Wednesday 2 July 2014

VCMBH: Interested Parties

Sadly I have missed a whole bunch of L. Williams' (@VivaCarlos) fab blog hops, but I am attempting to jump back on the bandwagon with this one - reliving the moments & things that attracted me to my current steeds.


So way back in week seven of this tortuously long blog hop I have going we talked about the Pros of our current horse. Some of us experienced these pros after buying our horse. Now I am curious, what made you interested in your current horse that lead you to buying them in the first place?
First picture I ever took of K on 21.4.2007 a week after her arrival

I first met Kika as an unnamed technically 3 year old in early April 2007 (her actual birthday is 25 May 2004) - she was quite wild on the lead rope as her breeder had separated her from the herd for viewing; she was walking around him (effectively lunging herself) calling to her buddies.
Auspicious start one might say, but what impressed me most about her was that despite her having nothing done - she settled down and took in the whole situation. She has a sweet soft eye - I am a firm believer in a good eye on a horse & I really liked what I saw in K's.
Nowdays I see way too much in her eyes lol - I missed all the intelligence she has on that first viewing, but that spark in her makes her undeniable - you cannot overlook her and she sure makes sure you don't ;-) She is such a clever clogs - way too smart for my simple mind

21.4.2007
She had absolutely nothing done when I got her, it took me months to get her to lead. I used to always have to bring another peson with me to the field to walk with us to keep her moving forward. Gosh now that i think back, it used to take ages to get her in - thankfully catching her was never a problem!
With my aunts help (she trained as a riding instructor and used to run her own Riding School - that is where I learnt to ride during my summers in Ireland...I really must resurrect the Friday Flashback series of posts sorry off topic) we trained her to be ridden, i think I have early lunging videos somewhere...

Love both my girls eyes

It has been a wonderful 7 years with many ups & some quite low downs - but I wouldn't trade her for the world!
(If i can resurrect the FF - I have old competition photos & videos of our time in Ireland to share!)


12.6.2009
It is hard to pinpoint exactly when I first met Nancy, methinks when the above photo was taken 4 days after her birth!
From the beginning she was a pocket pony, she was the sweetest foal I had ever met - I spent the 4 years of my studies helping out every weekend on the family farm where my aunt (retired from teaching riding) runs an equine foaling unit. So I was lucky to assist in foaling the mares and had lots of hands-on experience of the youngsters.
12.6.2009
Unlike K, Nancy had a thorough handling as a youngster as she was a companion to TB weanlings & later yearlings and went through all their sales prep with them. Her ground manners were beyond reproach and her kind & gentle nature was far and above any youngster I had ever dealt with - she would happily walk as often as needed to keep the TB upstarts calm in her company.
She was so sweet, always hanging over the stable door when people were in the barn and loved nothing more than to be petted - from the very early days I swore that if I had the means & she was still as gentle when she was older I'd have to come back for her.


After my first spin on her 25.7.2012


Thankfully this happened in 2012 - and the rest as they say is history; for the full story of how our paths crossed for good (I hope) check out the IOU and Intro post.

10 comments:

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    1. I just came across Nancy weanling photos on an old phone of mine today...methinks the Friday Flashback may make a re-appearance in two days!

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  2. Listening to this story Nancy and Kika seem so very different from the very beginning. What a great way to get lots of experience, though. :)

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    1. I can only hope that they are different in good ways, K has always been her own brand of sweet but N would literally have climbed in your pocket if she could have.

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  3. I don't think I knew that Kika was unhandled when you got her. Or if I did I forgot! Wow! Good job! :D I loved reading about both girls and really enjoyed the baby Nancy photos. Looking forward to Flashback Friday posts.

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    1. Here's hoping I can get them off my old school phone :)

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  4. Baby Nancy!!!

    Good job sticking with K, a 3 yr old not handled is hard!

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    1. Nancy was and still is unbelievably cute - I am trying my hardest to get the photos I have of her as a weanling off my old-school phone to share!

      Kika & I have faced many challenges, I can only hope they make our partnership stronger & don't sell me out for the crazy-lady I undoubtedly am...

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  5. Sells prepped horses are the best to start! I agree with you on putting a lot on what kind of eye they have. You have two very lovely horses! It's really neat to hear about what attracted you to them :)

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    1. Thanks for your very kind comments on my girls - I am utterly biased & think they are the best things this side of the Atlantic; always great to hear that others can be convinced of their awesomeness too :p

      I place so much stock on a horse's eye - possibly too much!
      Gateway to the soul - some say, I judge every horse on their eye first and then look at the rest of them - if i don't like what i see in their eyes initially I don't bother looking further - yep, i iz cray-cray

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