A Friesian/Fell Mare

Click HERE as I think it is Apelles as a baby.  I am trying to contact the owner of the stud to find out.  If so, she is not a Fell mix but a Welsh Cob/Haflinger mixed with Friesian.  (her ad says she is Freisan/Fell)

HERE is a photo of her daddy.

So, this is my third horse in a list of three I have narrowed it down to purchasing.  She is being offered at a new reduced price and is now within my price range.  Each have their pros/cons.  If only I could buy them all - the Palomino QH mare, the Paint gelding or this Friesian cross mare.  My mind is churning...

Riggens - A Paint Gelding

This is a sweet boy we are considering purchasing.  It looks like it will be a choice between the rescue mare and Riggens.  He is a 9 year old Paint gelding and has more "Whoa than Go" as they say.  In defense of Riggens, it was hovering around 100 degrees in Charleston, SC.  He has a personality very much like my 1/2 QH/Arab gelding I had when I was young.  My girls each rode him and he has a very slow (wonderful!) ultra-comfy jog and will stretch out for a nice trot - handy on those hill topping fox hunt rides I hope to do this fall.  I feel very confident that he has the experience and demeanor to take care of my girls as they are beginners and get me back into the saddle.

The owner has given me a week or so to decide on Riggens.  I am watching another horse Molly (aka Titania) and observing her training (I posted about her below).  She is a Palomino QH, green and sweet - a rescue mare I am donating my money to receive professional training from "Cooler Horsemanship".  I don't believe she has been ridden for at least a year or so and is 6 or 7 years old.  Her owners had an unfortunate ending (A murder and suicide) and she was left without a home.  Red Dog Farms rescued her.  She is sweet and very smart and very willing to please.  She loves people.  She is about 14.3.

We are awaiting the arrival of our Oberon, the gelding QH buckskin I highlighted a few posts back.

Searching for a horse is much tougher than I thought.  I have adored many, but am trying to keep a level head and think what is the best fit for all of us - I could handle a bit more of a "go" horse, I think, but my girls are far too new at horses and I do consider myself a cautious rider - not one to take on too much of a "go" horse.

The ONE thing Riggnes did that was kind of odd was when we first approached him in the stall he laid his ears all the way back.  The owner told me he would do this, that he was all "talk".  Riggens is "low-man-on-the-totem-pole" in a barn of 5 or so bigger or older geldings.  She said he just likes to play tough and seems to be saying that "this is MY space - I'm in charge".   As soon as we touched his neck his demeanor changed to ears forward and sweet  (never nipped or looked like he would bite). We got in his stall, brushed him and pushed him around, cleaned his feet, rode him, gave him a soapy, sudsy bath and touched his ears, under his belly...  He never did anything to make us afraid.  We spent about four hours with him.

If you have any words of advice or comments, I do appreciate them.

Titania to our Oberon?

Oberon is our horse now (see below) - I sent the wire transfer and he should arrive within two weeks.   We have renamed him and since we are a theatre family, we thought names from Shakespeare were appropriate:  Oberon & Titania are the King and Queen of the fairies in "Midsummer Night's Dream".

Murphy & Molly are their old names.  Molly is a rescue horse and I am paying for her training this month with James Cooler of Cooler Horsemanship.  I am also looking at a paint gelding that I had my eye on a couple of weeks ago and my girls and I are driving down to Charleston SC to ride him and see what we think.

Oberon is six years old and is a reining/cutting horse.  He is very responsive and sensitive to the rider.  Both of my girls rode in a too big saddle and their legs were flopping a bit.  Since he is pretty much a leg responsive horse, my daughter below (we won't comment on her posture :) ... cued him to canter by accident.  Oberon slowed down to a walk immediately when she signaled, but the look on her face was priceless!  "What was THAT?!" she had said.  LOL

Introducing... Smudge, our new Connemara Pony

We looked high and low in the state of Virginia and finally found our pony at the top of a mountain!  I can't describe the beauty and had NO time to really photograph what we were driving by as we were on a mission to see a number of horses and ride them in 90+ heat.  It was a lot of driving and tiring, but rewarding in the end.  

I am back in North Carolina and will pick Smudge up the beginning of August.  So, this is a teaser... come back tomorrow to see the unveiling!  The photo below is for "The Creative Exchange".

The first photo below is for "Perceptive Perspectives" - theme "Your Choice".  This gorgeous stallion below is a Gypsy Vanner (or Gypsy Cob).  I ran into him in the Appalachian Mountains and HAD to photograph this handsome horse.  These grand horses were bred in Romani to pull wagons (vardos).  They are a recently recognized breed.  The first registered horses were imported to North America in 1996.   

Falling in Love... Each Time!

This buckskin gelding is 4 years old and green.  Gentle as a lamb but could barely get him out of a slow walk.  My daughter picked up all four feet and hosed him down.  The owner rode him with dull  spurs and she needed to use them to make him "go".   I always thought it was easy to speed a horse up, but hard to slow one down.

He is a pretty boy.  I personally think he would ride better western - I rode him and his slow trot was very comfortable.  I couldn't get him to canter, but she did with her dull spurs.  If I were to go back I would bring a friend who knows how to look at a horses moves - make sure his conformation is good.  I would also have a vet check, of course.

So, this is the first horse we looked at.  I am driving up into VA to look at about 7 other horses.  I have one I'm looking at Sunday (Molly - the rescue Palomino QH mare) and I have 2 I might look at in SC.  I do have a favorite from the videos and dreamhorse.com, but I am keeping an open mind.  I want a horse that suits me and one my girls can grow into for pony club.

This is Maddox (that's his name).  Two horse people (who love dressage) did not like how he moved in a video ... I saw nothing wrong... but that is why I would never buy one on my own - I don't know what to look for.   I thought he had a very nice slow "western" trot.  And a very, very sweet personality.

Update on the pony... I believe we will be buying the little paint pony Cavy.  We need to have a vet out and finish up four more lessons.