We are back to our regularly scheduled programming of retired horses with this post! The last two posts have been all about me and my horses which isn’t the purpose of this blog. I appreciate everyone who took the time to offer their suggestions about Bonnie. I’ve read them all several times and am thinking about all perspectives. I think the best way to describe Bonnie sometimes is professional talent and a professional ride as well. I have the highest of highs and the lowest of lows riding Bonnie. With my revised schedule we’ve definitely been on an upswing the last few weeks. I also think she has been a bit slow to mature mentally and I think the brain is at least starting to catch up with the body. However it is has been the consistency of my schedule with her that has helped the most, no doubt about that. That said I’m very happy to have Sky in the picture. She’s a very nice horse herself and so laid back, I’ve had a lot of fun with her in our first two weeks of getting to know each other. Thank you again for all of your comments!
Now on to the real starts of the show here, the retirees:
Dustin and Tony; Dustin is a son of Starman and was a big time jumper himself. Tony is a dutch warmblood who competed in the a/o hunters with a national ranking before stepping down to the 3′ divisions his last few years.
Trigger and Ivan grazing by the shed. Trigger was a hunter and Ivan was a Grand Prix jumper.
Apollo and Leo; Apollo is a hanoverian and retired dressage horse while Leo is a dutch warmblood and retired hunter. In a former life Leo also competed up to 4th level dressage as well, a very versatile guy!
Snappy, Teddy and Chili. Snappy had quite an impressive career. He was an eventer originally and was competed through the four star level (the highest international level) by the double gold medalist in eventing, Mark Todd of New Zealand. Snappy was then sold to an eventer in the states. Later in his career he showed on the A circuit in the hunters and won everywhere. Teddy is a retired dressage horse. Chili is a retired trail horse who was a working cow horse prior to hitting the trails in the Colorado mountains.
Tony; tall, long and lanky are the words to describe Tony!
Bear running along the driveway
Asterik with Faune behind him; Asterik is a Holsteiner and was a big time jumper as well as sometimes showing in the a/o hunters.
Faune, Winston and Trillion. Faune is a Selle Francais and was a top hunter nationally. Trillion is a dutch warmblood and was also one of the top nationally ranked hunters. Winston is a thoroughbred and showed in the hunters as well.
Lightening is an Arabian and retired trail horse
Norman the pony. Norman still has the run of certain parts of the farm. We enjoy having him wander around so much we haven’t been able to bring ourselves to fence him in! He is very content with the situation as well.
Mina and Jo, world’s cutest fainting goats
MyLight and Buffy grazing with Harmony down for a nap. All three are thoroughbreds. MyLight is retired from dressage, Buffy is a retired hunter and Harmony is a retired polo pony.
Lily and Cuff Links. Lily is a Quarter Horse/Oldenburg cross retired from the jumper ring and Cuffie is a Welsh pony and retired from the pony hunters.