[CowgirlUp]

My baby celebrated her 1 year birthday yesterday. It's amazing to watch foals grow into adult horses. They go through some pretty ugly phases :coolsmile

She was bought for me by my 86 year old best friend Salvador when she was only 3 months old. I put the name "Sal" in her registration name so I will always be reminded of where she came from. I plan on barrel racing and pole bending with her and she's already showing the ability to be a cattle cutting prospect.

In the past year I've had 3 broken toes, more bruises than I can count and a couple bite marks, but I wouldn't trade her for anything. I had always heard that you should never get a horse unless you're willing to get hurt.....now I know why!! :rotflol:

Here she is the day I picked her out (or when she picked me, stole my heart)
http://forum.abestweb.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=1478&stc=1
http://forum.abestweb.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=1479&stc=1


And here she is now :coolsmile
http://forum.abestweb.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=1480&stc=1
http://forum.abestweb.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=1481&stc=1

Now if I can just get a horse whisperer out here to convince her she's NOT a unicorn princess!

[Kristin Kinsey]

I want a horsey!!!! How cute!

[Rhea]

Awww. You're so lucky. I always wanted a horse. Then I was thrown by one and I changed my mind. Now I'd rather have a goat. They can't throw you so far. ;)

What breed is she?

[CowgirlUp]

Thanks Kristin and Rhea

She's a quarter horse. Her registered name is Zans Two Sal Kahlua, but I call her Kahlua. She baffles all of my friends that have horses because she acts like a dog. She licks, chases cars and cats and worse of all she snubs other horses.

Kristin, when you move down this way I have two friends that have horse ranches and always need people to ride and help keep the horses "tuned up"

Rhea, I love goats too! My step daughter did them for the fair, and one would headbutt you in the rear if you wasn't looking :rotflol:

[Rhea]

Does she come when you call her? Can she play fetch? I gotta see this horse, she sounnds like a hoot.

On the subject of goats, when I was a kid (no pun intended) my family had a membership at a nature center and we were there so much that we made friends with the resident caretaker and he would let us in after hours. And he would let me into the farm animal pens to play with the critters. One year there was a baby goat with a broken leg and we became pals. Would you believe that goat would sit in my lap to be cuddled? Since then I've been a total sucker for goats. (None of them ever butted me.)

[Kristin Kinsey]

YAY! How fun!!

[CowgirlUp]

Would you believe that goat would sit in my lap to be cuddled? Since then I've been a total sucker for goats. (None of them ever butted me.)

I'm jealous! None of the girl's goats ever liked me! They had pygmy's and I wanted to cuddle them so bad and they ran from me :cry: Then they grew up to be satan's little helpers and would butt me when I wasn't looking. But in their defense, I was studying large animal restraint at the time and would practice on them when I could catch one :rotflol:

Oh yeah, she come's when I call her. In fact she's overly obnoxious about wanting my attention. When she's in the arena and hears my voice through an open window she'll stand at the fence line and call to me. If I walk across the street to the farm and don't take her with me, she runs up and down the fence, whinnying her head off until she works herself into a lather. I tried to go walking with a neighbor and she cried so much we had to take her with us.

Her coolest attribute is she's loves people. The road I live on runs along a river and has a lot of "vacationers" so car traffic doesn't bother her. People have learned if the pull their car up close enough to the fence, she'll stick her head in through a window to get petted. :coolsmile

She won't eat apples or carrots, but she loves M&M's and beer !!

[KimSalvino]

She is just beautiful!

[loxly]

What a beautiful baby!!!

(no loxly you CAN'T have a horse....)

[CowgirlUp]

thanks laura.....and BIG thanks to loxly (she and chris taught me how to post pics!)

ya'll can come play with her anytime :cheerful:

Who know's, if she does as well as what my trainer thinks she will I may be in vegas for a rodeo!

[missdonna]

What a sweetie!

I always tell people who are getting interested in horses that they WILL get hurt, and they usually don't believe me.

