4 posts tagged “other people's horses”
I went out to meet my friend Bonnie's new pony, Rocky, today and ride him a little. He's a Welsh/Thoroughbred cross in a distinctive red roan. She has pictures of him on her blog. He's in his late teens, so far as we know, but he's got that pony spunk despite being overweight and out of shape from being little more than a pasture ornament for the past few years.
I brought out my hands measuring stick and my bit fitter to get his measurements. He stands 14+ hh, and needs a 4.5" bit, so you can definitely see the Welsh pony part of the cross in his size. He's got a bit of a naughty streak to him, too, which just says 'pony' to me. (I love ponies, but they do like to poke and taste, investigate and test everyone and everything.)
He's very sweet & friendly, if a little disgruntled about having to work for a living again. He's quick to forgive, though, when treats are offered. ;)
Bonnie & I both forgot our cameras, so I don't have any pictures of him in my saddle (which I brought out to see if we should be looking for a wide tree saddle for him or if regular would be okay -- my wide fit him nicely). She thought he looked cute going around in it; you'll just have to imagine a little strawberry roan wearing a caramel hunt saddle (with a tartan pad).
Rocky's got a ways to go before he's back in shape and able to go on long rides, but I know Bonnie's very excited about getting him there and will have fun with the process. Then they can have lots of fun together.
Congratulations, Bonnie!
I thought I'd stick a couple of old pics of Bunny and myself up.
Bunny (registered name: Utilla*) is the Premium Oldenburg mare that my friend Michelle owns and is the one I'm planning on breeding to BlacklordFalkhann (hopefully next spring, if everything works out). She's a whopping 17 hh. Super sweet, though. I love her dearly.
Here's a link to ISR / Oldenburg N.A. for those interested in learning more about the breed.
I let my friend Becky bully me into applying for a director's position at Canterbury. It's to do with the paramutuals, and they talk about preferring an attorney with equine experience, but I suspect that none of my experience is really what they're looking for. The pay is good, though, and the worst they can do is not call me for an interview, so I took a chance and applied anyway.
Speaking of wishful thinking...
Tannenwald Trakehner has a sweet little Arab/ATA mare for sale & they just reduced her price. Her name is Kasimira, she's a 14.2 hh grey born in 1999. Green broke. $3,900 to "the right home". They've got lots of nice pictures of her on their site. There's a video, too, but I've never had much luck actually getting their videos to play. There is extensive pedigree info for her.
I still want Tanzbrise. She's even further out of my price range now than when I first saw her, so I certainly won't be bringing her home anytime soon. Her most recent photos show her in a bit of a chunky phase, but she still has a very kind eye and certain angles show off more of her daddy Windfall's refinement than others.
ETA: Julian. He was still a stallion the first time I saw him on this farm's site. They've gelded him now, but I certainly wouldn't mind having him as a riding/show horse. They call him "small" at 16 hh. Granted, he does look small in the photo, but that woman riding him must be quite tall. I'm sure he'd look plenty sizable with me up. No idea what they're asking for him. They're in Quebec, though, so his price would be in Canadian dollars, at least.
So much for hoping that the barn owner would decide the pasture had enough time to dry out so Merry & Gimli could go out today & meet their new paddock-mate Boomer. The rain's great for the garden, but I'm getting a little sick of it and I know the horses would much rather be able to go out in the pasture than stand in their muddy paddocks.
Been working towards "Riding Day" with Merry. Here I'm sitting astride after mounting from the ground. Jeans are not great for being able to get your foot up to the stirrup. Especially in the humidity. I had to pull my pant leg up over my knee a bit so I could flex the joint enough to get my foot in the stirrup because it was sticking and binding at the knee. I'll be wearing real breeches and my good riding boots for Riding Day, and a non-oversized t-shirt.
(Hmmm... These ended up a little smaller than I'd wanted. Oh well, click on them for bigger versions.)
Here's Gimli out being handgrazed. The top photo also includes Sassy, who's jealous that Gimli's getting grass and clover.
I had braided both of the boys' manes and forelocks in the hopes that they'd be going out in the pasture today so that they wouldn't get burrs too tangled up in their hair. Figures.
And here's Merry grazing in the same area. Sassy's looking pathetic as she watches him eat. I did take pity on her while I was grazing Gimli and pulled a few handfuls up for her. I wasn't about to lead Merry that close to her, though, so she got stuck feeling left out.
