Great start!
Such a smart face, bet you will get to smile wide all along with him. 
1 Like
A few pics of his dressage debut! My friend got video but it’s in a wacky format that’s incompatible with basically everything, so all I’ve got are video stills until I learn how to convert it.
I’m a little bit in love with his “I have no idea what’s happening but I guess I’ll try it if you say so” expressions 
I’m also kinda proud of the halt. We’ve been working on that so he earned every bit of that 7, lol
22 Likes
Lovely! I hope he continues on with this attitude!
4 Likes
Absolutely! What a great pic!
4 Likes
I love his attitude and yours, OP, you’re enjoying him so much and it’s fun to see!
2 Likes
He’s an absolute gem. You are going to have a blast with him!
1 Like
Wow, he’s super cute. 
How did you chose his barn name?
1 Like
I don’t know how I missed this - what a wonderful glowup and I just love that show photo, what a lovely pair you two make!!
2 Likes
The previous owner had been calling him Goliath which didn’t fit at all. SIL and I wanted to pick a show name that was both hunter cute and a little bit ranchy, so we chose Pearl Snaps. It’s in reference to one of our favorite songs by Jason Boland (“cheap bourbon whiskey and pearl snap shirts are two things that stay the same”), so he ended up being named after both the song and the artist, lol.
7 Likes
Last night I had some downtime at work so I decided to take the tidbits of information I had about B’s origins and go internet detective. I found the ranch to whom his brand is attached and after a lot of clicking and scrolling, I managed to find what I’m 99.999% certain is a picture of him when he was a few hours old and that his sire was called Swagman, but nothing about his breeding.
After googling multiple combos of sire name + Colorado, I came across this article. https://eliteequestrianmagazine.com/kip-gatesaustralian-stock-horse-society-story/
It’s 100% the same person who’s associated with the ranch who posted his baby picture, so I kept digging and found the farm page of the Australian ranch who bred the horse mentioned and it confirmed that he was indeed exported to Colorado. https://stockmans.com.au/australian-stock-horses/
Baby Boland
tl;dr version: I’m fairly confident that Boland is almost certainly Australian Stock Horse/QH, lol.
23 Likes
What are the odds of that!? Race horses don’t surprise me, but a ASH is a bit of a surprise. Regardless of his breed he is lovely!
2 Likes
With a name like Swagman, the Aussie connection is obvious. Jolly Swagman would be a super cute show name.
4 Likes
We were thinking he was probably a draft cross of some type, so it was a pretty cool surprise! There’s a picture of his (presumed) grandsire on the website and B could be his twin.
8 Likes
In the interests of building my roommate’s confidence riding on trails, I talked her into saddling up my old friend Pepper to accompany us. Mission accomplished, plus she got some great pictures!
20 Likes
Don’t give up your Dressage Dream!
My COTH Giveaway of 2010 was Australian WB:
Hanoverian sire, Australian Stockhorse dam.
Both with lots of Dressage Cred “Down Under”.
The gal who broke him as a 3yo was on this BB at the time & I still have the PM she sent, linking to his breeder in Queensland - Jaybee Farm- who owned the stallion (Aachimedes), the mare’s (Lawe’s Dublin) owner & his show record from age 4-6.
He was sold to a Jumper trainer in FL (who I emailed & got nothing back), I got him from COTH member who found him, underweight, at a Sale barn.
So, enjoy Boland/Pearl Snaps 
5 Likes
I just now read this entire thread. What a cool story! I can’t wait to see the continued progress. Great job! And your sleuthing is to be commended! 
2 Likes
You have a BRUMBY!
I know you really don’t, he is a ASH. but still! That is good mountain stock.
What a great all rounder he will be. I can’t wait to see how well he does in a few more months with you.
And I love his teefs!
5 Likes
Today was a big day for Mr B! We hitched a ride to the local XC venue and played around over some of the bitty baby jumps (and a bank that turned out to be a bit less bitty than I thought, lol), and aside from being a little cautious over the logs, he was an absolute rockstar.
received_680160423491970
received_679362697420362
15 Likes
I actually talked to his breeder on the phone last night! It turns out that he was the last colt by their ASH stallion before he passed.
I also caught myself imagining I was Jim from The Man From Snowy River on his mountain horse today when we were coming down the hill on the XC course
13 Likes
