Hals latest successes under saddle!

First of all, I am writing this update with the cutest chihauhua puppy on my lap while I listen to the two chirping banty chicks that we were handed a week ago to see if we could save them as their mother had abandoned them....It reminds me of Doctor Doolittle!

Well last week we went to the arena twice and the first time I have already written about. We went back Thursday and what a great day we had! I can't really say enough about how well Hal is doing under saddle! We had a great time reinforcing his trot and moved on to his canter. All I can say is WOW what a flowing canter he has. I am really enjoying that colt much more than I ever thought I would. I knew he was going to make someone a nice horse, but now I have an idea just how nice he is going to be!

Anyway, here are some pictures that Maria took for me of Hal and I doing our first canter lesson. he works on a loose rein, very responsive to leg pressure, loads easily, trims, bathes, he is just an all around nice gelding!

Ok, Now I can't resist showing off some other pics we got of Mia and Halie! Can't forget Desperado either I guess!

On the down side for Desperado(at least from his point of view), he is becoming a gelding today. My fairier once told me that a great stallion makes and even better gelding! I know Desperado has the makings for a good stallion, but I would rather see him trotting around a showring with a kid on his back and enjoying be rode around the country side without a worry in the world about whether that cute little palomino mare is in season or not! So here's to you Desperado, the cutest gelding around these parts!

Happy Trails!

A good day at the arena!

We loaded up 5 of our horses and ponies yesterday and had a great time down at the local arena. Maria rode her mare CH Shining Star and she pretty well, Michaela rode old Jazz and I got some great riding in on my black Arabian mare Mia Silk Hallany(Mia) who has been green broke for way to many years than I would ever like to admit to. Sufice it to say we both took time off to have a few babies each and now party time is over and it is time to get back to work for the both of us. I also got some pretty pictures of her while I had her cleaned up so here are some of them.

I also got a really good ride on her son Tritons Hallany Dream aka Hal who was sired by Skyviews Triton a Connemara . He made me proud by being willing to move out in a trot even by himself around the arena and he was steady and pretty even paced for not having done that before. I really like his gaits and movement. He was very easy to do a rising trot to and super easy to sit his trot. He also showed he had a nice slow easy jog/trot on his own so he should be able to do anything from english to western! I have lots of hope in this young black gelding! He is for sale but to the right show home. Email me if you are intersted. Hal is 14.3 pushing 15 hands and he is 3 years old so he may do more growing.

I also took Desperado our yearling stud colt to make it a full trailer load and he likes to go places anyway so he learned to load through the side door and make the 2 ft hop in with out being led in so he just jumps in while I stand beside him! What a sweet and easy pony he is proving to be! Anyway, I decided to try and get some cute pics of him, but it was not his day so they are kind goofy but oh well, you get what you get sometimes. He is also for sale to the right show home only.

His color is a rare Silver Bay/Sabino-Pinto/Rabicano roan. He is still intact but will be gelded this fall if he is not sold. $1500

Well it's time to get my day going, gotta go pick pears today and do more canning.....ugh.

Until next time, Happy Trails!

What we are up too these days!

Well, where do I start? I guess I could try counting all the pints of jam, quarts and half gallon jars of juice, the jelly, now working on fruit leather plus more juice.......I am so tired of looking at my kitchen these days! I have been in my kitchen all week and seriously need some riding time! I did sneek out Wednesday for a quick ride on Reno with Michaela on Jazz and looking for elderberries was my excuse. Wait a minute, do I really want to look for more berries? It's just that elderberries are so good and the jam is so good on fresh homemade bisuits in the morning.....yum!

So we have been busy as bees around here, well I have at least putting up some food for winter. The kids have started the school year so back to the books for them and they were so tickled when we got the email for their foreign language classes through Rosetta Stone! So yesterday was the first day of Swahili for Michaela, Portuguese for Maria, and Spanish for Hannah! So I of course had to take a small break from the kitchen to see how it worked and boy that was actually kinda fun for me too!

last week we took a few horses down to a local arena and had some fun with Jazz, Tucker and believe it or not, I rode Hal for the second time! He did pretty good, we even got to trot a bit so I was proud of him. We took some videos of him being sacked out and working under saddle with our group of horses and then we couldn't unload the vids from the camera we borrowed from a friend.....ugh. So now hubby says he is going to buy our own camera to do our own videos.....now that will be fun! I hope to make it back down to the arena early next week so I can leave my kitchen behind me for a little while at least.

