Don’t Skip A Beat, Fear, and more riding!

Don’t Skip A Beat, AKA Louie is a very good boy.  A very gorgeous boy.  He is also the source of a lot of frustration for me.  I have touched on this before I’m pretty sure, but Louie came to me on a trial lease in March, and he is the half brother to my little brat Rowdy.  It was my understanding that Louie was a solid trail horse and that he’d had 6 months of Dressage training.  When I went to pick him up, little things came up like he doesn’t load easily in the horse trailer, his training wasn’t a steady 6 months it was more sporadic and the big one for me, he doesn’t stand to be mounted.  I could feel my anxiety right off going thru the roof but I wasn’t going to back out.  Me and my stubbornness. 

So our first few rides were good.  Louie is different then Buddy.  Buddy walks along head down, rarely snorts or spooks at anything Louie has a higher head carriage and gets snorty and excited at the drop of a hat.  We rode with Sharon at the wildlands and that went well although we were both exhausted when we were done.  My breaking point came when I took him on a ride over to the dam intending to make a loop. 

In retrospect, there were several factors this day that were working against us, Louie hadn’t been ridden in a few days, it was a crisp breezy day, we were using a different “bit” (I’d been riding him in a snaffle and had a hackamore on him this day) and there was a pinto eating rooster in the woods.  When that rooster crowed, Louie’s head came up and he started dancing and I got scared and started messing with his face and we started fighting and I got even more scared and ……do you see where this is going?  Well I did what I swore not to, I gave in and we headed back to the house.  Great, right?  Well, yeah except that we were on the road, in my very unfavorite place and there was a car coming and there were kids yelling and the leaves were blowing and someone was using a lawn mower and I completely self destructed.  I jumped off and Louie walked me home.  This all happened in May and I haven’t ridden Lou but a handful of times since. 

Louie is now mine, well, we’re awaiting the official transfer paperwork but it’s in the works.  About a month ago, I bought a side pull, I bought it to work with Rowdy but I decided to try it on Louie.  He is a completely different horse under saddle in that side pull.  We’ve ridden in my small ring a few times walk and trot and he’s had his moments, being the smart boy that he is, he figured out that when he has a tantrum I’ll get down so he’d work nicely for a couple laps and then have a tantrum only I stopped getting down and giving him his way.  I dug down deep I guess and found comfort in the safety of my ring and just kept at him and it seems to have worked. 

About a month ago I got him out and decided to trim his feet.  He was fantastic which I hate to admit it but it surprised me tremendously!!  After I successfully did all 4 feet I gave him a good grooming and then he and I went for a walk.  He was fantastic.

So with that in mind, I decided to get on him last week.  I saddled him up and climbed on and walked out into the back pasture.  He was snorty and spooky and I was a little nervous but I refused to give in.  I got him settled in one direction and then we went the opposite direction.  We got around that way once and about halfway around again it was tantrum time.  He sat on his haunches, launched himself into the air and then started towards the barn.  It took me a minute to get myself together and I turned him away from the house.  I got him bending and yielding his haunches and we did some figure eights and serpentines and he settled down and seemed pretty happy to be working.  We rode for about a half hour and then I headed out to the driveway to see if the kids were home from the neighbors yet, they weren’t so I headed back towards the field, I figured he’d have a fit but he didn’t he settled right back into work and we had a decent ride! 

On Tuesday Meg and I made plans to ride on Wednesday and since they are logging on one of the trails we can ride to from here we decided to head to the safety of the wildlands.  Tuesday evening I hitched up the trailer and then decided to see how Louie would be about loading on the trailer.  Given the issues from the past, I figured he’d be a brat about it – much to my surprise and delight, he sniffed the ramp and walked right on.  And there he stood quietly!!!  We very quietly backed off the trailer pausing a couple of times and then loaded up again.  We did this several times and then I put him up for the night!  YAY!  The divider has to be open but so what??  And really I think now he’d probably load with it “closed” but who cares honestly?  He walks right onto the trailer without hesitation now and that’s all I care about!! 

Wednesday was a BEAUTIFUL day!!  The sun was out and it was just gorgeous!!  Meg got here and we got the tack loaded and then grabbed the horses.  Louie again walked right onto the trailer and Zandy of course walked right on too – that mare is fantastic!!

