7/7/14

Stoney ain't Stoned Part 2

I have a confession to make...I've spent my whole life in Tennessee, the land of gaited horses, and I've only ridden gaited twice. Only because I've been thrusted on the horse, though. I'm not really a big gaited fan and I prefer stock horses to anything, but hey, it's fun to experience different breeds, right?

Maybe.

So yesterday, when "A" offered a ride to mom and her Appaloosa-filled-brain said no, "A" turned to me and asked if I wanted to hop on him for a spin.

Um...sure?

So I got on (hesitantly, he's like 16.2 and it's a long way down.) and oh my gosh, Stoney ain't stoned anymore. Okay, so he's still a huge goofball, especially on the ground, but man, he knows his stuff. He's spent 60(?) with the trainer who said that, unlike most horses, he needed to be sensitized, haha. He literally did not know what to do unless someone was ponying him. He acted, for lack of better words, stoned.

"A" on him.


I got no photos of me on him, but we rode around and had fun for a few minutes. We racked up and down in the pasture. So much fun. I still wouldn't personally want a racking horse but man, it's really cool to go that fast with barely any effort on the riders part. I mean literally, I just sat there and clucked my tongue and gave him the occasional nudge when he got lazy. He backs, sidepasses, spins, opens gates, racks without breaking his gait and yeah. He does everything now.

Backing.


He's very speshal.

I hopped off and he turned towards me and gave hugs just like Red always does. He's a weird horse, honestly. He's very quirky and cuddly and I really think that he 100% believes that he's either a tiny foal or a dog, even though he's the biggest horse at the barn by far and he's still growing. He's only 4, I think, and he's 16.2'ish at the moment. He could very well make it to 17hh as he fills out.
Ooh-la-la.

Once I was done fawning over the new amazing Stoney, I spoiled Red some more. His tail wrap came in on Saturday and so I put it on him, it fit well, hopefully it's not somewhere in the pasture on the ground at the moment, and I put on his new (PINK!) halter. He probably hates me for the pink but come on...it was new. For $10. With memory foam/suede on the places that the nylon and rope halters always rub him. There's no way that thing will bother him and his sensitive skin, so yes, I bought him pink.

 

And I have no regrets, he looks adorable.

Giving me the eye. "Mom, why must you do this to me?"

So here's to hoping that the halter AND tail wrap stay on and don't die in the first day. Red is perfect with keeping things on and moderately clean/safe, but the other horses in the pasture *cough Stoney cough* are not.

My horse is surrounded by hooligans.

5 comments:

  1. He doesn't look so happy with the pink! :P

    ReplyDelete
  2. Sounds like a fun ride! I really like the gaited horses but MAN those Tennesee Walkers will beat your bum UP when they get to high steppin LOL I think Red looks smashing in pink btw. :-)

    ReplyDelete
  3. Aww dang I haven't been getting your blog updates in my reader for some reason. :( I'll get caught up and figure out what is wrong tomorrow. Red looks awesome in his pink halter!! Also Stoney is so cool. I've only ridden one gaited horse... I think it was a Paso Fino. That horse was like a rocket ready to explode!! It freaked me out how touchy he was, but he was definitely smooth. I want to try riding another one someday that has less brio LOL!

    ReplyDelete