Horses

So, there are currently six horses on the place. Two are my husband's and mine, one is my father-in-law's, one is my father & sister's, and two are my sister-in-law's. But that's going to change soon. My sister-in-law's (who I'll refer to as M) horse, Windy, is due to foal any day now. Then there will be seven horses on the home place!

The oldest horse is D's twenty-one-year-old chestnut grade quarter horse gelding, Stonewall Jackson "Jack". This horse has been in rodeos and reenactments, and despite his age, he has only a little gray on his face, and lots of energy. It's about time he switches to senior feed, and he isn't holding his weight quite as well as he used to, but still he's a pretty great horse. He hasn't reenacted yet this year (in part to cancelled plans), but in September or October he'll be back in action.

Me riding Jack at a reenactment last September

D riding Jack at a reenactment last May

 The next oldest is M's unknown age homebred grade palomino pinto mare Wind Runner "Windy". She hasn't been "broke", but has produced a previous foal, a two-year-old half-quarter horse palomino pinto filly, the youngest of the herd. She is gentle, but needs some work on her manners. Still, she mentally is a good horse, if physically quite a mess.

Wind Runner and her foal from 2014

The third oldest is my fourteen-year-old bay registered Pinto (not to be confused with Paint) mare, Sue J. She hasn't been competed with since she came into my care at the age of six, but she has completed two 11+ mile Endurance Intro rides. She has had a foal, when she was three, and I sold her after training the filly, who came as part of a package deal with Sue. Sue J will make her reenactment debut in September or October, and at the moment she is fat, which is rare for her. But the pasture has plenty of green grass, and for the first time in her life is holding her weight wonderfully and also her hooves are in awesome shape thanks to all the supplementing I did over the winter. She will be bred to my father-in-law's stallion (fifth on this list) in October.

Sue J after her 2015 Intro Ride, in May last year

Me riding Sue last August

The fourth horse in the group is my sister's ten-year-old black registered Morgan mare, Brokentree Mandolin "Mandy". She has a few mental issues (scared of water, no/few brakes, etc.) but is a very nice mare. Right now, she is fat and lazy, and as usual has issues with keeping weight OFF. She is being kept to breed to the dam of Windy's filly and unborn foal, and though the breeding didn't take the first time, she will be bred again (pasture breeding) at the next time she enters "season/heat". Her pedigree is a modest one, with a few good names here and there.

Mandy in December 2015

Mandy in May 2015

The fifth horse is my father-in-law's ten-year-old chestnut registered Quarter Horse stallion, Sneaky Peponita "Sneaky". He is a very intelligent unbroke horse, with a modest pedigree. He is notorious for breaking through fences but for the past little while has stayed in the arena he is penned in to keep from breeding horses he isn't supposed to and from terrorizing Jack. He is the resident stud, and lost some weight recently (usually he is slightly overweight) but with a hay bale in his pretty much grass-less arena he has gained some weight back recently. He never got past the halter-breaking stage in his younger days, but is still pretty easy to handle. There are no photos for me to use of him, yet, but when I get some (and believe me I will) I will post them.

The last horse is M's two-year-old palomino pinto grade filly, Kaylene. She is the daughter of Sneaky and Windy, and was totally unexpected. Nobody even noticed that the dam was pregnant, for her belly is always big. She is a long-legged horse with lots of energy and her sire's brains. She is being halter-trained after having little handling in her previous years. Also, she is being started toward being saddled by M.

Kaylene last year

Four horses (Jack, Sue, Mandy, and Kaylene) are turned out together in the main pasture right now, with Windy being kept close to the house (she will be turned back out with the others once the foal is a week or so old) and Sneaky in the arena, which is kind of in the middle of the pasture. In the picture below, the arena starts just to the left of the picture. Windy is turned out in the area you see here, which has gates that are off in the left background to close it off from the main pasture. The other horses are out there.

The horses when they met this year (March)
(L-R) Mandy, Kaylene, Windy, Jack, Sue

I missed posting last week because I don't have a smartphone or internet and actually was so busy I forgot (whoops!!) so I will try to post next weekend. By then there should be a brand-new foal to post about, and I will have pictures of it and updated photos of the whole herd, including Sneaky!

Until then, y'all!!