When we got to the North Gate we parked and unloaded the horses.  Meg tied Z to the gate and I tied Louie to the trailer.  Now tying was another issue that I was having with Louie – when he first got here he’d pull when he was tied so I was pretty nervous about him being tied to the trailer and next to the road but he was perfectly fine!! 

We got tacked up and both of us mounted without incident.  Once I was in the saddle, I was a little nervous simply because riding him out of the safety of our ring.  We headed off at a nice brisk walk and were enjoying the colors and the the beautiful day.  We took Hothole Pond Trail and met a porcupine.  Those little creatures are adorable!!  He waddled off down the trail ahead of us and then off into the brush.  We got down to the water but Louie wouldn’t get his tootsies wet.  Zandy of course waded out as far as she could go and pawed and splashed and had a grand time! 

On our way back out of this trail we stopped for some pictures and then crossed back over the rocky part of the trail and decided “what the heck” and Meg urged me to canter!  Wahoo!  Louie has a HUGE stride and is very comfortable – however, he doesn’t have balance for corners yet and we’d get going at a canter and come to a curve in the road and Lou would keep on straight!  It was quite funny!!  We loped quite a bit of this trail on the way out and then headed towards the southgate again.  When we crossed the meadow where the life flight helicopter can land (yes I’m weird but those signs always make me smile – knowing that when I am on the ground and in need of emergency care they can get lifeflight in there!)  Anyway!  We took Great Meadow Trail – it was beautiful.  The coloration of the leaves along Great Pond Mountain was just gorgeous there was a distinct line across it where the ever greens up top met with the beautiful leaves/colors of the trees lower on the mountain.  We had a great time over all and I can’t wait to get Vince out there when he gets home!!  Meg will only be here for one more week and I’m not sure that we’ll get to ride again but the couple times we’ve been able to so far have been wonderful!  Louie is doing great and I really think that I’m moving past my fears. I have felt like a failure for being so scared since my fall but I’m realizing that a bit of fear is healthy, when we let fear overtake us, that is when there are problems. 

I don’t expect all wine and roses with Louie, we have a lot of work to do, but with the more time I’ve put into him lately, the better he’s gotten.  He’s stopped fighting/testing me at every turn and in general he and I are just getting along much better.  I’m very excited for what our future holds – I have big plans for this big goofy boy!!  Stay tuned!!

A Ride on the Wildside

At some point hopefully I will catch up on all that is going on around here.  I went back and read some of my older posts and realized that there was more that I wanted to add/say but I just never got there!!

So anyway – my best friend is here visiting from PA this month and it just so happened that the day after she got here, there was a benefit ride/run/walk/bike out at the Great Pond Mountain Land Trust.  My good friend Sharon was manning one of the aide stations and it promised to be a great day.  The trees were gorgeous shades of yellow and orange and although it was overcast, the temperature was mild and there was no breeze to start with!  The basic idea of the ride was a gate to gate ride which covers 8.8 miles.  There were 4 aide stations along the way and at the start each person was given a card, if you got 4 punches your card got put into a drawing at the end of the day.  Sharon also did a couple of raffles at her station – Meg nor I won anything but we had a blast!    There are plenty of side trails off the main road that goes thru the wildlands but we stuck to the main strip.  We met several other riders and there were A LOT of bikes and walkers as well.  Some of the bikes were not very considerate of the horses, whizzing past without saying anything.    The first bikes we encountered were at Sharon’s station, we were standing still and when I saw the bike I hopped off Buddy.  Given his traffic issue I figured he’d totally flip over bicycles.  Not so.  The goober couldn’t have cared less about those bikes.  Buddy was phenomenal, I guess I probably shouldn’t have expected anything less from him, he is by far the most level headed horse we have!  Meg rode Zandy and she proved yet again what a great girl she is!!  This was her first ride since she had the abscess and although she did seem a little ouchy trotting downhill she was completely sound on the flat and going uphill – I think the downhill ouchies had a lot to do with the actual “cut” where the abscess burst thru than anything else.  On the way out, Buddy had plenty of pep.  On our way back though, he was acting like I’d just ridden him 1000 miles non stop.  Nevermind the fact that we’ve gone out and ridden two and three times the distance/time that we’d spent riding on this day at least once a month all summer long.  It didn’t occur to me until the end of the ride that we have always come in from the South Gate so climbing the hill that was the mid point of this particular ride would have been the end of our “normal” rides so he was dragging his feet like crazy not wanting to go any further when we turned around.  Zandy knew that we were headed back to the trailer though and she kept leaving us behind!!  All in all it was a great day, it was nice to be riding with Meg again although I do wish that Sharon and Zephyr had been able to ride with us!!  We made it back to the trailer and the horses loaded right up and we headed home.  I did have a little difficulty walking for the next couple days – my hips have really been bothering me lately and I think because we did a good bit of trotting and even a little cantering my body was protesting!!

