Bonnie: Norwegian Fjord: Mare

Bonnie is a large pony type horse. She is fat, she even has rolls. When I first met Bonnie, I did not care for her because she liked to kick other horses. But after a while I grew to like her attitude. I got to ride her one day, and that's when I found out how wonderful she really was. I preferred to ride her bareback, which is without a saddle. She was so round that I had a good grip on her back, and she had a smooth gait, so it was very comfortable to ride. As good of a horse Bonnie was, she does have her problems. First, she loves to eat. All horses do, but not to the extent that she does, she will attempt to grab a snack any chance she gets, even if this means taking you into the bush to get it. The other thing about Bonnie is.. she has foundered. This means that her feet are bad on the inside. The bone inside the hoof tilts and someday might puncture through the sole of her hoof. Yes this is a bad thing, and there are many ways a horse can founder. But when she is on her diet, it does help her feet.

Fellowney: Arabian: Gelding

Fell has a strange name I admit. No, I did not name him, that's his registered name. I am told he has a sister named Mister-meaner. I didn't like riding Fell much, he was a bit high headed for me. But, he was a great horse on the ground, and great with children for being a rather young horse. My fiance rode him a few times and he likes him.

Marty: Quarter Horse: Gelding

Marty was a good horse for kids. He looked old, but had some spirit left. He was bouncy when he trotted, but he could keep up if you wanted him to. I think I liked his color more then his trot.

Misty: Quarter Horse: Mare

Misty was a kind horse. She was always best for those people that are scared. She had a kind face and temper. Everyone thought she was pregnant when they saw her because she was so fat, and she look very funny under saddle. One thing wrong with Misty was she liked her men. If there was a gelding in the herd that she liked, she would become attached to him. Don't be thinking nasty, she would just get upset when she could not be around him. Not usually while being ridden, but that has happened. Also, her best female friend was Daisy, a small pony that was always hard to catch, and Misty would follow her around, making her hard to catch too.

Teish: Arabian: Mare

Teish pronounced Tish, was a retired barrel racer. She was quick meaning she was always in front on trail rides. I used to ride her a lot, but then desided I liked the slow horses better. She would take you anywhere you wanted, she rarely spooked on trails which is good, then the other horses would follow if there was a leader into the "spooky trails".

Nona: Arabian: Mare

Nona was a strange one. I never liked her much, as she was hard to catch, and had the strangest of friends. When Nona came to this riding stable, she had no name, which is common with horses purchased at auction. They say that she came during the christmas season, and the person working kept calling her "No Name" and after a while just called her Nona. Another thing I did not like about Nona was the fact that on atleast one day a week, while standing in her stall, when you went to saddle her, she would flip out and lunge backwards. This being a standing stall, and her head tied to the manger, she would back up until her head got to the end of the rope and then lay down, and refuse to move. This action tended to scare anyone in the barn that was not familiar with her habit. I never figured out why she did this, just that she did.

Dominic: Arabian: Gelding

Dom was another strange one. But then again most Arabians are strange. He was very nice looking, but hard to ride. As if someone took him out on the trails and cantered him, thats what he would try to do on other trail rides where he was supposted to just walk. He became hard to control after a while, there must have been someone there that loved to take him out to canter. Oh and he hated HorseFly's, and would buck is he got one on his back. Even with fly repellent, it didn't help.

Aggie: Arabian: Mare

Aggie had a hormone problem. She was very prissy, and always swung her head to one side. Another person at the stable did some research and read an article about mares that swing their head to one side have a hormone problem. I'm not really sure about the truth on this, but any excuse would be good for her. Agg's also was a good mare most of the time. Though she did get spooked once and take a ridder sideways through a wood fence. Also, she was friends with Nona, and when they were together were hard to catch. Most of the time they were the last ones caught in the morning.

Magician: Palamino: Gelding

Magician was a very slow horse. He did not last long at the stable because he was so slow, and he was hard to get to move faster then his slow plod. Also he was barn sour which ment he didn't like to leave the barn. Other then that he had a gentle personality and was kind. The funniest thing I remember about him was when we went on a trail ride and a volunteer was riding him and he layed down and rolled in the snow and got up, never loosing his rider or hurting her!

Amy: Thoroughbred: Mare

When Amy first arrived at the stable she acted hyper and out of control. She was hard to turn. Then after a while she turned into a gentle horse. Walked slowly and sometimes you thought she was drunk because she could not walk a strait line. She turned out to be a very good horse for children. But she started to copy those horses that pull back in their stalls and had to spend her entire 'tied' time outside the barn to a post where she would not hurt herself anymore.

Ima Here: Quarter Horse: Mare

Ima's story is strange. She came to the stable because she would not jump at the last place she was at. Well during a horse catching training session, she was the horse to catch. As she was approached, she ran and jumped the fence! It was a big laugh, still is at times.

