The Horses...

Xie

First off is M.T. , registered name is Bee A Windstorm. I've had him for, seesh, 18 years now. He was 3 when I got him and I was 11. He's been an awesome companion and a terrific riding partner. I've done literally a bit of everything with him, from reining to western pleasure, to jumping, and dressage plus a whole bunch of other stuff. He was the perfect first horse, born bomb-proof and willing to let me try everything, plus he put up with all my beginner mistakes.

He has COPD (heaves) and is mostly retired now. He still comes out once in awhile for beginner adult lessons but generally he just gets brushed and fed his mush and is happy as can be.

Us showing (note the date on the banner, lol)



Fooling about at a lake around the same time span...



Doing a beginner lesson about a year ago...



My son leading him around (he was the first horse both my kiddos sat on)



I love the old man!

Xie

My new riding partner Decaf, registered name Beste Tradition. I've had her for three years now, got her as a 2yr old and she just turned 5 this month.

She's a total sweetheart and HUGE at 17.2 hands (that's 5'8" at the shoulder) and finally finishing up her growing and starting to fill out. Her dam was 16.2 hands and we were expecting her to get to about that height but apparently her sire wanted to weigh in on her height and he's 18.2h (hand=4").

She's in training to be my hunter/jumper and is doing wonderfully. She passed her first set of breeding requirements quite easily (came in reserve champion out of all the horses tested that day) and she'll be bred in the future most likely.

Her first show ever...



Winning Best Young Horse as a three year old (the horse equivalent to Best In Show)



Her first under saddle ride. I'm on her and my trainer is leading us. All she cared about was the feed my trainer was carrying, lol.



Actually going under saddle...

Xie

Last but definitely not least is Blackberry, registered as Captain Carrot, my daughter's pony.

This guy is just amazing! We got him from an auction super cheap and I can't believe how much we lucked out. He's relatively young, about 7 or 8, super friendly, and stick a kid on his back and he's completely mellow. He's also big enough that I can ride him and since he didn't come with much training it's perfect because I keep his training ahead of where my daughter is at.

The first show we ever took him too we arrived late and only had time to pull him off the trailer, throw on a saddle, toss up my daughter, and run into the class (it was leadline, where I held a lead attached to Blackberry and walked with them the whole time). He didn't look around once and just moseyed along like he had done this his whole life.

My brother leading them around between classes...



Me with her in the class...



Trotting along, he is so good at waiting till she's ready before going...



Standing patiently after class while my daughter shows off her two-point like the big girls do...

Blizzard

Omg, those are such beautiful horses!! I love Blackberry

Dakota Spirit

You've got some beautiful horses
It's great to see them doing all things from show, to recreation, to teaching new horse lovers.

Very cool!

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Spirit_of_Cotons

You've got some beautiful horses! What type of pony is Blackberry and is Decaf a Thoroughbred? And my my he's tall! Their names are nice too, they must be a joy to ride.

I would love to go back to horse back riding lessons one day.

Inga

It is true that all of your horses are beautiful. I have not found too many horses I have not loved. Blackberry is absolutely precious, as is your lovely daughter up on him.

Jump!Diego!Jump

Oh wow, Decaf is gorgeous.
A tb or warmblood?
That picture of your daughter and her two point is so cute.

Shauni'sMom

Blackberry is just too cute! And nothing beats an awesome first pony - I still remember mine, and I bet your daughter will never forget him. And holy Decaf is huge!! My guy is only about 15.3 (maybe 16hh) and that is plenty tall enough for me.

Xie

Thank you all so much for the kind words about my babies

As to what kind of pony blackberry is, he's the horse equivalent of a mutt. He came from a kill auction (where meat buyers pick up horses for slaughter) and was skinny as a rail. Considering we are now having trouble keeping him from getting fat on just hay he must not have been fed anything at all. It's one of those times where I wish he could talk and tell me his story. So basically no clue whatsoever on his breeding. Could have some TB in him somewhere as he's a fairly tall pony, could be some Arab, maybe some Shetland, who knows, lol!

Decaf is 1/2 Hanoverian and 1/4 thoroughbred plus 1/4 Appaloosa. Her sire is full Hanoverian (Beste Gold) and the dam was half and half. Her dam is by the famous Appy sport horse sire Wap Spotted and was a hunter breeding (equivalent to conformation showing in dogs) winner as well. The dam hurt herself right after starting under saddle and was retired as a broodmare.

This is the website of her sire... Beste Gold

And the page with his 2004 foal crop that includes my girl... Decaf yearling pic . The only thing they got wrong is she was the #4 three yr old in Hunter Breeding in zone 2, not as a yearling (I didn't have her yet at that point, lol).

Okay, going to stop myself now. Since Decaf will be bred one day I've been obsessive with her pedigree and once I start talking it's hard to stop, lol.

Spirit_of_Cotons

Xie--That's great that you saved Blackberry from that awful place; I've heard of those auctions before as a co-worker/friend of mine goes to them and saved two of her horses there as well.

Decaf and Beste are so beautiful in those shots! Hanoverian are very pretty horses, not that the others aren't. I thought with Appaloosas that they always have to have some sort of spots on them, but there aren't any on Decaf, how come? Haha-- and it's okay about the not stopping part I find myself doing that with some subjects as well.

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