Apache Claybasket, AKA Lady:
Lady is a 12 year old APHA Bay Tobiano (Tovero on her papers) mare. I have had her for the last eight years, and it's been a constant training process just to get her manageable. She was returned to the breeder as a 3 year old, and was so beaten up that she trusted no one. She had a gaping wound on the inside of her rear left leg, and wore a halter that was about 1 maybe 2 sizes too small. Their explanation for the wound was that it had happened back in June, but they had been treating it. We knew that was BS, because it was November, and it showed very little signs of actually healing. They also said that she had 30 days of riding with a local trainer that is known for being rough with horses, and she totes the scars to prove it. She has the scars on both sides of her neck behind her ears where if I had to guess he busted a ketchup bottle between her ears for rearing. I heard that old times use this method to break a horse of rearing up, they fill the ketchup bottle with warm water, and when the horse starts to rear, they bust the bottle over their head.
Before we could take care of her leg, I had to get the old halter off of her, and one that actually fit on her. The previous owners had unloaded her straight into an 8'x8' stall, at the largest. And even though she was quite large as a 3 year old, and it was a small stall, it took me a good 30 minutes to an hour to catch her in it. She was so scared that it looked like her eyes were going to just pop out of her head at any moment. But once I got the other halter off her, and put the new one on her, she calmed down after about 20 minutes of me just chilling in her stall with her.
When it came to treating her leg, I've never been so happy about someone having a stock set in concrete in my life. It took about two days of treating it before she decided that we weren't trying to hurt her and settled down. About a week after she was returned, the breeder decided that he wanted to stick her for height. He's one of the few people that I know that actually have the stick like they use at horse shows to measure the ponies to make sure that they are pony size. We put her in the stock and put the stick on her, 16.3 hh in November of her 3 year old year. I don't think she has grown any since then, but let's be honest, that's big enough!
The breeder decided to try to send her to another local trainer, which this one, I used to horse show with, and I knew she would come back more than he could handle, and I was right. Then he decided that breeding her would calm her down some, well that back fired. Let's just say that she's not the nicest bred mare you've ever run across, and was worse when the filly was born. While she was bred, he decided that he was scared of her, and sold her to me for $500, plus working with his two stud horses, once of which was Lady's full brother, who had less sense than her. The first time he brought him out to the round pen, that horse walked on his hind legs for a good 100 yards from his paddock to the round pen.
Lady's filly was fine for her first two years, then something changed. She went from being fine with having her blood drawn and shots administered her one and two year old years to a complete idiot her three year old year. Even my vet said that he had never seen anything like it, I had Lady's damn was the same way. We would have to tie her snug down with two or three rope halters, give her a shot, twitch her, and that still wouldn't work. She would blow through the drug, and the twitch, and break one or two of the halters and lead ropes.
Needless to say, I've had my hands full making sure that Lady is manageable and safe to be around, which she is. I can put a halter and lead rope on her, and either of my kids can lead her around, where ever they want to go. She does not spook with them. Her only bad habit is, if someone does not exhibit the "I am the leader" mentality, she will walk right over the top of them, pushing them out of the way as she goes. She's only done that to one person, and attempted it on one other person. The first was was quite funny because her own horses walk all over her, but she had the nerve to get mad when Lady treated her just like they do.
OK, enough about Lady.
Fancy:
Fancy is a 8 year old, Chestnut with a blaze QH mare, but her papers were lost by her breeder. He was a elderly gentlemen in the early stages of Alzheimer.I bought Fancy a little over a year ago. I actually bought her from the woman that Lady pushed around, so there were a lot of issues to get around. She was only able to be caught when she was pinned up in a stall, where she could not escape being caught, and she went from having a stall to being at a place that does not have the first stall in sight. You can see the problem here, right?
Over the last year, she has come around some, but Lady slows her progress. Fancy has actually gotten where she wants to come to me, but Lady being mine for so long, and the Alpha horse tries to keep her from getting to me. I can drive Lady off, but that usually drives Fancy off as well. It's a catch 22. I sneak moments with Fancy when Lady is occupied eating her grain locked up in the barn.
She rides OK, spooks very rarely, and even when she does it's in slow motion, she will turn and walk away. She is built like a bull dogging horse, a little tank. She's about 15.2 hh I really wish that I had more to write about her, but I'm still getting her true personality out of her. She's a pretty good horse, but has little quarks, but I guess every horse does. She can not stand being groomed. As soon as I finish, she runs off like, "it's about time!" Of course, during the summer, she runs straight to the pond to roll in it. So much for all of that work!
