Profile Nevermind Kurt

   

	Stable name: Kurt Show name: Nevermind Kurt. Born: 5/11/2001 By Aramis from Race Me Off
We purchased Kurt and his mother, whose nick name was Nirvana, when he was about two weeks old. I had wanted a horse from our friends Thomas and Marion Schad’s stallion Aramis for some time. When we saw him he was already big, friendly and confident.   Kurt was named after “Kurt Cobain”, the lead singer of the American grunge band “Nirvana”. When it was time to find a show name we came up with Nevermind Kurt. “Nevermind” being the name of the ground breaking second “Nirvana” album.   Kurt continued to grow and grow. We think he has stopped at 17.3hh but in truth I stopped measuring 12 months ago. He is truly a gentle giant, loves people and being groomed. He would much rather prefer to be a lap dog than a competition horse! At the same time he is like a giant puppy: super keen, bouncy and very willing to please. This makes for a fun time with a 17.3hh 750kg puppy!   Kurt was broken-in in mid 2005. After 6 weeks at the breaker I started him with just a couple of rides a week. Normally four days work in a row: one lungeing, one lunge and ride and two ridden. Each session was only about 30 minutes. As he was still growing and I did not want to overwork him while his body was still developing. At the same time though I did want to lightly introduce to his growing body the stresses that he would be required to cope with later. After four months I gave him a two months rest in a large paddock.
Kurt came back into work bigger and stronger. However, with his new found strength he was also a little too playful at times, never meaning to harm, but at times I was not feeling too safe. After about two months I realised he had intimidated me and I felt he needed some more time with a breaker. So Kurt was sent off to "boot camp"; he would muster cattle and ride through the hills “meeting kangaroos” while being taught to answer to the leg better.   When he returned home after six weeks, I was most impressed. He was more forward thinking to the leg and also moved away from the leg better. These were the things I had not been able to establish. Now home, with the new found respect of the leg added to the already responsive mouth, I had a horse.   I spent 2006 working on the basics of rhythm and balance. Remaining responsive to the aids was also high on the list.  We never looked back and while still bouncy and playful at times, Kurt was never intimidating again.   The year of strengthening and teaching him the basics was again not too stressful. Mostly ridden three, sometimes four times a week, with the occasional two week break. The work load increased near the end of 2006 with the view of competing in 2007.   Competition is the moment of truth - is he going to cope; has the training been correct? I had taken Kurt out four times, training at different venues prior to the first competition. The first test was a training test, both Prelim and Novice, and he was great. In the ring he did not put a foot wrong. On arriving in the warm-up area he was very elevated, but quickly got on with the job. I was very proud how he conducted himself.     We competed in 11 official tests in 2007 and placed on 9 occasions. We also prepared a Novice Freestyle test for the year with music by the Italian composer Ennio Morricone inspired by the “Kill Bill” sound track. We had a lot of fun with this and did well. I rode the test three times for three wins and won the Novice Freestyle at the Western Australian State Dressage Championship.   Kurt was a finalist in the 2007 Bates Dressage Newcomers’ award. This finished off a very good year.   2008 has started with Kurt much stronger and more mature. He is more able to control his big body and continues to learn and be fun to ride
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