Church rodeo - Play day Horse - $1800 (New Caney) Donna is an 8 year old 15.2 hand Bay mare. She is an excellent trail horse, that is also trained to run barrels and poles. We have been taking her to the church rodeo events and she is just a good all round mare. We have thrown a rope off of her at a few calves and chased a few goats. She stands quietly for the ferrier, is easy to clip and bath, and loads / ties well. For more information please contact Gayle @ 281---7204
Sounds like a pretty decent horse to me. Nothing out of the ordinary though. Standard stuff.
Right?
How many of you wish you could do this with your horses?
I *HAD* to post this. Aside from the fact that she is not wearing a helmet, that is pretty freaking cool! (The pictures themselves clearly prove this girl isn't really a beginner-beginner rider.
Lets think about this. There's a LOT going on here.
Girl is riding bareback, which means that she has to have a decent seat/leg. Mare is NOT in a bridle / bit, so most of the communication is through the girls seat/leg - which makes her that much of a better rider. Most horses will willingly enough go over a wooden board or bridge of some sort, but how many do you know will go over one thats balanced over a PVC pipe cut in half so the board 'teeter-totters' and moves under them?
Add to all of that the twirling hula hoops - (Ok, I would NEVER be able to keep them ON MY Arms twirling....especially while bareback...)
This mare has been worked with to accept twirling giant plastic scary things that make some weird noises (cause most hula hoops I've messed with have a weird weight in them that is loud and makes this almost snake-like 'whoooshing shuuuushing' noise as it slides against the inside of the plastic ring) WHILE being asked to step up onto a moving platform with cues only given verbally and by leg. Her head is down and relaxed, her neck/body language is soft and responsive, her ears are forward, and she's obviously paying attention to where her feet are going which means she's totally unconcerned about the circus on her back.
The hula hoops ALONE would send most horses into absolute paroxysms of terror.
Thats one mare I would most definitely trust around my own kids.
Oh, and not one single mention of NH training - so I am going to stick a foot out there and guess (hope) that they did this training ... *gasp* in a semi-common sense method of desensitizing?
Wow.
Did I say I want this mare yet? And she's only 8 years young!
Anyone wanna 'lend' me around $2500 for purchase & transport from Houston to Phoenix? I will repay in home baked chocolate chip cookies and California rolls. :D :D :D Or whatever delights you request. :-}
This lucky mare will probably get scooped up quickly. Her owners have obviously spent time with her and this helps ensure that she's actually marketable. Shocking I know! LOL
ReplyDeleteShipping from Houston to Phoenix is around $750, just so you know...
ReplyDeleteThe bridle & bit or lack of, going over the bridge and bareback, doesn't so much impress me. Neither do the hulahoops. Just shows someone spent some time working with the horse and getting her settled and adjusted to things going on around her. And by 8, she should be well trained enough to respond to leg, seat and voice commands and move on a loose rein. A lot of the horses, if you can swing a rope on them- the hulahoops aren't so much a big deal either.
Am I raining on the parade? Not exactly. Think of it more as a wake up call or reality check. Figure the horse has been under saddle since the age of 2 or even 3. If your horse was in training for 5-6 years- how broke would you expect it to be by now? If the horse was showing, it would either have a list of accomplishments or would have been sold off as a pleasure horse for the non show crowd.
Still I would say the asking price is fairly reasonable. If she is that well behaved and even tempered, at some point breeding would be a consideration. A good working horse is just as useful as a show horse in many respects.
This is a nice mare. I'd take her too.
ReplyDeleteYou know my preferences in horses. That -- and distance -- aside ... *I* would be tempted by her. That's a horse who'd be able to work around here and take up and down the lane.
ReplyDeleteCnJ - I will admit I see your point.
ReplyDeleteHowever, keep in mind that I was writing from the perspective that I had just sat down and read ads for nearly 4 hours straight... and only maybe 2% of them had horses that were actually TRAINED to do ANYTHING lol.
Thereupon, coming across this ad was like reaching the mainland after 3 months at sea. Just the concept that the owners DID something with her was enough to make me nearly jump with joy. :) It's all about perspective!
what's sad about this to me, is that it would cost you 2500 to buy this horse and ship him across two states. 2500 would hardly buy you anything in New Hampshire, unless you knew where to look.
ReplyDeleteThe mare I rode as a kid, who was essentially lame without cortisone shots, grumpy, hard to work with, a biter, and bucked as soon as you got on her back, they wanted 3500 for her.
My horse was capable of doing all those things at the age of 5. And he's never worn a bit so he rides almost completely off of my seat alone. If you take the time it takes to properly train your horse, it will take less time to correct bad habits in the future. Horses are similar to kids - if you put in the effort to make sure you have well mannered kids that listen, you will be very well rewarded. You can always tell which parents take the time to be parents and which ones expect t.v. & video games to raise their children.
ReplyDeleteAnd the same goes for horses. You can always tell which owners gave a damn and decided to make sure their horse has rock star ground manners and is responsive under saddle. Those are the horses that would rather be around people as well.
And over here on the East Coast the horse mentioned in the ad would be $3,000+