Say niegh!

[BabyRue]

So my other thread got me thinking.

How many horse people do we have here? Do you ride, own or lease? Or just work around the barn.

I know there are a few on here so I thought it might be fun to brag about your pony

 

[I_heart_Fraggles]

My husband and I bought a horse that will be delivered in August from California.
She is out of the stallion Da Vinci FM
Here is a video of her daddy.
[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L7_NJuJ-DW8[/ame]

 

[BabyRue]

I LOVE Da Vinci FM! I am not much of an arab person but I have always found him very flashy and has lovely movement.

I have a mare out of Buntspecht http://www.avonanimalhospital.com/Buntspecht.htm he produced some very nice fancy jumpers. My mare is a twin her twin lived as well. Our running joke is her sister got the brains while she got the looks lol.

Miss E is 19 this year and still going strong. She has a beautiful trot, her canter is a bit meh but she has a lot of power over fences and when we show in the hack classes we usually clean up because she has such a beautiful strong trot. We are working on some jumping issues right now as her last rider kept catching her in the mouth on landing so its made her a bit reluctant. Its not her last riders fault though. The girl tried but she just had the misfortune of E's saddle not fitting the girl right and it kept putting her in a bad position.

Miss E shortly after I got her back

However she has come along really well and I am hoping to breed her to Ironman in the next breeding season for a 2014 foal(fingers crossed for a colt!) The stallion I want to breed her to http://www.ironmanonline.com/

 

[MagPie]

I've taken lessons here and there. I had stopped when I moved up to Sacramento and a week later had emergency surgery, which I was told not to drive, much less get on to a horse. So I never did start taking lessons again. My mom also a big time horse lover got her first horse a few years back. Ginger is basically a rescue. She's an older horse at 25. Anyway for different reasons I won't go into my mom decided to retire Ginger at this place that was highly recommended, which happens to be 30 minutes from me but a hour away from her. Sooo I have a horse sort of haha.

not the best picture and she needs some weight on her. But I'm really excited because I'm going to start riding the lesson horses pretty soon. It's been ages since I could ride on a regular basis. I hope some day to have a horse of my own. One can dream haha.

 

[Kipcha]

We have 2 horses, Ben (6 year old Arabian) and Kipcha (2 year old Miniature Horse). We live in the city but are lucky since our boarding facility is just 15 minutes from our house, just about the closest we can get. Of course, I love bragging about these guys

Sadly, we recently had our 20+ year old boy Buzz put down... He had severe heaves, was going blind and simply wasn't himself anymore. Still miss him and think of him every day.

 

[BabyRue]

Beautiful ponies! I have a huge soft spot for the oldies. Our school has a beautiful appy mare in her 30's who most people would never put past being 12 or so. We have another old school master who is 29 and hes an OTTB who used to event the higher levels before he came to join our school.

I am in love with Kipcha though! Pocket size ponies!(yes I know minis are actually a horse but I call everything pony, even the 17.1 clyd cross at our barn lol).

 

[ZRabbits]

Beautiful horses. They were my favorite animal when I was a child.

K

 

[MagPie]

Yeah Sarah, I guess I kind of have a thing for rescues. My cats, my rabbit, and even the horse. I want to get better pictures of Ginger once I am back from my vacation. Hopefully ones with more weight on her

I totally want a pocket sized horse. The place Ginger is at, the woman has two. They are just two cute. One of them kept talking to me as I walked by.

 

[BabyRue]

Hehe I have a thing for rescues too. I rescued Rue and my first show horse was a rescue, the vet said he wouldn't have lived the winter when I got him because he was so underweight and sick.

The horse I have now is a special case. She is hot headed and when I say no one else can ride her. I mean it. I am the only person she will jump for. Others have tried to ride her but she freaks them out and they never get past the trot lol. I do have another girl who rides her once and awhile but she doesn't listen the best to her. There is a sticker at the tack shop here that says "BEWARE OF THE MARE" I am so tempted to get it for her.

Her favorite things to do are rear and buck. And she is the only horse I know that can buck going down hill *sigh*

 

[wendymac]

Great thread! We have 7 horses, and we keep them on the farm. We have a 7 yr. old QH stud named Louie (Zippos Mr Goodbar lines), his 4 yr. old son (an "oops" baby when Lou was a youngster and got in with my one son's QH/Morgan barrel horse), my semi-retired All-Around gelding named Arnie, my daughter's barrel mare Gypsy, Phillip's barrel horse Digger, Jonathan's barrel horse Racer, and my hubby's roping/penning gelding named Doc. We had 18, but finally got those numbers down!

