Meet the Herd

It is now time to meet the herd. I currently own four horses, but my equine situation changes somewhat frequently. Even in this market I am having some luck picking up some nice prospects and turning them for a profit (This DOES NOT mean I am a fucking horse trader! Excuse my French, but I do not like being accused of such things. I love my horses, and take very good care of them. I keep many horses for years at a time. I DO like to have a project now and then that I later re-sell, but I am not trying to make a QUICK BUCK on ANY of my animals!) As of now, I have no plans to pick up more horses, or sell any that I currently own. So, here is a run down of my current beasties. :)






















Dezperado (Soon to be registered half-arab) By Zhane Gray (x Eminant)

This is Desperado. His picture does him more justice than viewing him in real life. There is an interesting story behind this sweet boy. My trainer called me up one day and told me she had two horses who needed new homes. She had just scored two huge clients, and they were filling her barn to the brim with their horses. She had to make the difficult decision to let some of her own stock go. It was the middle of the winter and the economy was already diving into the downturn. She needed room fast, and did not have the time to market two unbroke horses. The first was a towering National Show Horse gelding bred to the hilt. He was already registered and had the flashiest markings possible. I didn't plan on taking two horses home, but when I saw this guy something drew me to him. He was tiny (still is), and nowhere near a stunning show horse. His mother was a grade mare, but his father was my trainer's recently gelded arabian stud, whom I had attempted to breed my mare to a couple of years back, and lost the foal. My boyfriend loved him and his face, and that sealed the deal. Into the trailer went two sets of hooves and tails.

Des is 4 this spring, and still a midget. He still isn't registered, but the fee remains the same after two years old, so he will be when I have the extra cash floating about. He may not be perfect in the looks department, but he is one of those horses who behaved like he was broke the very first time I got on. He can go forever on a trail ride and he climbs mountains like a billy goat. Nothing seems to phase him, and he is about as bomb proof as they come. His heart and soul make him a keeper.

The next horse in line is my APHA mare, No Clear Concept. My mother was a waitress at a local restaurant, and one of the regulars kept telling her she had a mare she was willing to sell to the right home. My mom talked me into going and seeing the horse, and it was love at first sight. We haltered the bald faced mare and led her into a nearby round pen. The woman went on the tell us that she hadn't been ridden in a year, and that she had purchased her some time ago for almost three grand. I lunged her and saddled her up. Though a bit stiff (in terms of vertical/horizontal flexion, not in her legs), she was a smooth ride. When asked for a lope she grumpily crow-hopped. I adored her. The woman stated that she was terrified of horses in general and had never loped on her, but that she had been leased by a teenage girl about a year ago and had done very well with her. The woman was very strange. I took her home, got her transferred into my name, and discovered she had been shown HUS on the APHA circuit. I also discovered she had two wonderful foals that sold for high dollar. I am breeding her this spring to a homozygous red dun tobiano. She is a splash overo with one blue eye.

(Aww, look at the itty bitty belly spot! Lol)
No Clear Concept (Mr. Three Devils AQHA x HC Wild Irish Rose)
Her dam is Sir Quincy Keno, Far Ute Keno, etc. on top side, and Mr. Robin Boy on bottom! I love her lines.

The next two are an even more interesting story. I purchased this pair from a woman with about ten horses in an oversized paddock. In the corner, was a small pen with low, splintered fencing. Inside was an AQHA red roan stallion. She explained to me that the pair of weanlings I was looking at were both "accidents". "My stallion gets out every year! All my mares get bred, I just don't understand it." At this I buttoned my mouth, rolled my eyes, and decided that keeping my opinion to myself about her idiocy was a good idea.

And so, I ended up trailering home two weanlings in desperate need of a new home, one bay roan filly out of an appy mare, and one red roan out of a thoroughbred. Meet Calypso and Thor:

There are two Half Quarter registries, as well as an appendix registry which is unaffiliated with the AQHA. I plan to register him in all three. I also may have a shot with a hardship registration in the AQHA, but I am not all too sure on how that would work. I am not sure on a registered name, and I do not like the name Thor for this elegant guy. Alas, my fiance picked it and it stuck. Expect that to change! (I KNOW these registries are ridiculous and in no way "REAL" registries. However, should I ever have to sell him, I would like him to be the most marketable he can be, and allot of people like the thought of a registered horse, regardless of the registry. Besides that, the NHQHA has a point system where you earn points at ANY show, and it'll be nice to have an on-file record for show wins for him in SOME association. You can also earn ROMS, etc.)

This girl is Calypso's Odyssey, and she shall be registered as such in both half-quarter registries. It bothers me that they aren't purebred because I would LOVE to have them registered with the AQHA, but alas.

I plan on using Calypso for reining. I adore roans, especially blue and bay roans. She is a bay roan because she is ... well, a bay horse who is roaned out. Notice the brown coloring on her face. To be correct, a blue roan shows no red. A blue roan is a black horse who has the roan gene expressed on their bodies. Thor looks VERY comfortable and fluid. I believe he would make a great HUS horse, and I'd love to try him over fences.