2.15.09 - the story of Duke

Duke's new RaDon's came in today. They're so shiny and new that I'm contemplating never actually putting them on the big guy, since I know I'm going to cry a bit the first time they get dirty! Granted, RaDon's last forever -I think we have some that have got to be 15 years old that we use as extra layers in winter- but Duke's the first horse I've ever actually owned, so I'm a bit twitchy about all the "show" equipment I've bought for him.

You know, I almost didn't end up with Duke. My beloved Uno died unexpectedly at the age of 10 the week before River Ridge in 06, leaving me essentially horseless. I did (and still do) have Ann's old gaited horse Havin' Fun/Adam, then 15 years old and coming off of a four year retirement, who I had only been riding for fun to get in better shape. I was completely devastated when Uno died - My aunt Terri had bought him as either a weanling of a young yearling, and he had been with us ever since. He was broke as a two-year-old, and Ann showed him once or twice when he was three or four. I pulled him out of the field for a friend to ride when he was five, and the rest is history. Uno had the heart of a park horse but the motion of a CP, and I was fine with that. We had consistently done pretty well in Amateur and AOT classes (I hated riding in Jr Ex- too much like bumper-cars!) over the last few years, and I was really looking foreward to the upcoming season. I walked into the barn to feed that morning and knew something was wrong because all the horses were quiet.

After a year of initially half-hearted and ultimately fruitless searching, Julie, myself, plus two of my non-horsie friends went down to the Tattersalls spring sale 07 with the goal of finding a new horse for me. Not an easy task: I'm a big girl, plus tall on top of that, so I wasn't even considering horses smaller than 16.2 (and that was pushing it!), I really wanted something younger than 5 that I could finish, and I wanted something with some fire in his soul.

Day one was a bust: I fell in love with a rideable breeding stallion that I bid on but went way out of my price limit. A mare Julie liked for eventual breeding went high as well, and nothing else caught my eye. Day two looked like it was going to be a repeat of day one, until a three-year-old named Brookhill's Storm Trooper came down the chute: a plain brown wrapper, gangly with youth, and green as grass. Nevertheless, Julie and I saw potential, and when the gavel came down he was coming home with us. I was so happy to have a new horse that I bounced straight to Fennells to complete a new-horse tradition we have and buy a new show halter for him. I happened to buy 2.

We were all set to head home, my non-horsey friends were getting bored, and I had my new horse, but curiosity about a horse I had liked on paper and thought had some presence was coming up as lot 203 or 204. They led him through, which immediately scratched him off my list, but since we had stayed that long we may as well stay for lot 208 - a gorgeous nine-year-old gelding I had liked in the book, but we had heard absolutely horrible things about.

208 came down the chute looking like a million bucks, and Julie and I decided 'what the heck, he can't be that bad' and started bidding. Julie had the bid, and then the next thing I know 208's rider does a quick dismount. Bidding screeched to a halt, and we wound up with lot 208, who apparently did have a few screws loose. Julie somehow talked me into putting 208 in my name instead of the three year old, and as soon as the paperwork was done we loaded up and headed home. Lot 208 with the screws loose was Duke.

I was pretty blah about him at first: he seemed to be a very well mannered sweet horse, but we were still wary to find out when the demons would arise. First time we put the saddle on him we found out he was horribly cinchbound, which also made him harder to mount. He'd been yanked in the curb, and was claustrophobic, but underneith all that was a nice horse who wanted to please.

these days he's still a bit cinch-bound, but he's gotten much better. He playfully tries to push me off the mounting block, has to be the first one loaded into the trailer with the partition wide and all the bars and doors opened, hates getting baths, and has developed a few new bad habits from my babying him, but I love him and wouldn't trade him for the world!

eeak! (in a good way!)

Had an interesting ride on the Big Guy on Wednesday - some great moments, but also one I'm-going-to-keelhaul-you-if-you-ever-do-that-again moment. It was extremely windy though, so I'm willing to forgive him if that particular glitch never happens again.

