My new girl

[blairasb]

Well, we;ve knd of made it official…

I have a new horse.

they call her Happy. Not sure I love the name.

She’s a 3 year old Saddlebred. Breeding up close is obscure (last three generations have all been on the farm breedings, and the farm hadn’t shown anything since the mid 90s, I would guess) , but full of older bloodlines way closer up in her pedigree than anything I’ve seen. Only about 15-2 but with her breeding, I’m going to guess she will put on close to another hand in height.

Two years ago, I nearly took her after I lost my old gelding to Colic, but was then offered my dream horse so I took him instead. And after I knew my time with my Stewie horse was coming to an end, I reached out to see if any of the horses from that rescue were still in need of homes.

The filly was actually being boarded by her foster at my friend’s barn.

I went to see her thursday. Her foster is a QH person and she gets freaked out by saddlebredness (upheaded, snorty) and has tried to parelli (gag) it out of her… Unsuccessfully. Mare is nervous about getting caught (foster does that stupid chuck a rope at them thing while the filly is standing there looking worried… I woudln’t want to stop if somebody was doing that to me either… Say whoa and approach like it’s not a big deal. Quit making a production out of it!) but then is pretty ok and leads a little.

Today foster couldn’t make it out so barn owner came out with me and she was good. Feeding a couple of apple slices to her pony companion got her coming right over and she got caught with no drama whatsoever. I handled her front legs, we worked on leading, backing up, whoa. I parked her out for the first time. Spent some time scratching on her and she about went to sleep on me, standing with her foot cocked. I don’t think she’s quite the fire breathing dragon that was initally believed. Then let her go and caught her again just for funsies…

Here she is this summer:

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And a quick picture of her today…

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[Antaeus]

I don’t know anything about Saddlebreds, but she looks pretty nice to me. Best wishes on your journey together.

[Countrywood]

She is gorgeous, has great conformation and looks very smart. Congrats, you made a good choice , enjoy

[Frosty_M]

She looks smart and sweet and a little mischievous. I think she’ll be a fun horse. Please keep us posted.

[Zu_Zu]

“Smiles” ~ glad she was still ‘waiting’ for you ~

“Smiles” glad she was still ‘waiting’ for you ~

Enjoy !

You’ll have her looking sharp with ‘diamonds’ at her ear tips in no time ~

Jingles & AO ~ “Smiles” brings you some long awaited peace and "HAPPY "

Please update with pics frequently ~ I believe she will be quite nice ~

[quietann]

She is lovely! Sounds like a smart horse and a good one too. Have fun with her.

[twelvegates]

[CarrieK]

She’s a pretty one!

[D_BaldStockings]

I’m glad she is now with someone who won’t try to ‘shut her down’ and she can be her expressive, upheaded self.

Nice hip on the gal, and it looks like she will be a powerhouse by age 5… expect you’ll need to get re-used to a rocket ride! Saddlebreds are the best fun!

Good you have her to help you look forward after your loss; Horses are therapeutic.

[blairasb]

for sure, D_B. The thing that drew me to her two years ago was that hip. So simiar to my old Steppin’ Stuff daughter. She didn’t have a great front end or head set, unfortunately, but had absolutely incredible hocks.

Whether she’ll be a forever horse or just a project in the interim remains to be seen, but I’m looking forward to the challenge. This will be my first one to do everything from scratch. Working under my old mentor, and through various projects over the years, I’ve done the pieces individually, but never had the opportunity to put it all together myself. I’ve done all the parts on various different horses over time, but never gotten to take one from halter broke to the showring. I’d planned to shop for a yearling for my next horse… but on this one, I get the “blank slate” without all the wait…

One thing is for sure though… I’ve got to go back to watching my weight like a HAWK with this little girl. I had a little leeway when I had 17-1 hh Stewie to carry me. I put 15 lbs on this month stress eating. It’s gotta go, and take some friends with it…

[D_BaldStockings]

I doubt it would slow this one down…

If she were in foal, think how much weight she’d have to carry that last month…and no getting it off when sick of it.

20-40 minutes several times a week will be good for her (probably help you lose fat and gain strength, too)

What a grand future to look forward to; beware, you may fall for the mare.

