Angie, your horse sounds like a dream. Did you
pinch yourself yet? Sorry I don't have a name to offer. I like the previous
suggestion of Keeper though.
I have a sort of new horse story, too. I bought my
8yr, 14.1H, unbroke, unreg, purebred Arab gelding (I think maybe he looks CMK,
very stout, straight profile) at the Lake Oroville ride last November. I'd seen
him on the internet, saw a little video clip of him so I could see how he moves
(glides), a friend who knows Bob Edwards had him take a look at him just to see
if there was anything obvious that would make him not suitable for endurance.
The owner brought him to Oroville from Alturas for me, it was his first time
away from home, he'd had a long trip, spent "ride day" in a stock trailer as he
was too stressed out to be tied alone, and everyone I knew was riding as was the
owner (she'd recently bought Bob's horse Zuma, the boomerang horse, kept coming
back to Bob 'cause he had a bucking problem, but not to worry, Wendy has taken
care of that). Anyway, poor Sonny (my new guy) was incorrigible by the time we
put him in my trailer to go home (I was almost thinking I should back out of the
deal at this point) banging, kicking etc. for about 30 min 'til we left, then
another good 30 minutes on the road.
Sounds bad so far, but his good nature returned as
soon as I unloaded him at home. I recently started riding him, and after
only 4 rides (2 in round pen, one in large arena, one in pasture, never any
buck, refusing, and very little confusion) decided I trusted him enough to take
out on the trail. I went with another rider with an experienced, non-spooky,
well-behaved trail horse, and little Sonny did absolutely wonderful. Just barely
shying at a few "horse eating" burnt or rotted out logs, didn't worry about
buzzards flying up suddenly out of the rocks (we rode the Folsom Lake lower
trail out of Sterling Pt, in CA for those not familiar with the area), and he
was even brave enough to lead part of the way going out & ALL the way
returning. Has a nice fast walk, is so smooth at the trot that it's nearly
impossible to post, and was very forward and curious the entire ride. Didn't jig
or try to catch up when the other horse rode out of sight, loves eating on the
trail, drank some, and when he had to pee he didn't wait 'til we stopped, he
just came to a stop on his own & let it flow.
If we continue like this, look for him to be at
local 50s next year!
