11 Weeks In One Photo Dump

Break out the champagne! I wrote my last final for my degree last night. This semester has kicked my ass, hard, so blogging (and horses) took a back seat. I've been riding, but sporadically. Thankfully my creatures are all honest souls so there has been very little antics. And they live in the backyard so I still get my pony-fix.

This is exactly how I felt last night

Little asshole is enjoying living with my mom and is the first to the gate, every time.

We hacked out in January

And in February

My previous barn once again hosted two Sandra Donnelly clinics. I rode both horses in the first one. I was super impressed with William he hadn't done a grid or a course prior to this clinic but he took both in stride.  He also had never seen an oxer before this clinic and he just couldn't brain. Even when we disassembled it it took him quite a while to figure out that he had to jump/walk over both rails. The clinic was a great success though. Sandra told me I'd be crazy to sell him, but if I did decide to sell him I should sell him to her. It's always great when someone you truly respect thinks highly of your horse, even when he's being a sassy, green 5 year-old.

Jumper or reiner, you decide

Seriously, the cutest face ever.

And sometimes he forget that he has 4 legs.

Dee was her usual rockstar self and packed me around the 3'3" group. I missed her and I"m so glad she's back to her usual self. I've seen no back soreness at all since we started back jumping.

For my birthday we tormented the dogs

My kitchen window view never gets old

William was foot perfect for his first time in water, with a rider he'd never met
Also, she tried to steal him :)

When both the dogs and the pony need some exercise and there are only so many daylight hours

 It's been pretty low-key around here and I'm quite excited to get back into a regular schedule, with both the horses and the blog.

Still Nameless....

So William is still lacking a show name. I really want to register him for a TIPS number but can't do it until I settle on a name.

His JC name is Hes the Fashion, which I just can't stomach as a show name, so something new is needed.

I'm drawing a total blank on what to call him. I've actually never been this stumped. I've named plenty of horses, including helping out friends but for some reason I can't come up with anything for William. So I'm reaching out to the awesome blogger community for some help.

Also, hes starting to fill out nicely.
And there's a story behind the awful clip, as in he is a two person, twitch and drugs kind of clip

So far the suggestions are:

Horsewithnohashtag (in an ode to his instagram hashtag)
Some fashion designer/brand (William Tempest, William Rast, William Morris)
William the Red
Billy Corgan (Because my brother calls him Bill, no matter how many times I correct him that it's William and Billy Corgan apparently prefers to be called William now)

Any suggestions?

He Jumps!

William is coming along really well. He's smart and is completely willing to try and figure out what I am asking for.

He's got contact figured out, his walk is fabulous, he's the trot pole master, his canter departs are beginning to come from lift rather than run, he bends reliably to the right (the left is still a struggle for more than a stride or two). He also leg yields both directions at the walk really well and is figuring it out at the trot. He does remarkably solid turns on the forehand. Shoulder in is coming along (he's much better on a circle, a straight line is still a bit dicey).

I let Dee wander while I ride him
He doesn't care and just goes to work like a solid citizen

He hasn't put a foot out of place under saddle. He hasn't spooked, refused to try something or even gotten annoyed. I keep waiting for the other shoe to drop. I'm sure one day he's going to have a spectacular reaction to something completely unassuming.

I had originally planned to wait until the new year before I started him over fences but he's been such a good kid that I figured it wouldn't hurt to throw that plan out the window.

So on Sunday we set up a little cross pole and away we went.

He didn't even blink. he just trotted over it like it wasn't there, each time.

So we raised it up a bit. And he trotted over it, just picking his knees up higher.

We finally raised it a bit more (the center was maybe 2'3" on a tall day) and he jumped with his front legs, trotting with his back legs.

So we cantered. And he finally jumped! With absolutely no hesitation he just cantered through like he's been doing this his entire life. We came around and did it off the other lead and when he was foot-perfect again I called it quits and got off.

I know I gush about him every time I post but he's just so much fun. And is making this retraining process seem so easy (so far, I have no illusions that we won't hit a wall at some point).

Blurry screen shot for those who don't watch videos
I love everything about this from the standard forward, his knees, his expression!

Bonus? My dressage coach loves him and thinks he'll make a fabulous dressage pony if this jumping thing doesn't work out.

Pseudo Blog Hop: Bloodlines

Alternate title: How to lose hours of your life on the Google-machine.

Since Emma started this pseudo blog hop I've spent way too much time really searching out William's family history. I know very little about TB bloodlines and I honestly bought him because his face was cute and I liked the look of him from pictures.

Oh look, ND and Mr.P, how shocking....

William was not a stellar racehorse. I'm pretty sure the only reason he raced for 3 years is because he came from a very small operation where his breeder/owner/trainer races as a hobby. He raced 15 times but only brought home $5,683. After feeding this horse for the past 2.5 months, I can tell you it cost them much more than that to keep him fed.

Born in a snowstorm and yet he still can't grow a decent winter coat

He was born and bred in Manitoba, Canada but he actually has an international pedigree. His sire Billy Allen is an Irish bred multiple graded stakes winner. Billy Allen successfully raced in 10 countries (interestingly enough he never raced in Ireland) before being sold to MB where he now stands at stud. His breeding fee in 2011 looks like it was $250, so not top-shelf, that's for sure.

