But I’m not an Arab person!
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Typically, I prefer sporthorses of any breed with the conformation, sanity and soundness to be versatile enough for the three phases of eventing, in addition to any other equestrian activity that catches my interest (hunter paces, broom polo, gymkhana, even driving). The type of Arabs I’ve seen round these parts are typically saddleseat or english pleasure type that go in the roundy-round classes at horse shows and fairs.
But then, I met my friend Christine’s horse Irish, and more recently, his sire, Mac. Mac is a Pinto Arab of the old school type; he has bone, substance and better still, put together well and sane. His get are all much the same as he, tractable, trainable and personable. I’ve been lucky to see Irish grow from a gawky yearling to a lovely 4 year old, well started under saddle and ready to go up the levels. In fact, I was one of the first people to back him a couple of winters ago, when he was just starting his saddle breaking.
Originally, my plan was to breed Clover to Mac this coming spring; but then one of the mares at Mac’s home farm foaled a surprise baby three weeks ago. Apparently, Mac bred Danny through hot electric fence. Mares tend to go the extra mile to get to Mac--his first breeding occurred when a mare broke out of her paddock and swam across a pond to get to him. Jaeme sent a couple of emails with foal pictures and the comment, “I really, really hope someone like Christine finds him–he really seems destined for Eventing.”
That was it. I was sold. Just on the strength of knowing Irish, I was ready to buy this baby as my new prospect. Going up to the farm to see him was a mere formality (but a good opportunity to eat more of Jaeme’s delicious stews!) Keane is amazing. It’s hard to look past the new foal cuteness, but when I did I could see that he is put together very well, with a well set on neck, a long, sloping shoulder and strong, clean legs that just do not quit.
So much for the smaller horses and ponies I prefer as mounts. Jaeme thinks he will finish up around 16 hands, with an ‘elegant’ body–I’m thinking lean like Irish and my old stablemate’s TB, Bart. Jaeme turned him out with his dam, and he put on a show that had us all staring at him with wonder–this sweet, fuzzy colt galloped around and bucked and cantered and stole our hearts. I’ve never seen a foal so independent, he spent a lot of time running around, exploring and checking us out, not hanging shyly around his dam’s udders like other young foals I’ve seen. I put a deposit down on him, and once he’s weaned I’ll pay the balance and he is mine.
I started panicking immediately after. My riding–I’m a terrible rider! All of a sudden my confidence level went down even further, until Christine and Jaeme reassured me that I have 3 plus years yet to get myself up to par, and stop worrying about it. Oh yeah, that’s right … and I started breathing again.
Christine is excited to have a young horse to play with again. “My evil plan worked,” she grinned. She and Tony had gently been steering me away from breeding Clover and more towards just buying one of Mac’s babies out of a proven broodmare. And I’m glad I took the bait–Jaeme sent me out to hang out with Danny and Keane on my own, so that Keane would be less overwhelmed by all the strange people and just focus on me so I could get to know him a little. “OK BabyHorse,” I said, “I’m more scared of you than you are of me.” I nervously pet him and tried to comport myself around him properly, not let him play with me, but in a way that I could touch him and check him out one on one. I’m so worried about doing the right thing, knowing that everything you do with a horse is training, but then I have to remember that he isn’t breakable.
I’m doing this for fun, right?
Typically, I prefer sporthorses of any breed with the conformation, sanity and soundness to be versatile enough for the three phases of eventing, in addition to any other equestrian activity that catches my interest (hunter paces, broom polo, gymkhana, even driving). The type of Arabs I’ve seen round these parts are typically saddleseat or english pleasure type that go in the roundy-round classes at horse shows and fairs.
But then, I met my friend Christine’s horse Irish, and more recently, his sire, Mac. Mac is a Pinto Arab of the old school type; he has bone, substance and better still, put together well and sane. His get are all much the same as he, tractable, trainable and personable. I’ve been lucky to see Irish grow from a gawky yearling to a lovely 4 year old, well started under saddle and ready to go up the levels. In fact, I was one of the first people to back him a couple of winters ago, when he was just starting his saddle breaking.
Originally, my plan was to breed Clover to Mac this coming spring; but then one of the mares at Mac’s home farm foaled a surprise baby three weeks ago. Apparently, Mac bred Danny through hot electric fence. Mares tend to go the extra mile to get to Mac--his first breeding occurred when a mare broke out of her paddock and swam across a pond to get to him. Jaeme sent a couple of emails with foal pictures and the comment, “I really, really hope someone like Christine finds him–he really seems destined for Eventing.”
That was it. I was sold. Just on the strength of knowing Irish, I was ready to buy this baby as my new prospect. Going up to the farm to see him was a mere formality (but a good opportunity to eat more of Jaeme’s delicious stews!) Keane is amazing. It’s hard to look past the new foal cuteness, but when I did I could see that he is put together very well, with a well set on neck, a long, sloping shoulder and strong, clean legs that just do not quit.
So much for the smaller horses and ponies I prefer as mounts. Jaeme thinks he will finish up around 16 hands, with an ‘elegant’ body–I’m thinking lean like Irish and my old stablemate’s TB, Bart. Jaeme turned him out with his dam, and he put on a show that had us all staring at him with wonder–this sweet, fuzzy colt galloped around and bucked and cantered and stole our hearts. I’ve never seen a foal so independent, he spent a lot of time running around, exploring and checking us out, not hanging shyly around his dam’s udders like other young foals I’ve seen. I put a deposit down on him, and once he’s weaned I’ll pay the balance and he is mine.
I started panicking immediately after. My riding–I’m a terrible rider! All of a sudden my confidence level went down even further, until Christine and Jaeme reassured me that I have 3 plus years yet to get myself up to par, and stop worrying about it. Oh yeah, that’s right … and I started breathing again.
Christine is excited to have a young horse to play with again. “My evil plan worked,” she grinned. She and Tony had gently been steering me away from breeding Clover and more towards just buying one of Mac’s babies out of a proven broodmare. And I’m glad I took the bait–Jaeme sent me out to hang out with Danny and Keane on my own, so that Keane would be less overwhelmed by all the strange people and just focus on me so I could get to know him a little. “OK BabyHorse,” I said, “I’m more scared of you than you are of me.” I nervously pet him and tried to comport myself around him properly, not let him play with me, but in a way that I could touch him and check him out one on one. I’m so worried about doing the right thing, knowing that everything you do with a horse is training, but then I have to remember that he isn’t breakable.
I’m doing this for fun, right?
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