then, but much milder episodes which I attribute to me being more educated now that I know what tying up looks like in the first place! We've been unable to find out if there's an underlying cause other than the fact that he just won't drink when he travels--the vet thinks it's psychological. We'll see how he does in '09. I won't compete with him if he has any signs of detrimental behavior. Anyway, he's still a great horse to ride, he's also a clown in the pasture and I just love him to death!!