Once I was helping run an endurance ride and I told a newbie that and he refused to believe me. So for the next few minutes I stopped everyone who walked past and asked them to tell me about their worst horsey injury. That scared even me. There were stories about broken legs and ribs and arms, and ambulance rides and helicopter rides.

One person, a friend I'd known for years, told us the worst she'd experienced was a sprained finger. So we figured it didn't happen to everyone. However, the following year her horse fell off a cliff with her and she got her helicopter ride. Fortunately she and her horse survived.

So do be careful. I'm currently riding a horse that's over 30 and tame as a puppy, and I still get scared sometimes. It isn't if, it's when and how bad.

[CowgirlUp]

It isn't if, it's when and how bad.

You are so right! My trainer's daughter (who is also my daughter's best friend, gotta love small towns! Everyone knows everyone) fell from a horse at 5 and the horse stepped on her face. She got a helicopter ride and reconstructive surgery.

One of the horses I ride is a 16.2 hand thoroughbred. I ride him hunt seat and have to have a mounting block to reach the irons. The first time I dismounted I lost my footing and ended up under him. His hooves are as big as my hand and I was so fortunate I didn't get hurt! He just turned his head around and looked at me like "you idiot!" :rotflol:

Everyone warned me I should get an older horse, but I fell in love with Kahlua the moment I saw her. So I'm getting a crash course in dealing with young horses and their tendency to be high strung, but thankfully the trust between us is making tasks like sacking her out a breeze. :up: But we'll see how much trust there is the first time a saddle gets strapped on her back :coolsmile

[Rhea]

Yep, what Donna said.

A riding instructor once put me on a horse that I swear was part Percheron. The stirrups were winched up so high that when the horse took a turn in the ring I was dumped overboard. My arm was scratched up terribly and I wound up with a nasty infection in it.

A stable horse that I was grooming (he wasn't named Gargantua for nothing) picked me up with his teeth. I had to whack him on the snout to get him to drop me. Very bad bruise on my arm.

And then there was the horse that tried to kill me. The riding instructor had to leave the ring to take a phone call and the horse started bucking. I stayed on for a good long while but he nailed me when I attempted to dismount. And 30 years later I still have problems with my neck and shoulder.

[CowgirlUp]

OMG! you haven't had much luck with horses have you? Wow!

Ok, now I KNOW my day is coming for a serious injury. If I'm not on the boards for several weeks at a time, one can probably guess I'm in double casts or something.

[Rhea]

Oh, I forgot about the runaway horse incident. In the woods no less...at dusk! I kept my head down and came out of that one unscathed. Horses have no respect for me. But never fear, they were all stable horses. Your horse is a beloved pet and that can make all the difference. :D

[missdonna]

Your horse is a beloved pet and that can make all the difference. :DWrong.

The horse probably won't hurt her intentionally, but just being a horse is all it takes. Most of my injuries have been with horses that liked me and would never try to hurt me. But things happen. And horses are big and strong. And not all that smart.

[Rhea]

Donna wrote:And horses are big and strong. And not all that smart. lol! You forgot NERVOUS.

I'm just saying that she stands a better chance of not getting hurt if she and her horse know each other really well. Two of my horse injuries were deliberate acts of aggression. My cousins' horses were beloved pets and none of us ever had a problem with them. My cousins even rode them bareback. (I'm not that brave.)

[CowgirlUp]

I have been fortunate about not getting hurt other than a couple of broken toes because she spooked and came down on my feet.

When I gave her her first bath I literally just threw a towel over her and began rubbing away before I realized what I had just done. She never even flinched! I was lucky I didn't go flying through the air on that one.

On the other hand, for a span of about three months after she hit about 6 months of age I couldn't get in the field with her without putting her on lead. She had it in her head I was a playmate and would rear up and paw at me. The first time was enough to scare the life at me and I called my trainer in tears because I thought I had a "bad" horse. She assured me I just had a YOUNG horse.

