big brown horse
Hoof In Mouth
I rescued him about 4 years ago from a crack head. He was a big bag of bones, coat was dull and shaggy in mid July in S. Texas and had a huge tummy full of worms. I got him b/c he threw off the crack head and she ended up in the hospital with a broken pelvis, and not much later she ended up in jail. She needed bail money and finally took (via her sleezy boyfriend) $200 cash for him. (Before she was asking $2000(!!) in the same poor condition.) I made a bill of sale which she signed somehow and took him home.
I had to retrain him b/c he was nothing but one big bad habit. Biting, kicking, bucking, jumping on me etc. Once he punched-kicked the farrier about 10 feet when he was attempting to work on his front feet. He was the only horse that brought me to tears on a daily basis. (I even got kicked in the front teeth by him! My teeth were fine, but I got a fat bloody lip.)
Anyway, he filled out so much with the right nutrition that I thought he was a quarter horse. He has big bones and a nice big be-hind. He is a sh%t brick house, standing a full 15 hands high and holds his head even higher. I also worked out all of his kinks and now any farrier can work on all four of his feet. He actually turned out to be one of my best horses. He can do anything I ask him very well. He crashes through the forest with ease, can drag heavy objects. (I was going to have him drag up my 400# hog (uphill) after it was shot if they couldn't get the hog in the right position.) He jumps obstacals, and has a very soft mouth. He isn't afraid of anything, walks over tarps etc.
AND, he had this fast, extended trot that is as smooth as glass. He is so fast he could keep up with my friends who were in a full gallop in this strange extended 'trot'...I love it. I had no idea what this gate was except that he liked it and so did I. (I just thought he was a quirky quarter horse with maybe some strange conformation issues.)
I posted his photo on facebook with a little history and someone suggested that I look up American gaited horses. Well, there he was!! He is a Standardbred (cross?)! (Think Amish buggy horse.) And what he is doing is 'single footed speed racking'. lol (I'll post some examples and his photo in a sec. It is pretty amazing to watch.)
Now some websites say this isn't very good b/c you have to somehow teach them to canter. Well, he canters just fine and can even get into a fast gallop. (He prefers to do his trot though, however with a bit of encouragement the canter/gallop comes easily.)
So, has anyone had any experience with Standardbred horses? Care to share any advice with me? My daughter is hopefully going to use him for hunter jumper lessons.
I had to retrain him b/c he was nothing but one big bad habit. Biting, kicking, bucking, jumping on me etc. Once he punched-kicked the farrier about 10 feet when he was attempting to work on his front feet. He was the only horse that brought me to tears on a daily basis. (I even got kicked in the front teeth by him! My teeth were fine, but I got a fat bloody lip.)
Anyway, he filled out so much with the right nutrition that I thought he was a quarter horse. He has big bones and a nice big be-hind. He is a sh%t brick house, standing a full 15 hands high and holds his head even higher. I also worked out all of his kinks and now any farrier can work on all four of his feet. He actually turned out to be one of my best horses. He can do anything I ask him very well. He crashes through the forest with ease, can drag heavy objects. (I was going to have him drag up my 400# hog (uphill) after it was shot if they couldn't get the hog in the right position.) He jumps obstacals, and has a very soft mouth. He isn't afraid of anything, walks over tarps etc.
AND, he had this fast, extended trot that is as smooth as glass. He is so fast he could keep up with my friends who were in a full gallop in this strange extended 'trot'...I love it. I had no idea what this gate was except that he liked it and so did I. (I just thought he was a quirky quarter horse with maybe some strange conformation issues.)
I posted his photo on facebook with a little history and someone suggested that I look up American gaited horses. Well, there he was!! He is a Standardbred (cross?)! (Think Amish buggy horse.) And what he is doing is 'single footed speed racking'. lol (I'll post some examples and his photo in a sec. It is pretty amazing to watch.)
Now some websites say this isn't very good b/c you have to somehow teach them to canter. Well, he canters just fine and can even get into a fast gallop. (He prefers to do his trot though, however with a bit of encouragement the canter/gallop comes easily.)
So, has anyone had any experience with Standardbred horses? Care to share any advice with me? My daughter is hopefully going to use him for hunter jumper lessons.