Timer: Standardbred: Gelding

Timer was a retired cart racing horse. He had scars on his legs from something that was done to his legs so he would not feel the pain of (probably) a past injury. I don't think he really could feel his front legs at all, since he tripped all the time. Other than that, he was gentle and kind horse to ride, but bouncy as most trotting horses are.

Snoopy: Appaloosa: Gelding

Snoopy was the kind of horse that got his way most of the time. I'm not sure of his past before he came to the stable, but someone did say he was a retired show horse. He didn't mind getting his mane clipped by his ears, or being brushed. But when it came to tacking him up, he had his tricks. When you went to put the saddle on, you had to be quick because as soon as you put the pad on his back, he'd start to shake his skin and by the time you got the saddle up there, the pad would be too far back. My trick for him was to get the pad on too far up on the neck, then the saddle, then connect his breast collar first so he wouldn't slide the saddle too far back before I got the cinch on. Also, he hated his bit. He would always give a fit when you tried to bridle him. It wasn't long when some girl tried and tried and got knocked around, and gave up. She then put a hackamore on his bridle, so he would not have to open his mouth. I did ride him a few times, and he was a good guy. Snoopy's best friend was Clyde, and it's funny, he's an Appy too.

Whisper: Arabian: Mare

Whisper seemed like an older mare, but still had her times. She was a good horse to ride, smooth gaits. She took care of her riders and was gentle to them. But one day something happened to her and she started to limp. The stable did not have the money to make her better, but the Vet did say that she would still make a good pasture buddy. So with this she was given away to a family with a small boy, that would love her. A year later we heard that they had paid for her to have surgery and she was back under the saddle and doing well.

Hobbs: Big Horse: Gelding

I'm not sure of Hobbs breeding, but he is large, not a draft horse, just bigger then a quarter horse. I always liked Hobbs personality. He would make you laugh all the time. Trying to free his friends from their halters. Looking for things to destroy while standing in his stall.. you name it, he prolly tried to do it. Then one day I got to ride him, I didn't like the way he rode. But I still like the way he thinks.

Dublin: Grade: Gelding

Dublin looked a lot like Hobbs, but a bit smaller. He was an older guy and gentle. He would follow you as you walked in the pasture, always looking at what you were doing. Funny thing too, he hung around Hobbs, so you would get them confused.

Hawkins: Standardbred?: Mare

Hawkins was evil. She loved to kick other horses AND people! Many loved her anyway, and so she stayed. But I didn't like her, and I don't think I ever rode her.

Avalon: Arabian: Gelding

Avalon was the typical spooky horse. He had a few 'run aways' on his record. One I remember the most, he had a rider on him that was a young girl from the inner city. She was scared and he knew it. She was waiting in line for dismount after a trail ride and she kept kicking him, not knowing that she wasn't supposed to do that. I heard someone try and tell her to stop doing that, but she was crying and screaming. As someone aproached her to take the horse to the barn, Avalon had had enough, and he took off into the barn yard. He slipped through an open gate into a pasture and continued down the fence line. I happened to be on a horse at the end of that fence line on the otherside of a gate. I thought Avalon would slow down, but he didn't. I hollered to the girl to pull back on the reins, then noticed she had let go. There was no hope for her, she would have to fall. Then Avalon ran into the high double gate without even slowing down. He was so scared. As the gate fell to the ground, still chained to the other gate, Avalon fell down with it. The girl was catapulted into the air, and fell to the ground inches away from a fence post. Avalon stopped and stood shaking in fear. The girl turned out to be ok. No broken bones, but she will probably never get on another horse.

Buddy: Arabian: Gelding

I really did not like Buddy. He knew ALL the tricks a horse could ever do. He'd spook at nothing. Swing his head back like he was going to bite your leg. Pull on the reins. Rear! Refuse to walk forward. He was just a bother to ride. Unfortunately I had to ride him a lot. He also knew that when he has your own personal saddle on his back, he'd pull back and lay down in his stall, usually laying down in the mud with your saddle on him. I learned real quick to use his saddle when I had to ride him. I was glad when he was finally sold, and gone from the stable. He'd make a good horse for a very tolerent person.

John: Quarter Horse: Gelding

John was another horse that knew a lot of tricks. His favorite was one summer he learned that if he took baby steps with his hind feet, we would all think he was lame. For a while we all did think he was lame, the Vet was even called to look at him. The Vet could not find anything wrong with him, and said to put him back to work. Sure enough after the barn manager rode him with a crop he'd pick it up and walk regular with no signs of lameness. His other famous trick was... well I don't mean to offend any overweight people, but whenever a larger person would approach the mounting block while John was there, he'd throw himself to the ground and lay there. Most of the time this would scare the rider and they would either refuse to ride John, or refuse to ride at all. But occasionally he'd compete with a brave person that would mount him from the ground and ride him anyway. John's biggest problem was he was the laziest horse I have ever met.

