News

I don't know wether to be happy or sad... I have good and bad news.

I'll start with the good news... I've purchased a new horse this past weekend. She is a 4 year-old AQHA bay mare. Her name is Leos Miss Mito (N/N) she has great lineage with Impressive, Poco Bueno, Leo and Three Bars on her pedigree... she is just the breeding I was looking for. I want a horse that could move cattle and turn a barrel... she should be able to do that since she is Reining & Speed bred. She was apparently ridden all last Summer, but after trying her out yesterday, I figured she was probably just started and very green broke... or maybe she is still settling in and hasn't yet warmed up to me... I plan on working on our bond more next weekend.

Below is Miss... getting a bit of a lesson on respect.

I actually rode her afterwards... I have video of that somewhere... She did pretty well, she has movement to absolutely die for, her trot is nice and flowing and she has a natural lope and does lead changes at liberty. She has the prettiest head and tiny little ears. She currently stands about 15 hands, but I suspect she should reach 15.1 hh. She is a bit thin for my likings, her past owner could no longer afford to feed her, so she should start building with good food and exercise in the big pasture.

She will also benefit from a good hoof trim... I will absolutely take before and after pics... I don't think she has seen a farrier in a long time, but I will fix that for her and it should improve her movement (which is already stunning!!!) and her posture. I hope to try her out more in the weeks to come, but I want to concentrate on our bond too, so that she is willing to work with me. She does have a bit of a tendancy to throw her head when pressure is applied to the bit, so I will look into that as well (teeth??? bit???)

Now for the sad news... I have made the difficult decision to sell Dandy. Since Dandy is partially blind, she will never be suitable for what I want to do with my horse (barrels, poles, low level jumping and complicated trails)... I have taken her to the level she is at now, but we will not progress further. She is one solid trail horse and an amazing girl. She is by far the best horse I ever rode. The person that will get her is definately getting the greatest horse ever! I will miss her dearly and I always thought she was my forever horse, but things change and I really hope a nice beginner gets her to learn from (Dandy is one great teacher). I am waiting for the right home to come along and am in no hurry to sell her. My price is very negociable to the right person. Dandy has always taken outstanding care of me... we have a great bond, she loves kids and knows to be carefull with beginners... she is such a gem... I wont ever be able to say enough good things about her. I will certainly miss her, but she would be better suited with someone that would be doing flatwork (amateur dressage even!) or nice relaxing trails... and someone that would work and ride her more than I currently do. She is a fun horse to ride and is very beautiful when she works.

I will keep her for as long as it takes to find her a really good home. She couldn't stand to be a pasture ornament, she loves to work and has to do it. This was the hardest decision I've had to make, ever, but I think it would be the best thing for Dandy... I can't be selfish here, I have to think about what she can do and what she loves to do and find someone that does just that. I have to think about her happiness.

Sunday Ride

I had a pretty busy weekend. Saturday was hoof trimming day, I touched up both Standardbreds and their feet look great! I'm very pleased... I have pictures, but my computer at home quit on me and I can't transfer them (AAAAAARRRRRRRRRRRGGGGGGGGGG!!!!!). I swear I'll get some pictures on here soon! (this is my Dandy girl in the picture above).

I then trimmed Dandy's feet and Misty's fronts (my back didn't feel like doing the rear legs at that point!). So I have her rear hooves to trim and the colt's feet also, then everyone should be good for a couple of weeks... (eesh). After trimming, my sister and I took Dandy and Misty for a little ride... we rode them bareback (as always during winter), at a walk / trot, I have not yet graduated to a bareback canter although I wanted to try it, my sister didn't feel quite at ease with Misty to canter. I used to full out run bareback when I was a kid, but I wouldn't try that today... even if I know that Dandy is a solid horse, she has huge movement that could be hard to sit bareback. They both did great, it was Misty's 2 or 3 time bareback and she is super! We've seen 7 deer and no one spooked, even when one of them shot passed us.

Sunday was a quiet day, so my SO and I took the two Standardbreds for a ride... they hadn't been ridden in a good while (probably 3-4 months) so they were full of themselves and mostly trotted/ paced the whole time. I hadn't been on Peg seems like forever, so I took the opportunity to relax, since Peg can see very well, I didn't have to worry about her tripping over snow banks and things. I also practiced some dressage moves with her... I don't know the extent of her training but she can move! I had her doing side passes, leg yielding, a nice collected trot / extended trot. She has BIG movement when you ask her. Don't get me wrong, she still has a lot of racing spirit and does use her racing mouth (hard mouth) when you apply pressure, but I'm trying to ride her mostly on a loose rein to get her used to having her head / mouth... she has the most beautiful headset on a loose rein. She does amazing side passes and leg yields... she actually surprised me! I was very proud of her.

Since I don't have new pics of them, I will post some pics of Misty and Wakan (my sister's colt) playing around!

Enjoy!

This is Misty... I really like this picture. I've done a bit of research on Misty's lineage. Turns out she is very well bred. Poco Bueno top and bottom, Jet Deck and Three Bars... and more... so she is mostly cutting / cow bred with some race breeding in there. She should be a fast little one, she already shows her herding instincts by herding Wakan away from Dandy and keeping him at bay! They constantly play together.

Here she is doing her nice flat western trot... it is extremely smooth to ride!

Here, Wakan is trying to kick Misty, I love how the snow flying everywhere showed up in the picture.

Lots of movement in this one!

The little bugger has great movement. He is 1 year and 8 months in this picture, will turn two in May. He is as black as they come and it's hard to see his features on a picture. Should mature to 15.1-15.2 hands. He's just a big suck and LOVES human attention. Already wore a very light saddle / blankets and did super! I honnestly can't wait to ride him, but we won't be doing that until he is well past his 2.5 years... maybe wait for his 3rd year. That's the guy that was bought in utero and we've had him since his birth. We wouldn't trade him for the world! I love him to death even if he's a little trouble maker with the other horses... he also tends to run away with everything you leave lying around! He's a gem!