This is Gypsy (Impressive Leap):

Digger (with Kitty running him):

Arnie (Starry Eyed Dude) and Kitty (around 5 years ago now):

Arnie, taken last summer:

Racer and Jonathan:

 

[Little_LongEared_Lover2931]

Wow, you all have some beautiful horses. I am crazy about horses but unfortunatley I don't have one yet. I ride at lessons as often as I can. I can't wait till we have fences for horses I am sure Henry(our mini donkey) would enjoy the company.

 

[BabyRue]

Henry will love it! lol. I had a TB a few years ago. I boarded him at a barn that had two donkeys. He got so attached to them he refused to come inside unless the donkeys were with him and he refused to go outside without them. It got to be a huge pain and we had to move his feed tub up higher(thankfully he was 17.2hh) so the donkeys would stop eating his food lol.

Wendy I LOVE Digger! The way he digs right in around the barrels is awesome! I keep threatening to re-train Ephy for barrels because shes become such a PIA jumping lol

 

[BunnyLove89]

Here is my pride and joy, Wildfire:

Him and I:

LOL

It's hard for me to put into words how I feel about my horse. I have a deep love for all of my pets, but there is just something about Wildfire. He was abused for years before I found him, and it was obvious that his spirit was absolutely shot. I didn't know much about horses, and I didn't realize at the time how much he was hurting emotionally. He was very fearful and guarded. The first time I rode him after I got him, I got thrown off and wound up in the ER. That scared me so badly that I didn't get back on for over a year. The owner of the farm where I board him asked if he could try and ride him last summer and I said yes. I got a call later that night saying that he was amazing and everyone was taking turns riding him and I HAD to get back on him. They said he was better than their show horse. We figured out that the reason why he threw me off was because his saddle was too loose and it was bothering him. I was TERRIFIED but I got back on him. Sure enough, he is amazing to ride! The first time I rode him after the accident I rode my first ever canter! It was awesome to be able to share that with him. To this day I am unable to get his saddle tight enough to ride, but I still love spending time with him. He gives me "hugs" when he first sees me and when I say bye (i wrap my arms around him and he rests his head on my shoulder) and if I forget, he'll initiate it. He is the most well-mannered horse, and even on his "bratty" days, I never have to lay a hand on him in a negative way. He is so relaxed and trusting these days, and I can tell that he KNOWS that I will never let anyone hurt him ever again.

 

[BabyRue]

It sounds like you have a wonderful bond with Wildfire. He is stunning! And looks like he is a bit of a comedian.

I have a similar bond with Ephy. She is very misunderstood as she is hot headed and very very sensitive. She has the worlds softest mouth to the point where I actually keep a fairly loose contact when I ride her. I just think "turn left" and she turns. I think "trot" and she trots. I think "halt" and she halts. So many people are scared to ride her because if you get into her face and start bugging her she gets really upset and boy can she throw a world class tantrum. She will buck and rear and bolt and spook at everything.

I ride her just relaxed and very "meh" and let her believe things are her idea. She goes great for me.

Ephy was my first love. She was my coaches mare. When I was a kid my coach took me under her wing and used to take me to the barn she kept Ephy at and I would groom her and help with her care. Then I went off on my own for awhile and had another horse that was my first show horse. He was stolen from me and I ended up back with my coach after some issues at home and I was living with her and she gave me Ephy to ride. I was so excited because no one ever got to ride Ephy. She ended up being my special horse and she helped me get through some really rough periods in my life. I took her to her first horse show. I got her jumping and we just had a special bond.

When I moved away I left her with my coach and no one else was riding her so she went to be a broodmare. My coach brought her back to her barn last year and another girl was riding her but having a hard time with her. I wasn't really into riding because I was going through a really hard time financially and emotionally and finally my coach convinced me to come back to the barn and the second Ephy saw me she started nickering at me. I couldn't believe it. After 8 years she remembered me and was excited to see me.

Now I ride her all the time and whenever she sees me she nickers and starts pawing and nuzzles right into me. This mare has pulled me out of the deepest pits of depression time after time. I have known her for 15 years. It seems every time I hit a low point in life she comes back into the picture and she pulls me out of it. She makes me smile when nothing else will. I have cried into her mane. I have sat in her stall with her crying and she will put her head down and nuzzle me. I can stand there hugging her next forever and she will stand there.

I have never had a bond like this with any animal other then my dog. I have her back in my life and I will never let her go. She will be with me until it is her time to cross rainbow bridge. My Mom just bought a small little house in the country and she said that I can put up a fence and shelter there and Ephy can go there when she needs to retire.

The bond with a horse is like no other. They are the greatest form of therapy.

Me and my Epiphany My favorite thing to do with her is "join up". I let her loose in the arena and I can run around and she will follow me. I stop and she stops, I turn and she turns. I will run over poles and she will follow me and even jump if I run towards a jump. I love it. I can hang out with her in the arena doing nothing for hours.