What I’ve been up to….

As usual, left to my own devices I manage to get myself into trouble!!  Nothing too serious this time so let me recap what’s happened since my last post!

We now have a boarder.  Snowflake came to us “temporarily” at the beginning of September.  There were some issues at the place she was at before and I was able to help out.  Snowflake had a gorgeous pinto foal earlier this summer, I got the pleasure of meeting her when she was about 2 months old.  Sadly, she injured herself seriously and had to be laid to rest.  This was understandably upsetting for Snowflake and the poor sad mommy was on the thin side when she got here.  Snowflake also has cancer in the skin around her eyes.  She’s ok but wears a fly mask to protect her eyes and has a couple spots that need to be removed.  She is such an easy mare to care for that having her here isn’t an issue and she’ll be staying with us indefinitely now.

Louie has been an awful pasture bully.  He was picking on Snowflake and then decided to pick on Zandy.  Zandy came in from the pasture pretty lame one Sunday afternoon.  She had a lump on her shoulder that was warm to the touch and she was VERY sore.  I put a call in to the vet and we decided a dose of banamine initially and then bute as needed and hot packs as many times a day as possible – if she wasn’t showing marked improvement within a few days we’d reevaluate.  2 days later she was almost falling over lame.  We decided to have Dr T out.  Dr Tanja came out on Wednesday and the best we could figure out was that she’d injured her shoulder – probably kicked or ran into the hay rack in her stall when she was being stupid a couple nights before.  Basically a wait and see approach, cold hosing for her left foot because Dr T was worried about that foot from taking up the slack from  her right side.  But just basically wait and see how things go – probably a long recovery but we were hoping for a full recovery.  A couple days later Zandy blew an abscess!!  WHAT?!  Yep, after all that apparently the bump on the shoulder was just coincidence.  Go figure huh? 

Louie’s owner has come to the decision that she can not keep him anymore and has asked me to keep him.  I’m very torn on this issue – I love Louie, but we aren’t the best match, I’m admittedly high strung and he is too and we feed into each other and cause a huge mess!!  I’m working on it – I think I may have a plan in the works but we’ll see!!

Buddy has GROWN!!  He now measures a level 14.3!!  HOW did that happen??  He has hardly grown since I got him and then BAM he shot up seemingly overnight!!  Last night while I was cleaning stalls I had to do a double take standing next to him his hip was at my shoulder – HUH?  So I went and got my handy dandy tape and measured – yes I know the tape isn’t as accurate as a stick but I don’t have one of those and I didn’t need either to tell me that he’s taller than he was when I bought him!

Now for the most exciting news.  Vince has a horse of his very own!!  A friend bred her Percheron mare to her QH stallion and in May 08 this “little” guy was born.  They are thinning their numbers and while I definitely wasn’t looking for another horse, this cross is one that Vince and I had talked about as a good compromise for him and the price was most definitely right.  He has always said he wanted a draft horse but our barn is short and there is just no way one of the giants that we’ve casually looked at in the past would have fit.  Vince has renamed him “Rocky” – he was “Blaze” with his former owners but that just didn’t fit him.  He has been here less than a week but is fast becoming a part of the family.  He is a LOT pushy at meal times – we’re working on it.  Vince only got a couple days with him before he had to go back to work but he spent some time with Rocky and although we agree he’s a project, he seems quite smitten with him.  The plan is to get Vince riding on Zandy and come next fall I’ll get both colts started under saddle.  Both of course will have ground work and have been saddled etc but I won’t get on either of them until next fall.  Both of them will also be gelded very soon.  Rocky string tests to 16 hands but right now he’s not much taller than Rowdy.  Where Rowdster is smooth and flowing in his gaits out across the pasture, Rocky has that “doop de doop de do” about him.  I’ll try to get some pictures up soon!

That’s it on the horse front, kids have settled into school, I’m using my quiet time during the day to make jewelry and I am hoping that I can get my butt in gear and get on a schedule to start working some of these lazy ponies on a regular basis!!