The little chihuahua puppies are growing like weeds now and they are so stinkin cute! They run around, bark their cute little barks and growl their cute little growls, wag their cute little tails! I can't believe we have to part with these little buggers! They love to play with our 3 yr old german shepherd Zoe and she of course just adores them and loves on them as much as mommy will allow her to. I think I can, I think I can, I think I can....what am I thinking about anyway? Oh well, the thought escapes me....oh ya, they are so cute! Wait, it was that we need to sell them darn it all!

So, back to the dungion...I mean kitchen I go and be the hermit I have become this week. At least I have some good cd's to listen too and the kids to keep me somewhat sain. Jarrom will read his books to me while I work and Gid sits at me feet on a stool with his work so doing the canning is not so boring with their little stories and ideas.

Well my apricotts are juicing, the fruit leather is drying and more canning jars are screaming for a washing, well not really but you know what I mean ok! If you don't know what I mean, come on over and you can help me can! While you are here feel free to help me clean my house after it being ignored all week with 6 kids in the house! UGH! Did I mention I am sain....I think!? Can Flylady just come clean my house for me every week so I can just play with ponies, puppies and kids all week, everyday, and play play play to my little hearts content? OK I better really get back to work!

Till next time, Happy Canning and Happy Trails from the little house in the 60 acre woods!

A trip to the 4 Seasons Marchadores ranch in Montana!

We just got back from a 2 day trip to the 4 Seasons Marchadores Ranch owned by Peter and Lori Silcher of Hamilton, Montana where they raise a rare Brazilian bred horse called the Mangalarga Marchador!

If there was a such a thing as the perfect horse, well they are pretty darn close to it!

In the beginning.....lol! Anyway, we first met the Silchers 2 years ago at Ride the West in the breed showcase barn. They were just down the aisle from us and we got to see the horses up close and really liked their looks and quiet dispositions. The Silchers of course were pretty neat people too and so we were tickled to find them coming back again in 08 with their beautiful horses.

What makes these horses so special? Let me explain why they are so special to me, granted I am very new to this but my daughter has become a walking encyclopedia for me so I can pick her brain if I need to...LOL! The qualities that I like most about them is the disposition, versatiliy, conformation and durability and of course the really cool gaits they can do. They walk, trot and canter like any non gaited horse, but they can also do two other gaits as well. The Picada and Batida gaits are really cool to ride is all I can say! I couldn't tell you the foot fall pattern to save my life, but I know they are awesome on the trail. They can do litterally anything that any other breed of horse can do, but they can do it gaited or non gaited as you desire.

So Maria go to ride her favorite horse Netuno that was imported from Brazil and I got to ride a really cool gelding named Celibalto! What fun that was! We got to feel what it was like to take them out on the trails and wow did those horses have power for hill climbing! The thing I loved most about our visit was how down to earth these hard working horses and people are! Celibalto is an amazing young horse that was fun to ride. Maria is just plain smitten with Netuno and the only horse that stands a chance at holding Maria heart beside Netuno is her own arab mare Star!
Don't get me wrong, I love my Arabian Ponies! I love them as much today as I did last year. The qualities I found in the Marchadores are everything I have bred for with my ponies but they are a step ahead of my ponies because they can gait! I found myself this morning on my ride wishing I could get my 3 yr old gelding to gait....silly me!

So I have a new goal as I had thought I had finally achieved my ultimate Arabian Pony until now. I found the one ingredient that would make my ponies more perfect for me and that would be to try for a Arabian Pony that is crossed with Marchador! So my plan is obviously down the road as my filly that I want to cross with is only a yearling so breeding her is more than a few years away. A gaited Marchador/Arabian Pony is what I want for my own personal mount!

I want to thank Lori and Peter Silcher and their family for really making our visit a wonderful one! I can't recall when I enjoyed myself that much on a trip! It ended too quickly and we wanted to stay longer! If you would like more information about Mangalarga Marchadores, you can go to the US Marchador Registry, or visit the 4 Seasons Marchadores Ranch website.

Till my next post, Happy Trails!

Renegade Farm Arabian Ponies New Website!

Yep! We now have our own official website! Renegade Farm Arabian Ponies can now be found at www.arabponies.com ! Take a look around and have fun checking out our ponies! It is still under construction though so be patient and remember to check back often for new info and pics!

Thanks,

Jean

Spooks Painted Lena Finds new Home in Oregon!

