Something special this way comes

Look into my eyes... look deep into my eyes....

No! Stop! Don't do it. Don't listen to him. He is trying to draw you in and gain control over you. lol

This is my pony stallion Lightly Frosted. He goes by Kat, the little man and sometimes even Bear, because he is so incredibly lovable.

When I went to look at him I almost walked away. I was not impressed. He was in a small pen with another rank pony stud and wore a halter and lead 24/7, because he was difficult to catch. His owner led him out, tried to lead him off so I could see him walk and evaluate his line of travel. He was just all over the place. Wobbly is one way to describe it. At one point he was almost being dragged along as he refused to move. He was put back in the stall, we went to look at the woman's other horses, she was called inside for a phone call and that's when it happened.

I looked over at the pen to see him, his head barely above the back of the other pony. About what you see in the picture above... He shot me a look and I was doomed. My friend asked what I was doing? Was I crazy? "He can't be caught, he doesn't lead, I doubt he loads and you are out of your mind!" All of that from a teenager. Yeah, sigh.

I paid for him, we led him out, got him in the trailer and headed home. He tried to climb out the side of the two horse trailer when we stopped at a red light. We pulled into a gas station I tied him up differently and off we went again. Moving he was fine, stops he got antsy. We tried to hit as many green lights as we could and got back on the freeway.



At his new home, he quickly settled in, stood like a champ the next day for a full body clipping and soon turned into everybody's favorite. Except for the barn owner. If he was turned out, I had better be showing up. Otherwise he wouldn't come in, wouldn't let anyone catch him and was just a little brat that way. Treats didn't work, wearing him out didn't either. I would walk out to the gate, he would stroll over I would put his halter on and bring him in. They could be heard grumbling about it the whole time.


(Yay cell phone cameras!)

He was supposed to be the pony that was the next 'step up' for my daughter. He was supposed to grow up and be bigger than her current pony. He did get taller. A whopping 2 inches taller... It became clear that he was not her pony. Not at all.

Over the years he has always been a keeper and his place with me is as solid as it gets. His first time in long lines, he was hooked up and pulling a drag around in no time at all. He pulled it past the mares and never even acknowledged they were there.



Sunday night I dragged his old harness out and put it on him. He hasn't worn it in years. Clearly a few things have changed- like where the britchin' strap lays... and how I needed to re-adjust the crupper. But he seems happy to be going back to work. We did a bit of ground driving. Circles, serpentine's, all the way around the rail, stop, wait, back a couple of steps and walk on. He never got excited, never tried to speed up, just put his head down and walked on. Even when the horse in the next pasture over, snorted and rushed the fence every time we went by. The biggest reaction he got from the little man was, he stopped, stood there and waited for the next command of what to do.

So last night we took it up a notch. We 'drove' down the street. The neighbors dogs rushed the fence barking, a car came up from behind us, I told him to "Walk on" and he never missed a step. The easy ones are great and we tend to forget, they don't all learn so fast and they aren't all so easy.

Where do we go from here?

At some point in our life with horses, we each face a point where we ask ourselves just what have I been doing? Where do I want to go and how am I ever going to get there? I have been having a lot of those thoughts lately.

Where JR is concerned, he has hit that point all ready and only wants to cut. That's it. He has no real interest in anything else. The Quarter Horses are his and I'm fine with that. Where I enjoy pretty much all things horse related, I have run into a few crossroads lately.

After losing Tess, I really have no jumper in the barn anymore. I have the horses, the ways and means to create more, but it would take a few years to get there if I did. Around 5-6 years or so. A year for the foal to 'arrive', 3 more years before we start under saddle work and another year or more before we start over fences. That's if I breed the horses this year, which the season is getting near the end already. So I am considering selling my jumps. Three sets of standards, several cups and the rails or poles to go with them. I can always buy or build more later on...

Then there is the pony stallion. He wins at halter every time we go to a show. He takes to everything quickly and once he figures out what you want, has the attitude of "Sit back and watch THIS!" giving you everything, exceeding the limits of what you asked for or expected.

In being so disenchanted with a lot of local horse people lately, their wishy-washy ways, noncommittal thoughts and changing their minds on a whim, I have not offered him as a breeding prospect for a few reasons. One of them being, I have no say over where the foals end up and he has one really nice filly out there at the moment that is unaccounted for.