[blairasb]

I was sick yesterday and took the day off work. So… of course my best friend and I ended up in the barn… LOL

She agrees with me on all aspects of the filly except her size. She says she’s BIG. I guess I just got really spoiled with my 17-1hh giraffe horse…

Her assessment of her-

STRONG Topline
Great hip
Not the longest neck but probably can put it in a pretty good spot… Needs some quality time in a throat sweat. (Mare is super fat right now. I can’t feel even a hint of a rib. Girl is going on a diet once she comes home)
She has some serious E… A… R… S… on her. Like… for real. We joked about calling her Molly instead of Happy… Molly… like… Molly Mule… And her head isn’t the the prettiest…

But… All in all, should be a nice little project. Hoping the weather does liek they are saying and moderates on saturday so it doesn’t mess up our pick up plans. Being horseless this week has probably been an ok thing. Got pretty run down and am now battling a nice cold, but… I need to be back in it.

[cheval_convert]

Can’t wait for you to start working her and to see some pics!

[blairasb]

Well, keep your fingers crossed. Thought we were all set to pick her up this morning but now we’re delayed until the afternoon as my friend’s mom had car trouble and needs to use the truck this morning. So we may now be dealing with weather- the barn she’s kept at now doesn’t have a driveway to it- just drive over the lawn. Temps are supposed to get warm, and then rain. I’m concerned that the snow won’t all melt before there’s rain, making much slush… Less than an ideal situation. She really needs to get moved though so they can bring the last horse remaining at that farm…

Still trying to come up with a name for her. Not having luck on that though. Not finding anything I really like better… and I want to get her new halter and nameplate ordered STAT so

Went out last night to spend more time with her. She started coming out of her shell a bit and actually is prettier than I thought now that she’s not standing all balled up and shut down.

[MyGiantPony]

What about Joy? Although Juno was the first thing to pop into my head.

[blairasb]

I think she may be Foxy. Because Foxes are cute and smart. But they, too, have large ears… Registering as Briar’s Red Fox (or something along those lines. Briar’s Scarlet Fox?)

[tallyho392]

briars scarlett ribbon…like the white ribbon down her nose…

I just got a chestnut,flaxen maned SB mare myself this past summer…went thru the name thing too…I liked the fox connotation, but everyone I asked for an opinion vetoed it because it is so commonly used…it was between henna and chicory…I chose chicory…my first horse was an ASB, and I haveloved them ever since…my gal is quite small for an ASB,just under 15H…but a great size for me…and I too, have trouble with thise at the barn who are unfamiliar with the high headed,on alert pose…they say she is crazy…

good luck with your new gal, she is just lovely

[blairasb]

whewwie. She’s in and settled. Very exciting day…

Our trip to retrieve my new gal started with us getting the truck n trailer stuck. Had to get towed out and park up on the road and load there (oh joy!)

The filly led out to the trailer like an absolute champ. and then… it got complicated. Apparently the last time she trailered, she ended up cracking her head pretty good- pretty much scalped herself, needed stitched n stapled…

she walks right up to the trailer, but the second you put pressure on her to move forward more, her evasion is to first stick her heaad wayyyyyyy up… and then if you keep pressure on, rear and spin and try to leave. Ended up going Skiing once really good… she also wrapped herself around the side of the trailer once and ended up whacking her face, breaking the sliding plexiglass window and bloodying her lip and her little nose.

Took 2.5 hours and a tube and a half of dormosedan gel, which took FOREVER to kick in. didn’t really take effect for more than an hour… my friend assured me earlier in the week that she has plenty of ace for our endeavor (or I woud have called my vet and gotten more)… but when she went to get it out this morning, it was WAY expired and looked questionable… and then having one person in the trailer to hold the lead, and another with a rope around each front leg to “puppet” her up into the trailer, and two people standing behind gently pushing. Once she got the front feet up and in, she was pretty good about the whole thing. Road like a champ, unloaded easily, and aside from having to be backed through the overhead door that leads to the barn aisle, settled right in. Got a bigger halter put on. had some apples, a little brushing, and dinner. Tomorrow we begin longeing 101. so weird to have a horse that I can just go do something with. Got so used to being in rehab mode with Stewie…

I’m going to shower. because after wrassling a horse for 2.5 hours… I smell like horse butt. Majorly. It’s seriously offensive!

[Hippolyta]

Glad you all got home in one piece. What a lovely girl. It is great that she found someone who can appreciate her saddlebred spirit! Best of luck & keep us posted. What fun you will have.

[blairasb]

Well, miss Foxie’s first day has been pretty uneventful. She’s on turnout in the roundpen until she’s a little more reliable about getting caught. She gets to go out with my friend’s yearling paint colt for company.

Longeing is unfortunately delayed. I love this warm weather, but it’s made for absolute SLOP footing… should freeze again in the next couple of days… of course, then it’ll probably turn into a sheet of ice now that everything thawed…

She started the day with a catch rope on… but after about 15 minutes, she stepped on it and popped it off… so… hoping bribery and the good influence of the colt will make for uneventful turn in time…

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