all about horses
1) Today I took the first step towards getting a horse, and actually went and rode a horse. At Nevins Farm, of course. The barn manager thought Gemini might be a good match, so I brought lyonesse and a helmet, and tried her out.
18 year old quarterhorse mare. A little nervous, but not at all spooky; interested in everything that's going on. Good mover, nice gaits, very energetic, but never out of control, and good brakes. Extremely responsive - just think "go" and she goes. Attentive to voice, hand, leg, and seat cues.
Of some concern, you can see from her Petfinder picture that she has very long and high withers, and a rather deep back, which may make proper saddle fitting a problem. OTOH, the saddle I'm using here has me well forward and off her loin, so it may be a solvable problem.
She's also a bit skinny and under-muscled at the moment, but steady work should take care of that.
In short, a good prospect. I didn't fall madly in love with her, but even so she surpassed my expectations. The plan is to go back and ride her again next week, to see what she might be like with regular work. And to try her in Cheyenne's old saddle.
Other prospects at Nevins:
Razzy has stocked up even from his post-rehab pictures, and is in great shape, but there are already two girls fighting over him, so consider him gone.
Hazel is also said to be very sweet and attentive. She's also 5 and semi-trained, so more of a project horse.
If I want a complete project horse, there's a greener-than-grass 3 year old Belgian mare.
And more coming in every week, like this mule-faced mustang. And 3 more who aren't even on Petfinder yet.
2) Article in the Globe the other day about how foreclosures, layoffs, and the generally sucky economy are causing more people to surrender or even abandon their animals.
(The horse in the accompanying video is My Shy Guy.)
3) Barn party tonight at the barn where I ride, the barn where lyonesse and iabervon keep their horses, and where I will be keeping my hypothetical horse.
I caught up with Cheyenne's other rider, who originally came into the barn wanting to learn a little ring riding, and left to go out west and be a cowboy.
Also chatted with one of the other old-timers at the barn, who's very interested in volunteering at the shelter.
Oh, and I finally got Cheyenne's shoe. Either they only pulled one, or the owner is keeping the other one. Anyway, I'm glad to have it. It's in good shape, and I'm going to use it as the mounting platform when I build my tall bike.
18 year old quarterhorse mare. A little nervous, but not at all spooky; interested in everything that's going on. Good mover, nice gaits, very energetic, but never out of control, and good brakes. Extremely responsive - just think "go" and she goes. Attentive to voice, hand, leg, and seat cues.
Of some concern, you can see from her Petfinder picture that she has very long and high withers, and a rather deep back, which may make proper saddle fitting a problem. OTOH, the saddle I'm using here has me well forward and off her loin, so it may be a solvable problem.
She's also a bit skinny and under-muscled at the moment, but steady work should take care of that.
In short, a good prospect. I didn't fall madly in love with her, but even so she surpassed my expectations. The plan is to go back and ride her again next week, to see what she might be like with regular work. And to try her in Cheyenne's old saddle.
Other prospects at Nevins:
Razzy has stocked up even from his post-rehab pictures, and is in great shape, but there are already two girls fighting over him, so consider him gone.
Hazel is also said to be very sweet and attentive. She's also 5 and semi-trained, so more of a project horse.
If I want a complete project horse, there's a greener-than-grass 3 year old Belgian mare.
And more coming in every week, like this mule-faced mustang. And 3 more who aren't even on Petfinder yet.
2) Article in the Globe the other day about how foreclosures, layoffs, and the generally sucky economy are causing more people to surrender or even abandon their animals.
(The horse in the accompanying video is My Shy Guy.)
3) Barn party tonight at the barn where I ride, the barn where lyonesse and iabervon keep their horses, and where I will be keeping my hypothetical horse.
I caught up with Cheyenne's other rider, who originally came into the barn wanting to learn a little ring riding, and left to go out west and be a cowboy.
Also chatted with one of the other old-timers at the barn, who's very interested in volunteering at the shelter.
Oh, and I finally got Cheyenne's shoe. Either they only pulled one, or the owner is keeping the other one. Anyway, I'm glad to have it. It's in good shape, and I'm going to use it as the mounting platform when I build my tall bike.