Ahhhh Horse Movies

Ode to Alec Ramsey



I think that I shall never see a boy as brave as Alec Ramsey.

Hunger and thirst and fear and pain.

He lived because his heart had aim!

A horse, as black as night to day; a feast of God with whom he did stay.

They slept in the sand and played in the ocean and rode over the island in a singular motion.

And now here he sits, a hero among boys,

with the love of a horse, much more than mere toys!





The Black Stallion and National Velvet are my two all time favorite horse movies - In fact, Mickey Rooney was my favorite actor as a child - not Tom Cruise, no. Not Brad Pitt - nu-uh. Good old Rooney, for me. Anyway, I just forced my husband to watch The Black Stallion, and it got me all reminiscent. I think next week I'll move on to the Black Stallion Returns, and then maybe a little Hot to Trot (remember that one)? For shits and giggles....

what are your favorite horse movies?

Lady

Meet Lady - my mom's new horse! The best part of the whole deal was when my mom offered to pay the woman who was caring for her, she refused. She gave the horse to my mom! Lady is sweet, calm and best of all, she seems like she's going to be a safe and reliable friend to my mom for years and years to come. We've already ridden her in the ring several times and down the road - the horse is great! I don't want to jinx anything, so I hope it remains that way.

Lady is approximately 15'3. She's a chestnut, 5-6 year old AQHA mare. Her former owner frequently rode her down trails as well as in the arena. Unfortunately Lady's former owner came across hard times, and just left Lady and two other horses at the farm they were being boarded at. Lady is conformed nicely, she is slightly up hill, has a nice shoulder and neck and has that big ole' quarter horse butt that my mom loves. My mom was slightly disappointed that Lady is on the lazy side, but I couldn't be happier about that. The last thing I need is my mom gallivanting around on some crazed horse. YIKES! As you can imagine, I sighed a BIG sigh of relief knowing that Lady was of the calm variety.

Here's the clincher to this happy ending though. I talked to both my mom and the barn owner about testing for HYPP. My mom had never heard of it nor had the barn owner (who mainly shows Morgans). AGHHHH - my mom says she's going to get Lady tested for HYPP when the vet comes out in the spring for shots, but I worry. Unfortunately we don't know Lady's breeding because her former owner still has the papers. We are in the process of tracking her down. Anyway, I know that AQHA's born after 1998 and are Impressive bred have a chance of being HYPP N/H, but I don't know much else. Again, I don't know what Lady's breeding is. Are Impressive babies very common? How popular of a breeding stallion was/is he? YIKES!! How common are HYPP N/H horses? This really freaks me out!

BUT - all in all it was an excellent weekend, Lady is a sweet girl and my mom is happiest right there beside her!

Horse Fever

What started as a case of Horse Fever has escalated into a Horse Epidemic! Someone is buying a horse this weekend, tomorrow actually! That someone is near and dear to my heart - she's my sita (my mom). When I was just a 3 day old babe, my mom had me on a horse - sitting in front of her in the saddle, I rode that way until I was about 5 or 6 when I could move to the back and cling around her waist as we rode the trails and roads near our house. I'm sure many these days would be horrified to know that I was subjected to this sans a helmet. I was even allowed to sit upon a pony's back while she roamed loose around a grassy yard once. I think I was 3. Those things don't bother me, I don't waste my time allowing my panties to bunch. Life is dangerous right? I'm not saying I'd allow my little one to ever be helmet less, but times were different then.

Anyway, back to my mom. When I was about 9 or 10, I took over our little Quarter Horse, Flash. My mom never really did have her own horse since that time. I eventually moved from Flash onto a fancy high stepping Morgan, my mom sat on the fenceline and watched. So, finally, after about 20 years, my mom is about to take the plunge. She's buying a sweet AQHA mare (5 years old). This girl will be moved closer to my mom's house and will serve as a trail horse, companion and the best therapist money can buy! Lady *the horse* will be ridden tomorrow *for the 1st time by my mom* and if that goes well, she's coming home.

This STALLION kind of looks like her :) Real pictures to come....

What Do You Think?

This could be a very long winded story and frankly, when I try to put these stories into writing, it ends up being a jumbled up, boring and confusing mess. Therefore, I am simply going to say that there is a horse that I may or may not be purchasing this spring. The horse would be coming to me via a trade from Barn Owner. A few years ago Barn Owner traded a woman her older gelding for any young horse of the woman's (she is a small time breeder). Anyway, bla bla blabadeebla. So, I've seen some pictures and the one I'm thinking about is pictured below.

Now, it's really tough to see his conformation because he's moving around. It would be nice to see him standing still in a nice quality photo, but well, he's young at 3, he's very cheap at $1,500.00 and he's going to be big for a Morgan. That being said, from what I can see he appears to be cute. I think he has a nice head, but I'm not so sure about his two front legs. Do they seem kind of close together? I don't need a perfect horse mind you, and even if they were close together, it doesn't really bother me. I just want a horse that can stay sound and carry me for years to come. I love honesty so please, let me know what you think - the good the bad and the ugly, por favor!

Here's a pretty bad quality picture- cute silhouette though.

This one sort of makes him look rough (I think). He looks weedy and his front legs look like they're coming out of the same spot. Could be the angle, but I don't wanna' kid myself here.

My favorite picture of him. He looks cute here and I like his head.