Stay tuned…..

Updates!

Wow!! Time has flown since the kids went back to school!!  I kind of fell into a slump and haven’t done much of anything for the last two or three weeks.  No riding to speak of and really barely any time with the horses period. 

I have so much to say I may break this up into a couple entries just so I don’t bore everyone!!
  Yes I know he should have a helmet and boots on but it was spur of the moment and I was RIGHT there.

Zandy will be first because she’s fresh in my mind!!  I think I briefly told you about her in a past blog, but just to recap – she’s a late teens QH “type”, about 15 hands, formerly was a camp horse and she’s FABULOUS with the kids in the ring.  She’s got plenty of get up and go for confident riders outside of the ring too, but you can see her eyes change when you step down and put a child on her.  She totally switches gears and her steps become very deliberate and she lowers her head and just takes care of her rider.  Really she does this for any rider – she does it for me too but she can also kick it in gear when asked – but she has to KNOW that you mean it.  Some might call that lazy, me?  I call it being a good, sure mount!!

Zan is reminding me how to ride again, and while we did have one incident that scared the hell out of me we overcame it just yesterday and I’m VERY happy with my decision to keep her.

The kids have been having an absolute blast with her.  Kenneth has been trotting her all by himself – talk about a heart attack for mommy!!  Yikes!! 

I have been having a blast with her in the ring and in the field but when it comes to leaving the yard, my anxiety kicks in like crazy and that makes her nervous.  We were doing ok until our “incident”.  I was excited to take her over to the loop by the Lodge – I haven’t had a horse that liked water since Buck died and I really just had this feeling that she would love to play in the water and that she’d be a great trail horse for me.  We got half way across the field and there was a kayak in the river.  I tensed up, I know I did but I kept talking to her and told her she was fine.  All of a sudden, we were spinning and she was snorting and I was FREAKING OUT!  I never grabbed at her mouth or anything, I never reacted badly – or I don’t think that I did. But once I got her stopped, I stepped down and we walked home.  Her snorting the whole way.  I decided that she wasn’t the horse for us.  After all, if she’s going to do that crap then I didn’t feel safe with the kids on her on a trail ride.  In the ring FINE nothing flaps her but there was no way I was going to put the kids on her for a trail ride……So for the last 3 weeks she’s been ridden maybe 2 or 3 times just in the ring and once in dad’s yard where I learned that she does kick ass roll backs and really likes to “play”.

Yesterday I decided I was going to try one more time to go ahead to the Lodge Loop.  We got to the end of the driveway and I was tense, she spun and snorted and I took a deep breath, smacked her and said walk on!  And we did!  We ended up going up the path instead of the road but so what?!  We were moving forward!  We went up around the barn and up past the garden and across the field.  My thought was that if I just did the little trails up behind dads I’d be happy.  We trotted up across the field and all over the trails out behind dads.  She is like a bull dozer!!  She plows thru trees and brush and anything else that gets in her way.

I noticed that the more her feet moved, the less snorty she got.  So we trotted quite a bit.  We came out by the pasture and I decided to “cowgirl up” and head across the field.  Zan didn’t want to but I insisted and when we got to the scary kayak spot she started to freeze up and get all “twitchy” so I pushed her forward and told her she was fine.  We got all the way across the field and went down towards the water – she was fine but the grass was slippery and she slid a little so we came back up the bank and crossed the road.  She didn’t want to cross over and started being foolish so I did the same thing I’d done in the field and on the trail – I pushed her faster!!  We started jogging and she forgot all about the scary ditch and on we went.  There was a Heron in the water, and I was silently praying that it wouldn’t take flight but it did (of course) and she stopped for a minute and watched him fly off.  We went down to the pump house – the water is really low and the rocks looked slippery so I was nervous about letting her in the water so we headed back to the road and I figured I’d see how she was at the boat launch.