It's been either too windy or the ground has been harder than I like to ride on since Weds, so no riding at our barn, but over at CamLin...

My Aunt has her two gaited horses at a friends barn for a few months so that she can work them in an indoor before River Ridge. I bounced over there today to watch her work Toby and Fantasy, since she was planning on riding, and I haven't seen Fantasy under saddle since she last showed more than a year ago. Well, long story short...

I got to ride Fantasy! Ann has had her for a while now, and I'd never once ridden her. In fact, I was too terrified of "breaking" the wonder horse to even consider it. But bless her dear heart, Fantasy is a trooper - she's completely barefoot and still goes a bit above level and trots and racks up a storm! It took me a minute to get the feel for her (she's narrower than my guy, and she has a very different way of going), but once you get her going...!

I don't have much experience actually on different gaited horses - Adam (Havin' Fun), who I have the most experience with, is double-gaited (makes him great for trails though- just rack the whooooole way! ;p ), and getting him to trot was always the focus. I've been on just a few others: Toby (Harlem's Leading Star), who was quite a nice experience- he's very smooth and easy, and I remember riding Wally (The Country Rhythm), but I can't remember if I was ever set loose on him (I was really young!).

Fantasy. Is. Amaaaaazing! She's very nice to work with and a complete powerhouse, which I love. Racking was easy, just a moment of pilot error being the only oops! moment (I mixed up my right and left hands- could happen to anyone).

Sorry I babbled on, but I never thought I'd ever ride Fantasy. It's been a good day!

2.5.09

It was a balmy 5 degrees in the barn at 8:00 this morning when I went to feed - took me a while to bang the two-inch layers of ice from all the water buckets! It's warmed up a bunch since then, but it was cooooooooold!

Some friends and I are heading off to Texas tonight to visit my ex-roomie for a long weekend, and the thing that keeps hitting me is that I wish I could take Duke with me - something tells me he might have issues fitting into an airplane seat though!

2.2.09

Have you ever had one of those rides where everything goes so perfectly and you're having so much fun that it's practically a religious experience? Oh yeah, today was one of those days!

It was manicure day today, and shiny new plates meant that the big Duke and I could go riding in the snow without my worrying too much about traction. He. Was. FANTASTIC! I was a little nervous when I first hopped on because he was raring to go, but as soon as we got in the ring he was focused and incredibly responsive.

It was a good day, may many more follow it.

2.1.09

Welcome to Ashley's Adventures in Saddlebredland! This is where I will babble about my days in a barnfull of Saddlebreds and Hackneys (as opposed to the continued torture of my deviantArt watchers)!

I am the proud (occassionaly also: annoyed, muddy, crazed, and frazzled) owner of Winsdown Duquesne, a big grey American Saddlebred Gelding that I've been training myself (with occasional input from my aunts) since he was given to me by my Aunt in April 07 - best 21'st birthday present ever!

..........

The last few weeks the extent of my horse work has been to feed, clean Duke's stall, and dash back home beore I freeze to death. It has been cold here in Ohio - especially after all the time I've been spending in sunny, warm Texas - so much so that I've just wanted to curl up in a blanket and stay there until March. It's either the blanket, or I'm tossing Duke in the trailer and making the 20ish hour drive down to my friend's place in Dallas and not coming back until April!

Haven't been on Duke since mid-December when it was nice and warmer, but I have been hopping on Adam (also known as Havin' Fun), our old gaited horse, and wobbling up-and-down the barn aisle bareback - which is a funny sight when you take into consideration my weak legs and the fact that Adam only has one speed: fast!

I think I'm going to start bitting the big Duke tomorrow, and maybe start long-lining in a week or so. We don't have an indoor at our place, so getting back in shape can be an interesting escapade! I'm also going to be working with a few Hackney's, and maybe another Saddlebred. Guess we'll see how it goes!

Oh, I also have a little gem for you all: Nelson (Brookhill's Storm Trooper), Duke, and Toby (Harlem's Leading Star) out in the snow - Toby is the one looking at the camera, Nelson and Duke are too busy staring at the neighbor's plowing their driveway.