APHA**BAY/WHITE**TOVERO**5 YR**FILLY**FOR SALE

****UPDATE****Mocha has found her new home! Thank you all for your interest in her!

Some of you might remember Spooks Painted Lena aka Mocha's story. If you don't, I am going to tell it again.

A dear friend of ours passed away a few years ago and his sister inherited the farm and many head of horses. She did her best feeding them all and keeping them as healthy as possible till the estate was settled and she could start selling them. There were many of them to sell and she really had a chore of sorting out who was who and what papers belonged to what horses there were so many. She is a brave woman!

To make a long story short, there was this little bay that nobody really noticed much because she always hung to the back and the other horses kicked her to the back if she didn't go there herself. The same went for food. Every horse on the place was happy and healthy except for little Mocha as they had lovingly nicknamed her. She was kicked out of the food by the other horses and she was so wild you couldn't catch her to seperate her out to feed her alone.

So time went on, someone turned them in for animal abuse because this one horse was skinny among the many fat horses. So we stepped in and offered to buy the filly and give her a good home and get her away from accusing eyes. They managed to get her and another filly in a round pen and so we began our work of halter breaking them and gentling her so she could be handled to load in a trailer to come home with us.

Well, since that day she has learned to trust people, loves attention, can be trimmed(with patience), actually loves wormer(no Joke, she wants more when you give her a full tube!), she has been saddled, bridled, was ground drove and round penned lightly to teach her basic voice commands. She loads in a trailer rather nicely compared to what I was expecting and she is quite curious and sweet! She loves children and is gentle with them and around them(we have 6 kids from age 14-3 yrs).

Mocha was stunted and you can tell she did not get as tall as she would have. She is around 14 hands and her sister that I sold last year was 15+ hands! She might be great for a lead line pony as she loves kids. She just needs someone to love her and give her a chance. She is easy to catch and lead and will follow you like a puppy around the pen.

You can see for yourself in the pictures. She really is a sweet mare and deserves a good home! If you can be that good home for her, please contact us and we can arrange for you to meet this young lady. This has been a difficult choice for us and we really want the best for this filly.

A Good Day!

Ok now that the important stuff is out of the way, I wanted to share a wonderful horsey moment I had yesterday!

I have this young gelding that we have always played around with him and he went to Ride the West with us last year but not much else. Well I decided to see how he would except a hackamore since we mainly trail ride so bits are not all that inportant to us. So he was just fine and even started neck reining a bit. So next came the western saddle and he really could have cared less! So I had one of my kids hop on and led him around like he was already trained to do so, so I got a bigger child on his back! That was all fine and dandy so I wanted to ride him!

Mind you, after having 6 kids....well my figure "ain't what she used to be" to coin a fraze. So I mounted my little stead and he just stood there! Checked out my foot in the stirrup, decided it was no big deal and wanted to go. So we started turns and stops and it was like he had been greenbroke before I got to him. I know he has never been rode because we raised him!

Anyway, my oldest daughter got out the old grey mare who really "ain't what she used to be" also(she makes me feel better about myself) and we went for a ride! Really, we actually went for a ride! First time on his back and he only did a few little scurries, not enough to unseat my larger self!

So I had my daughter grab the camera and snap some pics of cute little Tucker under saddle and mounted for the first time! I was reminded of why I started breeding Arabian cross ponies when I rode him! They are so naturally loving and gentle and easy to train, they make you feel like one heck of a good rider/trainer! Now for the other gelding, I wonder if he will be as easy?

Enjoy the pics and I will allow a snicker or two at my rotundness but no more than that OK!

Happy Trails!

Jean

Arabian Pony Registry and Ride the West!

Ride the West Update

Well, we are already gearing up for another great year at Ride the West in May at the Spokane Intersate Fairgrounds! This years fliers are in the works and we shoudl have them ready in another month or so. Ride the West is a great place to meet others adn learn from some of the best trainers in the world and see some amazing and beautiful horses and Arabian Ponies of course!

This year we will be taking a few more of our ponies and look forward to sharing our wonderfully good natured ponies with the world once again!

Arabian Pony Registry of America Update!

The Arabian Pony Registry of America is really hoping this year too! We have made many changes and hope it is more user friendly! We also have a fun Arabian Ponies Yahoo Group that anybody can join! You don't have to have a pony to enjoy them! Join the group and have fun meeting other Arabian Pony breeders, trainers or those who just love to watch them!