When we got to the boat launch she charged right into the water YES!! Finally!! A horse that likes water!!  Wahooo!!!  We didn’t play too much because I had my cell phone in my pocket and I didn’t need for it to go swimming!!  We had a great time on the entire loop and even talked to a very nice lady who said she’s been dying to meet me as she used to have horses and loves to see me/us riding out near her!  When we got across to the lodge road, I decided to go ahead up the trail that has a stream crossing with a bad bridge so you have to go thru the water which means that I haven’t ridden this loop in a long while because no one would cross the water!! *sigh*

Anyway – she went right across the water, up the bank and plowed on thru back to the main trail!  I really didn’t even have to steer, she just goes on like a bloodhound on a trail!  We were almost to the other end of this part of the trail and came across a downed tree.  Silly mare was going to plow on thru it.  I tried to find a go around but there was no way to get around on the right, and the left was looking pretty bad too but I decided to use her “bulldozerness” to my advantage and go to the left.  We squeezed thru some trees and under some branches and we were thru!  We came out on the road and started towards home. At the same house where Buddy did his ditch diving last time we came across this little guy:

Still had his spots and was oh so very cute!!  He bounded up into the trees and just watched us go on our way.  Course, there were some “scary” chickens across the street that we had to look at but they trotted off and left us in peace.  We did have to scoot up a bank to get out of the way of some moron who was driving WAY too fast on this stretch of road and coming at us around a blind corner.  I don’t think he ever saw us, but I could hear him coming and could tell he was going fast – luckily we were at a spot that we could get out of the way.

Traffic Woes

Ok so I think I’ve touched on this before, Buddy is fine about traffic coming up behind him or crossing right in front of him but if they are coming AT him he FREAKS!!  Nothing that had me too worried until last night, after all he’s been getting better about it.  Well, last night, we were met by a car on that part of the road by the pump-house that always makes me nervous anyway.  I was calm, just patted him and told him he was fine but the woman never slowed her noisy car down and when she hit gravel he spazed.  Just tried to spin but we were right on the edge of that stupid steep incline and it scared me.  We went on about our business and he was ok – although we didn’t meet anymore traffic until we were headed back towards home.  We were next to a ditch and a truck came along.  The gentleman slowed right down but despite that and my reassuring pats, Buddy LEAPT into the ditch and up onto the lawn of the house right there – THAT scared me even more!  We went back down to the road and continued on, only to be met by another truck.  This one also slowed down but had a barking dog in the back, Buddy started backing and spun but not as bad as he’d done the other 2 times.  When we got down to the end of the road, 2 cars turned into the road RIGHT BEHIND him, we weren’t even totally out of their lane of traffic having just crossed the road and he NEVER BLINKED!!  I just don’t get it!  When we got back across the field, there were several cars so we stopped in the field and I had him just stand and watch them go by – he didn’t care.

I don’t know what to do to get him over this issue – but I have to admit it’s scaring me – I don’t want anyone to get hurt but other than exposure to traffic, I just don’t know how else to get him used to it, and at the same time – I’m not sure that exposure is even working!!! 

Anyone have any suggestions????

I’m a loping fool!

I took Buddy out again last night on the loop by Alamoosook Lodge.  He went right to the water at the landing and I didn’t have to get down this time for him to step in and take a sip!!  Yes!  Progress!!  He was kind of tender footed on the fire road which has me a little concerned….but that’s another story.  When we got to the trail that cuts from the fire road across he wanted to trot.  Once we got thru a bumpy part of the trail I asked him for a lope – and lope we did!  The trail is a nice stretch of flat 4-wheeler trail, nice soft ground but not sink-y soft.  It was a blast!!  When we came out the other side, we trotted up the dirt road until we got back to the tar.  He is really getting his balance at the trot and feels great at the lope but is still unbalanced.  We’ll get there, I have no doubt about that! 

Today I went out and hopped on Zandy – she seems to be a little “snorty” at first until she has a few minutes to settle into work.  It took me a few minutes to get her down the driveway, just like the other night – she was snorty about the painted “STOP” lines on the driveway.  The kids are home today so I couldn’t go very far, but Buddy and Rowdy were turned out in my riding pen so we just went up the road to mom and dads – today was one of those times that I was glad my Dad won’t let me fence in his yard!  When we were about 20 feet from the driveway, a car came flying down the hill – they moved over but didn’t slow down.  I was a little nervous considering what happened with Buddy and the truck last night (I’ll get to that in a second blog as soon as it’s finished) but Zandy stood nice and quiet while the car passed.

We started out just walking some circles on the lawn and once she got her snorts out about all the rocks, truck cap, stack of wood, old metal barrel etc we started trotting figure 8’s and LOTS of neck reining.  I have to admit that as much as I LOVE Buddy, it’s nice to get on a horse that I can ride with just one hand and relax.  I can relax on Buddy to a point, but not like on a been there done that horse.  I had asked Zandy to lope in the big pasture the other night but couldn’t get it and just wasn’t comfortable pushing her.  Today though, I asked for a lope and got the nicest lope I’ve ridden in a while!!  To be sure it wasn’t just a fluke – I trotted a big circle and asked again – same thing this big ground covering but lovely lope!  The more she worked, the better she got.

