Tim and Stephanie,
I just have to tell you how perfect Penny has been for me. We've been
riding the trails and she is doing great. I've been working her mostly
at walks and building her strength in the hind quarters. She's getting
so she's picking her feet up better over fallen trees--we have a lot of
those. She is good around the other riders and seems to enjoy meeting
everyone on the trail. She is getting exposed to a lot suburban life,
bikes, lawn mowers, people walking dogs, trains, planes and carriage
ponies.
She's gained over 50lbs and looks
great. My TW trainer friend said I am so lucky to fine such a nice
horse. She can be turned out most of the day on grass as the field has
been mowed. She loves to be turned out. She now knows when she has to go
to her paddock at night. I just point to the gate and she runs in. (Of
course there is a cup of grain waiting as a reward!)
We had 3 nights of extreme fireworks
over the 4th of July and I was so worried I'd walk over to the barn and
check her, but she was fine with it. The last night they were shooting
big bursts of fireworks right over the barn and Penny was out looking
them over-like wow-look at that!
Stephanie did such a nice job with
Penny. My friends are jealous because they cannot get their horses to
stand when they mount or go through mud and water. She is very patient
on the trail about waiting for the Quarter Horses to catch up to her. If
we take a break she stands quiet and best of all, she doesn't think the
trail is a traveling meal. The worst thing she did was paw my horse
trailer, but a put the hobbles on and that took care of that.
Our next excursion will be to the
ocean. We'll do that in the Fall, and I'm confident she will do fine. I
feel so safe on her; she has become a good trail partner.
Take care and happy trails,
Betty
Hi Tim,
This e-mail is long past due, however wanted to let you know that
Crocket and Elmo are doing great!!! I have been riding both of them and
they are truly a pleasure to ride!!! Crocket has become the horse that I
am riding the most!! He is sooooooooooo easy to ride, wants to please
and I am loving how quickly he is learning my cues. I am working on
mainly leg and body cues and the better I get the less reins are needed.
Elmo is such a favorite too! I have also taken him to a friend's place
and have enjoyed his gait as well. I have been able to side pass and go
into different gaits with them, it has been so rewarding and I feel like
I can finally truly enjoy riding and get better at staying balanced
while in the saddle. I use to be afraid of cantering because I was
always off balance and the horses never wanted to stay in the canter or
they went from a canter into a gallop. Now with a little savvy this is
no longer a problem!!
Crocket and Elmo with the grandkids!!
They have only been on horses when at our place during the summer. Dion
had a hard time with one of my other horses and through some
encouragement she got on Crocket. He was so easy to ride in our large
pen, that she even went on a short ride out in our pasture!!! They had a
great time! Both Elmo and Crocket love people and always come looking
for us. Diana, Alec's daughter who has always enjoyed horses when she is
able, rode Elmo during their stay with us. She started doing the Parelli
7 games and bonded so easily with him and had such and easy time riding
him that Alec and I decided to let her have him. It is such a pleasure
to be able to ride a horse and not have short bursts of gaits or
movement followed by a lot of coaxing to keep riding.
Crocket, will go from a flat walk to a
canter with only a change of my body motion and I have been wanting that
since we started buying horses! So Thank you for some great riding
horses that will only get better as I increase my balance, and riding
experience!!
Alec says hi!
Sincerely,
Tina Ordway
Hi Tim,
Every time I go for a good ride on Santana (Santana's First Alert)
I want to thank you. Tonight I remembered that, while I was still on the
computer. I have never had to catch him, he comes to me. Everyone around
here loves him because he is attentive to their affection, he likes
people. I'm sure that has alot to do with the start you gave him. All my
other horses have been more of a master/ slave relationship, Santana has
been more like a companion. He is over 16.1 tall now and I think he will
be 16.2, I hope no more as he makes me stretch to climb aboard. Anyway,
thanks for the horse I had hoped for.
Happy Holidays,
Brad Wood
Zipper (Sky's Sunrise)
is doing very well... fitting in to the family very nicely!! I
absolutely LOVE him!! He is such a joy to have around. Is such a sweet
heart horse very affectionate and seems very happy here. I think he
kinda likes having his own stall... and his own food! He gets turned out
with the other horses to 'play' and runs and bucks and has a great time
out in the pasture.
I took him on our first trail
ride/camping trip a few weekends ago and he was just awesome. Was the
perfect little guy on the trail, accepted every obstacle without problem
.. and seemed to enjoy the ride as much as I did. He is a kick to ride!!
Patty
I will tell you though, I ADORE that horse! (Armed
With Hope) He is SOOO sweet and gentle, I don't know how
anyone can be intimidated by him. And his gait is to die for. I can feel
him kick it up from a flat walk to a running walk like no other Walker
I've ridden. I mean you can just feel him start reaching and stroking
with those hind legs. And if he tries to take a trot it's a piece of
cake to instantly get him back with just the lightest touch of the
reins.
He has NO protest about anything in
him. I swear I can see a halo around his head. The first two rides we've
had here at home were under trying conditions for any horse - he went
alone with me the very first ride, in the Sierras with mountain bikers,
dogs, wind, weird obstacles including a very narrow wooden bridge down
in small gulley, which he went right over with absolutely no hesitation;
the second ride was on a windy day with a major weather change - cloudy,
drizzly, windy with lots of stuff blowing around, and we went past a
house under construction, barking dogs, traffic, etc.
At times he gets worried about things
but he never does anything stupid or silly. He keeps a cool head about
him no matter how nervous things might make him. I pray he stays sound
and healthy because there is so much neat stuff he and I can and will do
together. He's the Walker I dreamed of getting all along.
And Cisco (Legend's
Cisco Kid) is just as gentle, smart, and willing. We have been
going on walks already, 2-3 times a day, for 15 minutes or so, and he
really seems to love it. He gets a training lesson twice a day, from me
of course. He picks up on things really quick. He's no problem
"catching" when he's out with the big boys. And man is he stunningly
beautiful and athletic when he comes racing across the field toward you.
We can't thank you enough for these two
wonderful horses. Keep them in your prayers and thoughts always, that
they stay healthy and sound, and we will certainly do our best to care
for them like they were our kids, which they are.
Cindy, Reno, Nevada.