Then this morning I found an ad from a person seeking a pony with his coloring, his talent and temperament, as an addition to their breeding operation. I hadn't thought of selling him and I hadn't thought of offering him to the public either, but there it is. The ad has been up for quite a while and was renewed just last Wednesday. I contacted them and was blunt and brutally honest about it. I have not entertained the thought of selling him, but it is not out of the question either and I am open to negotiations. (I may even throw in the meadowbrook to sweeten the deal.)

There is a lot going on with all of this and should the pony be leaving I will retain a few breeding's, but I would also like to see him go on to bigger and better things. I like driving and I love my pony, but which way it all goes from here is something to seriously consider.

Then there is the other question of another horse on the horizon. It's a gelding, by a stallion I want to breed my TB mare to, a breed I love and he's awaiting a new home in a good place... But he too has a small issue that would keep him from jumping. If the pony sells, I can breed my mare and get a future jumper. Then the wait begins and I am grounded for a while. Or at least back to doing only flat work.

So how many of us have come to the point of crunch time, serious thoughts and decision making? Which horses stay, which ones do we let go of, which direction do we want to go and how do we go about getting there? I know a couple of other people who each have a number of horses and no clear focus on what they wish to do in the industry. A few of them have been advised to sell off the majority of their herds and buy a select few really nice horses, bred and trained to take them to the top and enjoy the ride.

When you narrow down your focus and zoom in on what you truly want, it becomes a lot easier to find and get what you need to get there. There are always sacrifices to be made and it seems like I may have a bit of deep thought processing to do for a little while. Of course I will let everyone know how things turn out. Sheesh. Did anyone think I wouldn't?

Leather color trends

With the show ring in mind- things go in and out of 'style' based on trends. One year it is all about the light oil tack, next year it is dark oil. Tack is expensive. Not all of us can afford to drop a few thousand dollars on a saddle we may ride in a couple of times a month, only to buy another one, just to fit in next year.

Lucky enough, in the English disciplines, there is not so much going on when considering trends. A neat appearance, pretty streamlined in the look and minimal 'bling' at best. A fancy browband, maybe a few stones on the stirrups, I have seen engraved stirrups, earrings, a stock pin and that's about it. Leather color is usually medium oil or havana, dark oil or black. Sometimes you will see a lighter oil or chestnut color, but that's about as light as it gets.

In the western discipline though you often get four choices- light oil, medium, dark and black. I reccomend medium oil since it fits in with the trend of light oil or dark oil and can be used with whatever the latest trend is at the moment. I understand not everyone can change saddles on a whim.

Tooling can be everything from basket weave, floral patterns, acorns, barbed wire trim and a number of other combinations. My personal preferrances here is minimal tooling. Dust and dirt stick everywhere and cleaning saddles with a toothbrush gets old fast and is time consuming. If you have someone else to do it for you or you enjoy it- more power to you.

The seat may be padded or hard, suede, roughout or smooth leather and either flat, slightly angled or one that puts you in one spot and holds you there no matter what. I prefer a little bit of padding, no matter what the intended use for the saddle. Maybe it's just me, but no matter how much extra padding we have on our bodies- it is Never in the right spot. Suede and roughout seats bring a bit of 'grip' to the equation. If you have suede chaps on and you are sitting in a roughout cutting saddle- it is like being glued in place. This can be good if you are in the position you want and need to be in- bad if you aren't. Sometimes a little bit of 'slip' is good, other times a bit of 'grip' is good.

When shopping for a show saddle for the western disciplines, the first place you start is which discipline do you plan on showing in? Western Pleasure, Reining, Cutting, Working Cowhorse, Ranch Versatility, Trail and I'm pretty sure I may have forgotten a few more, but focus on what you want to do and where you intend to go with it. When you get into roping, barrel racing, penning and sorting as well and the many other gymkhana or speed event's- tooling and color no longer matter and neither does how much bling it carries, just that it fits your horse is comfortable to ride in, puts you in or allows you to move into the proper position and holds up for the job or intended purpose.

The next major thing to consider is how the saddle fits your horse. Is the tree wide enough, narrow enough or is it treeless? Is the tree in good shape- not warped, cracked or broken? Sometimes this one can be obvious to the naked eye, other times the minor issues can go undetected and slip past even knowledgeable people.

What is the tree made of- hardwood wrapped in rawhide, hardwood wrapped in fiberglass, just plain fiberglass, flexible composite materials??? Everyone has their preferences here too, but the bottom line is this. The saddle tree (with or without) is pretty much the skeleton or foundation of the saddle. That's where the saddlemaker starts when building their saddle. Where it goes from there is up to them and how they put all of the pieces together, determines what the final product will look like and how useful it will be.