While racing talent does not seem to be one thing passed down to William, his head is a different matter. They share the same refined head and almost comically tiny nose.

The shape of his head sure got passed down

Billy Allen is by Night Shift, a son of Northern Dancer. From the sounds of it, Night Shift failed to deliver as a race horse, racing 7 times but only winning once. He was imported to Ireland solely based on the Northern Dancer craze it seems. There are a handful of his offspring registered with USEF, mostly mediocre hunters with one eventer who's gone advanced (and another with no records but the owner listed as Bruce Davidson).

Night Shift-Those are Williams knees!

His dam, She's The Fashion, is an Illinois bred mare who raced for 9 years before retiring sound. Fingers crossed William got the genes responsible for that longevity.

His damsire is Gold Case who was undefeated in his only 3 starts before a severe case of founder ended his racing career. He's a handsome dude who has produced a handful of hunters (based on USEF records). What I did find during my time down the rabbit hole is that every one who talks about his offspring refers to them as level-headed, reliable and easy to handle. Those are all descriptors I have used for William. He's got a really good mind, and not much seems to phase him.

Gold Case, look at that chunky throatlatch!

It's been kinda fun to figure out some of the history behind my favourite baby racehorse but I still don't think I really care. I'm more interested in the horse in front of me (keeping in mind I don't have any interest in breeding, which is a whole different kettle of fish).

I need new photos, this is from 2 months ago. It's now snowy and leafless
Unfortunately my phone goes on strike when it thinks it's cold out, which is all winter.

Also, head on over and congratulate equinpilot on her 500th post! She's got a lovely giveaway to correspond with it.

Catching Up with William

I adore this horse. He's such a sassy redhead! He's constantly testing the boundaries but once you explain them (in very clear black and white) he settles in well.

He's figured out that cookies come from the barn

He's been spending a ton of time tied to the Patience Tree. He's got a very nasty habit of pulling so he gets to stand there and figured out patience while I read my book. My dressage coach suggested tying him at least 6-7' up the tree because it's nearly impossible for him to get enough leverage to pull. It seems to be working. Last time I tied him up, he just cocked a foot and proceeded to have a nap.

The Patience Tree

We've had our first ride together. He was so good. It took about 15 minutes to get him to chill out at the mounting block. He was very determined that kicking out frantically would get the devil device away from him. But after some discussion (read:beating) he figured out that kicking out at me is completely unacceptable.

Note my face

That's my "5 year old, got a cookie" face

After a few minutes in the round pen I was feeling confident enough to move him to the very large outdoor. He was a really good boy. We walked, trotted and cantered as if he's always been a quiet sporthorse. There was basically no giraffing, he picks up both leads rather easily, he comes back the moment you think about stopping and he didn't care that my 911 Buddy was sitting on Dee in the middle of the ring. His steering is non existent, but I can teach that!

<3

He's had the last two weeks off because we pulled his racing plates and are transitioning him to barefoot. He was slightly tender for a couple days but seems to be doing well now so tomorrow we are going to free jump him!

Cows are skerry!

It could have gone horribly wrong, buying a baby racehorse sight unseen, from another province, but so far, he's just fun. And cute. And I still get to ride while Dee is off at her health vacation.

Look at that ear fluff. He's the cutest

And Then There Were Four...

3 posts in 3 days after nearly a month of silence? Apparently my motivation is returning (also, I hadn't planned to post yesterday but FB reminded me it was Dee's anniversary and that will always require a post)

So if you follow me on Instagram (which can only happen if you aren't basically a cave troll) you will have seen that yesterday brought a new arrival to our little acreage. Apparently September 13 is a good day to buy horses.

When we discovered that Dee was NQR I was chatting with a really good friend and had the passing thought that I should picking up a project, in case Dee didn't return to her previous level of competition. Said friend is a serious enabler and had tagged me in a photo on FB a few days later of a horse out in Manitoba (about 13 hours from my place).

Well that face required some investigation. After a conversation with his trainer (who is also is owner and breeder) I was pretty confident I wanted him. Some more photos and one race later I got a call that said he was mine if I wanted him. Apparently she had more interest in him but wanted to offer him to me first as she thought "it's be a good home to start his new life". The catch was he had one more race to run in two weeks (which was Saturday). So began the wait. If you know me you know patience is not well represented in my wheel house.

Well after a ton of last minute juggling (first we were driving out to get him, then shipping, then driving out and finally shipping) he was on a trailer to Calgary. My mom picked him up from the shipper as it was the first day of classes and I really needed to make it to class. She over-nighted him for me and then we met midway yesterday afternoon.

I've never purchased a horse sight-unseen before and was on pins and needles waiting to meet him for the first time! He's just as adorable in person as his photos suggested. He has the most floofy ears ever!

Seriously ear floof

He's 4 (but he's only had one birthday because he was born on February 29), approximately 16 HH, raced 15 times, never placing above second with career earnings of ~$5000. His JC name is He's The Fashion and his barn name was/will remain William.

Friends?

He just needs a show name so I can get him a TIP's number. And to eat all the foods because he is very slim (he currently fits Dee's 75" blankets, but only after I shorten all the straps).

Dee hated him on sight (she normally doesn't give a crap about any other horses)

I can't wait to get to know him and see where his new life leads. And now I've got my very own $900 Facebook pony!

So Fancy, also note the right hind shoe

And so it begins. Right hind shoe!