I will add more as I find it out about her.
Lady is a 12 year old APHA Bay Tobiano (Tovero on her papers) mare. I have had her for the last eight years, and it's been a constant training process just to get her manageable. She was returned to the breeder as a 3 year old, and was so beaten up that she trusted no one. She had a gaping wound on the inside of her rear left leg, and wore a halter that was about 1 maybe 2 sizes too small. Their explanation for the wound was that it had happened back in June, but they had been treating it. We knew that was BS, because it was November, and it showed very little signs of actually healing. They also said that she had 30 days of riding with a local trainer that is known for being rough with horses, and she totes the scars to prove it. She has the scars on both sides of her neck behind her ears where if I had to guess he busted a ketchup bottle between her ears for rearing. I heard that old times use this method to break a horse of rearing up, they fill the ketchup bottle with warm water, and when the horse starts to rear, they bust the bottle over their head.
Before we could take care of her leg, I had to get the old halter off of her, and one that actually fit on her. The previous owners had unloaded her straight into an 8'x8' stall, at the largest. And even though she was quite large as a 3 year old, and it was a small stall, it took me a good 30 minutes to an hour to catch her in it. She was so scared that it looked like her eyes were going to just pop out of her head at any moment. But once I got the other halter off her, and put the new one on her, she calmed down after about 20 minutes of me just chilling in her stall with her.
When it came to treating her leg, I've never been so happy about someone having a stock set in concrete in my life. It took about two days of treating it before she decided that we weren't trying to hurt her and settled down. About a week after she was returned, the breeder decided that he wanted to stick her for height. He's one of the few people that I know that actually have the stick like they use at horse shows to measure the ponies to make sure that they are pony size. We put her in the stock and put the stick on her, 16.3 hh in November of her 3 year old year. I don't think she has grown any since then, but let's be honest, that's big enough!
The breeder decided to try to send her to another local trainer, which this one, I used to horse show with, and I knew she would come back more than he could handle, and I was right. Then he decided that breeding her would calm her down some, well that back fired. Let's just say that she's not the nicest bred mare you've ever run across, and was worse when the filly was born. While she was bred, he decided that he was scared of her, and sold her to me for $500, plus working with his two stud horses, once of which was Lady's full brother, who had less sense than her. The first time he brought him out to the round pen, that horse walked on his hind legs for a good 100 yards from his paddock to the round pen.
Lady's filly was fine for her first two years, then something changed. She went from being fine with having her blood drawn and shots administered her one and two year old years to a complete idiot her three year old year. Even my vet said that he had never seen anything like it, I had Lady's damn was the same way. We would have to tie her snug down with two or three rope halters, give her a shot, twitch her, and that still wouldn't work. She would blow through the drug, and the twitch, and break one or two of the halters and lead ropes.
Needless to say, I've had my hands full making sure that Lady is manageable and safe to be around, which she is. I can put a halter and lead rope on her, and either of my kids can lead her around, where ever they want to go. She does not spook with them. Her only bad habit is, if someone does not exhibit the "I am the leader" mentality, she will walk right over the top of them, pushing them out of the way as she goes. She's only done that to one person, and attempted it on one other person. The first was was quite funny because her own horses walk all over her, but she had the nerve to get mad when Lady treated her just like they do.
OK, enough about Lady.
Fancy:
Fancy is a 8 year old, Chestnut with a blaze QH mare, but her papers were lost by her breeder. He was a elderly gentlemen in the early stages of Alzheimer.I bought Fancy a little over a year ago. I actually bought her from the woman that Lady pushed around, so there were a lot of issues to get around. She was only able to be caught when she was pinned up in a stall, where she could not escape being caught, and she went from having a stall to being at a place that does not have the first stall in sight. You can see the problem here, right?
Over the last year, she has come around some, but Lady slows her progress. Fancy has actually gotten where she wants to come to me, but Lady being mine for so long, and the Alpha horse tries to keep her from getting to me. I can drive Lady off, but that usually drives Fancy off as well. It's a catch 22. I sneak moments with Fancy when Lady is occupied eating her grain locked up in the barn.
She rides OK, spooks very rarely, and even when she does it's in slow motion, she will turn and walk away. She is built like a bull dogging horse, a little tank. She's about 15.2 hh I really wish that I had more to write about her, but I'm still getting her true personality out of her. She's a pretty good horse, but has little quarks, but I guess every horse does. She can not stand being groomed. As soon as I finish, she runs off like, "it's about time!" Of course, during the summer, she runs straight to the pond to roll in it. So much for all of that work!
I will add more as I find it out about her.
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