The back yard buddy relationship I have with her has it's benefits that's for sure, but it does make it dangerous too. Sometimes she is just too comfortable with me and gets a little pushy, then I have to re-establish myself as the alpha. But once she's corrected she accepts it and all is fine.

It's funny you mention about being ran through the woods Rhea. I rode the nastiest Halflinger last summer and she kept running me into trees on purpose! It took me almost 30 mintues to get her to respond to me. After that she was fine, but it definately taught me a lesson about trail horses!

[Geno Prussakov]

Cute Kahlua!! Thank you for posting her pics! :up: I love horses.

Geno

[Rhea]

Anyone who rides has to be taught how to react to a variety of things that can go wrong. Unfortunately none of my instructors did that. The only advice I ever got was to use the crop. That sure didn't prepare me for being bucked or how to deal with a runaway horse. I responded purely on instinct to those situations. Not the best way to learn.
I also think it's important to familiarize yourself and your horse with the area in which it's being ridden so as to minimize surprises and accidents. My cousins would always lead their horses through any new terrain before they'd ride them through it. It gave the horse and the rider a chance to survey the area at walking speed, checking for gopher holes, rocky areas and any other thing that might present a hazard.

Some of it's preparation, some of it's common sense and some of it's just dumb luck.I was very lucky my neck wasn't broken when that horse threw me.

I never had a horse try to "play" with me. That does sound scary. Maybe you should get her a goat as a playmate. ;)

[Rhia7]

Nice pics :up: I love horses :heartbeat

[adFinityJoe]

Wow! Beautiful animal. How long does it take to establish that "alpha" relationship? Can the be more than one alpha?

Its funny, I've never thought of horses as particularly "young" or "old". Everytime I've gone riding at a stable, it's just a "horse". Ha ha.

[CowgirlUp]

Thanks everyone on the compliments, I'm very proud of her.

LOL, I tried to get her a goat so she wouldn't be lonely when I'm not out there, hubby said NO MORE ANIMALS! men, hmmmph!

It only took me about 2 days to stablish my Alpha status, but horses will test it. Especially Mares! She just came into her first heat last month and she was awful for about 2 days. Was wanting to bite, not walk well on lead, was fidgety when she was getting groomed. But I didn't let her get away with it and she straightened up once she actually came into season. I've been told I was lucky, it could have been a lot worse if other horses had been around.

[Mr. Sal]

I put the name "Sal" in her registration name so I will always be reminded of where she came from.
Say what? :speechles

A :female: :horse: ?

Now I don't know if I should feel offended or not! :scratchch


A horse is a horse, of course, of course,
And no one can talk to a horse of course
That is, of course, unless the horse is the famous Mister Sal.

Go right to the source and ask the horse
He’ll give you the answer that you’ll endorse.
He’s always on a steady course.
Talk to Mister Sal.

People yakkity yak a streak and waste your time of day
But Mr. Sal will never speak unless he has something to say

A horse is a horse, of course, of course,
And this one’ll talk ‘til his voice is hoarse.
You never heard of a talking horse?

Well listen to this: "I'm Mister Sal."
Source: bussongs (http://www.bussongs.com/songs/a_horse_is_a_horse_mr_ed_tv_show.php)



http://abestweb.com/smilies/haha.gif

I'm jealous! None of the girl's goats ever liked me! They had pygmy's and I wanted to cuddle them so bad and they ran from me :cry: Then they grew up to be satan's little helpers and would butt me when I wasn't looking.


I am not a :horse:, I am a :capricorn Goat, so now you know why your goats do that to you.

:rotflol:

[erninator]

Really nice pics! I haven't been hurt yet, but came really close last weekend. I was attempting put a new halter on Godzilla, my 1600 lb. Belgian/Mustang. Other horses gathered around and made him nervous. While my arm was over his neck he lifted up and flung me into the air. When I landed in a pile of pucky the horsey treats fell out of my pocket. Looking up all I saw was horse legs all around me as the others rushed in for the treats. Next time I'll lead him out and visit with him one-on-one.