Oh, I can see what you mean, definitely. Bert does remind me a lot of the older style build!
Honestly I am having SO much fun with them. Now that they don’t think humans eat horses, they are mostly like normal 2 year olds - very curious, slightly too up in my space constantly, a little trepidatious about learning new skills but they really have a lot of try.
Things I forgot to mention earlier: Ernie and I did the babiest steps of beginning lunging skills this morning. He’s open to the idea and I don’t think it will take him too long to catch on. Not that I do a lot of lunging with 2 year olds, but it’s nice to have the basics installed for later on. Bert’s less amenable to the idea right now, but we’ll get there.
Also, it rained again this afternoon so we’re back to mud.
I love every single update, they always bring a smile to my face! Ernie is really just a doll, isn’t he?
I’m also team DHH now. My best horse was a WB/draft and it seems that these guys have a similar brain - smart but with the right amount of lazy to balance it out.
One of mine is a mud ball right now. I swear he grinds it all in on purpose while his brother is dirty but only just.
These posts truly get me every time! It’s amazing what happens when you give a horse the chance to try! I know there are many naysayers when it comes to auction horses and I would never encourage someone to take on a horse that is greater than their skill set or a horse noticeably broken down (unless they have the money and the heart to match!) but there are so many amazing horses running through the pipeline that deserve this.
Your posts are the PRIME example of what great horsemanship can do! creating balanced horses one step at a time!
Ernie seems to have bounced back from his parade around the auctions with minimal mental baggage - he’s still the one that I see being pretty ammy friendly in the long run, once he’s got a good base of education on him. Despite being the most submissive horse (by far) socially, he’s got a fair bit of self confidence when it comes to humans and he’s not prone to overreaction. I’m extremely grateful he’s SO submissive - because let’s not forget, he IS still intact! He has one very visible testicle, and once we are at the point of him being comfortable with me sticking my hands in his nether regions I’ll feel around for a second, hopefully just tiny one. I’d prefer to wait until fall or even early next spring for any open wound procedures given the bug situation right now, anyway.
Peach is doing a really excellent job of uncle-ing so far but if Ernie gets too big for his britches at some point, there are 4 other uncles of varying higher status that will easily rule over him. I was lucky enough with the last colt I bought - we thought he was going to be a bilateral cryptorchid and I sent him in for surgery as such, but once they got him knocked out and on his back they found his two very tiny little testicles hiding way up high. Fingers crossed I can hit the same jackpot twice!
Peach is a hoot. He’s really the poster child for the best stereotypes of OTTBs - he loves people and 100% expects to be treated as royalty and the center of all attention at all times, plus he always claims to be starving. It also makes him such a great influence on standoffish youngsters, being so human-oriented. It’s really a crime what was done to him, and while I don’t usually hold ill will towards previous owners I 100% hold a grudge against this one for benign neglect. He is covered in scars and was starved near to death.
I 100% agree that auction horses aren’t for everybody! It’s so important to objectively assess your own skillset and be honest about what kind of risks you are prepared to take, but there are plenty of real diamonds out there ripe for the digging if you’ve got a shovel and are handy. Less-handled youngsters always have the best chance of not being permanently lame or already screwed up, training-wise, but they take an extra layer of skill. IMO “broke” horses are the riskiest buys, but even those can get dumped at auctions for owner-related reasons. I bought a (very nice, well-trained, papered) mare from a KB years ago that had been offloaded because the owners were fed up with her cribbing habit. The reality is that almost every horse, even the nice show horses, are only one or two changes of hands away from being sold to a trader or dumped at an auction with zero info.
Anyway, I could ramble on for days and tell all my stories, but that would turn this into even more of a novel Suffice to say I am supremely grateful to have grown up in a barn with a trainer who never thought twice about accepting any breed, color, or type of horse as a client and treated them all with the same respect. A good horse was a good horse, and if it wasn’t a good horse yet it just needed more training. I absolutely would NOT be where I am today without her.
Off to go play with all the pretty ponies before I make myself cry. I’m sure I’ll be back with more pix!
Darn it, my video of Bert is too big. I’ll have to upload it to youtube. I decided to shuffle horses and put the three musketeers out in the smaller pasture for the afternoon. Of course there was some energetic movement at the beginning, and that’s prime time for videos! The tall grass adds a wee bit of artificial knee action but it’s still fun to watch.
I can’t speak to Bert and Ernie, other than what Heinz_57 is posting about them, but I got to ride my first DHH earlier this week. And while he was a BIG boy, he didn’t feel big, and while he had big stories and moved quickly, he listened quite well. He also didn’t mind when I got a little too handsy. And he very politely, very beautifully took me over some crossrails, which is impressive because the last year or two I’ve gotten extremely anxious about jumping even tiny things.
He was lovely. He definitely felt like an old schoolie.type who can take a joke and has has to deal with some questionable rides in the past. Aka, I thought he was 18 or something.
Yeah, he’s 8. He also apparently has lots and lots of scope that is obviously kind and generous over small fences too
He’s the only DHH I have personally experience with, but he seems pretty amazing. Bert and Ernie definitely seem to be similar physically, though much younger, and also have similar, fairly chill, take it all in with skepticism personalities.
At this point I don’t know enough about the breed to have a solid opinion, but Bert and Ernie and the guy I rode definitely predispose me to like 'em.
Since they are driving horses, they are usually sensible but some lines can be very forward but also very sane. They are very athletic and they try so hard for their people.
Oh wow! What a big pretty boy, Bert! And Ernie is going to be flashy as all get out, isn’t he?
It’s funny, proportionally my brain wants Ernie to be 16h or so which makes Bert MASSIVE . Blame my hunter barn upbringing where everything was Pony or 16h+. I have no concept of size anymore.
Ernie is My Type - sweet and chestnut. But darn if Bert doesn’t remind me so much of my junior jumper heart horse - even the way he plays in that video looks like him 🥲. We got him from a horse trader, not an auction, but we had no history besides “eventer”. Someone put a lot of good work into him (he had impeccable manners, no spook, and would load into a cardboard box if you asked) but he didn’t really bond with people. Teenage FiveStride forced the issue, of course, but the only people he liked at first sight were my dad and my kid brother. Both of whom are zero percent interested in horses .
Anyway. You picked up some darn nice horses! And they really do look incredible!
Peach is what, 15.1-2? and very average-boned for a TB.
This is the summer that is never coming I guess, nearly every afternoon it rains and the mud farm is coming along nicely. 90 and muddy is one of my least favorite kinds of weather.
I expect some sprinkles this afternoon, but it looks like it should mostly skirt around us. I’m crossing my fingers that the tropical development that they are watching over by FL does not turn into anything big later this week… we are wet enough!
Ok, I love Peach dearly, I do! But he’s a failure at teaching Pasture Living 101 and we’re back to congregating at the gate pretty much all day long. But who could be mad at this face? He just wants a comfy stall with a full hay net and a full time groom to keep him entertained 24/7.
I threw Elmo out with them for the afternoon to see if he can influence the herd in the right direction away from the gate. There is grass to eat and TREES to stand under, boys, no need to bake to a crisp in the sun while waiting for your next meal!
I’ve created little baby pocket monsters and it’s pretty hard to get anything other than these sorts of pics now.
creating balanced horses one step at a time!
It also makes him such a great influence on standoffish youngsters, being so human-oriented. It’s really a crime what was done to him, and while I don’t usually hold ill will towards previous owners I 100% hold a grudge against this one for benign neglect. He is covered in scars and was starved near to death.
I absolutely would NOT be where I am today without her.
.