I rode for about a half hour – it was pretty warm, more the humidity really and both Zan and I were pretty sweaty.  We took a lovely stroll up around dads garden and up into the woods – but the deer flies were our in droves so we turned and headed back towards home.  Interestingly, the boat that’s along the path and the pile of tires never bothered her – EVERY other horse has had issues with that one section.  We came out of the trail and she was pretty upset about the swarm of deer flies all over her face/ears.  I finally convinced her to stop and let me get them off and we had a nice, flat footed calm walk home. 

Just as I was getting down, Kenneth came out and asked if he could sit on Zandy.  I said SURE!  and tossed him up there!  At first he didn’t want to hold the reins but I showed him how to hold them and steer her and then I just stepped back.  You could see an INSTANT change in Zandy’s demeanor.  Not that she was worked up with me but the minute Ken was in that saddle, she changed.  Instead of walking out like she does with me she took teeny tiny steps.  She stopped once and all Ken had to do was click to her and bumped a little with his foot and she started off again.  I have no doubt that she would be great for us to have for the kids. 

Silly cowpony

Buddy and I have an issue.  I can wave my left arm up, down & around with no reaction but heaven forbid my right arm moves.  I’ve been working with him on this but I had some sort of lapse in memory tonight.  We left the driveway and he was being mr pokey – we’d just passed mom and dads driveway and a car came down the hill towards us.  He’s a little nervy about them coming towards us anyway, but he’s getting better.  Well this car slowed down, and the very nice older couple waved and smiled.  So I smiled….and waved with my right hand.  OOOPS!! That crazy little cowpony spun himself (and me) 360 degrees – this spin was one that any reiner would be proud of!!  Silly cowpony!  So the rest of the way up the road to the field I was waving my arms here there and everywhere!

We crossed the field at a snails pace and came out the other side, waited for a couple cars to pass and then crossed over towards the dam.  With very very few exceptions he didn’t care about much of anything on this trip over.

When we got to the little boat launch, Buddy really wanted to go towards the water but he’d get halfway there and then back up.  Once I got him to calmly walk to the waters edge and then stand I got off and led him right up to the water.  He took a sip and then stepped right in!!  He played in the water for a bit just pastern deep and while he was playing in the water I tossed rocks in.  The splashes at first spooked him but he got used to it.  The whole time we were there this guy was watching us and singing to us.

Sorry the pictures are not the greatest, my blackberry takes decent pics in full sunlight with no zoom but it was dusk and he/she was a little ways out.  We didn’t go very far this ride, it was getting dark too quick.  We went a little ways down this road, it’s always so peaceful and a nice way to help me clear my head.  I really needed a nice relaxing ride tonight and this certainly helped.  I love to just mosey down the trail and just let all of my stresses go.  I know in the grand scheme of things, all that’s gone on lately is nothing much but at the very same time, it’s enough to make me crazy!  Here’s my favorite view - he’s almost always got his ears forward, happy and willing to just be out and about.  I realized when we got home tonight that the incessant whinnying of our first rides is gone.  I haven’t noticed it the last few times I took him out and there was absolutely ZERO whinnying tonight – even when we got close to home.  He’s really turning into a fantastic trail horse and I’m SOOOO thankful that I let Sammii talk me into walking into that barn on black friday last year! 

Now a couple pics of the new addition. I wasn’t looking for another horse.  In fact, I’m trying to cut back my numbers but for some reason it never works.   This mare may not stay, but she’s here for now.  I’ve actually offered her as a lease to a couple people, we’ll see what comes of that.  She’s a nice mare – around 20 years old, she was sold as a QH but I think she’s either a TWH or Saddlebred cross.   Palomino, about 15.1 hands, has a nice build not overly chunky but not a rail either.  She is a been there done that type of ride.  Does great walk/trot – I haven’t cantered her yet but she’s passed my “potato test” where I flop around like an idiot on her back like a sack of potatoes – I did it at the walk and the trot and she couldn’t have cared less.  She does great on the road – I’d almost like to keep her but I just have too many and she’s VERY mare-ish!