Conad: Arabian: Gelding

Conad is a strange name, but I think it fit him well. When he first came to the stable, he thought he was a stallion and started to collect mares from the herd. Unfortunately these mares had other male friends. One morning, before anyone at the stable had ever ridden him, he was attacked by many geldings in the barn yard. It lasted only a moment, and then all the horses in the front part of the barn yard had gone to the back. There stood Conad, he was badly hurt. He was looking at me like... "Mommy help me!" I called for help, and they called the Vet. His shoulder had been ripped open and was flapped over, his entire leg was red with blood. I could see he was very shaken up. When the Vet arrived he had given him 30 stitches, and said he must be kept close to the barn for meds. Conad was so afraid of someone touching his booboo, he'd jump and run if he could if you just POINTED at him. He made it difficult to wash it, we had to use a hose with a spray nossel on it. With a lot of patience and care, he healed up very nice with just one thin scar. Better then we could have imagined for as bad as it was. After he was completely well, I got to ride him. I did like riding him, he was fast, he hated walking, and he'd canter as slow as any horse would walk. But because of this, he was sold from the stable. I had thought of buying him, but I like mares better.

Carol: Arabian: Mare

Carol was a total sweat heart. If you had a small child that wanted to ride a horse, she was the one for you. She would do everything the way she was told, and never made a misstep. Everyone at the stable loved her for her sweetness. But Carol was an older horse, and could not go on every ride. She got plenty of rest time. After many good years spent at the stable, one summer afternoon, we noticed she was sweating profusely. I looked around at the other horses who were off that afternoon, and saw that no one was sweating. We immediately called for help, someone that knew more needed to check her out. I thought she was colicing. But when the Vet came the next day, she treated for colic, and it was no help. By the 3rd day, Carol had not ate, drank very little. We knew she didn't have much time, so we moved her to a shady pen where she could be happier. During the lunch break she rested well, and when we returned she had passed away. The stable manager had been notified and the rest of that day was very hard for everyone. We did find out that she had passed from Kidney Failure. Even the rest of the time, whenever her name was mentioned, we all felt the pain of losing a good horse... Carol is remembered.

Angus: Quarter Horse: Gelding

Angus  was a rather dumb horse. He was one of those horses from auction and came without a name. I had wanted to name him Digit, as his sale halter had a phone number on it. But the manager named him instead. Digit would have fit him better. He never knew what direction to go, always the opposite you asked him to do. He could not be put in a stall as he'd broken hundreds of halters from pulling back, and he still pulled back on the post, just not as often. He was so spooky that in order to tack him up, he had to be walked by one person, as another saddled him as he was walking. There was a guy that worked there that loved Angus. The only thing was he wanted a horse that would trailer to rodeo's, and was unsure if Angus would do this with is record of pulling back. Well, when Angus was finally sent back to auction, this worker was not there. It was a shame too, cuz Angus loaded on the trailer like he was born to do it.

Clyde: Appaloosa: Gelding

Clyde was special to me. He was one of the 2 slowest horses at the stable. For every paid customer that was no familiar with horses, he'd walk so slow. For me, I dunno why, but he'd walk as fast as any of the other fast walking horses with no extra effort. He had a smooth trot, and a good temper. Clyde was was totally devoted to his carreer. If he was saddled that day, he'd have to work every ride taken out that day. He loved to go on the trail rides. If you left him behind for a break, he'd break away and follow right at the end of the line where he always rode. Also, since he was so gentle, anyone could ride him, he was so good.

Daisy: Small Pony: Mare

Daisy was the typical snobby pony. She did things her way, and no other way. She liked to trot, and it was hard to slow her down, but she'd stay at her place in line. She was a fat lil girl, but cute in her own way. She had her friends that she was attached to, Misty and Jewel, which made her hard to catch. Daisy did teach me one thing about horses, I was always told that horses could not regurgitate, but she did start puking one day, and it scared me to see something I had always thought impossible. For some reason she had ate some small pebbles, and got sick from them. But she is ok now, that just lasted that day.

Soondie: Arabian: Mare

Soondie was another strange horse. She had her hormone problems and her pet peeves. She always had her tail cocked to one side. And she hated doing demonstrations, whenever you did use her, she would start crow-hopping and scare anyone that was already nervous about riding.

Cinnamon: Pony: Mare

Cinny was in love with Axel who was a gelding that was a fast walker. Axel usually rode lead at of the barns, and whenever Cinny got scared, she would go to him to escape. She did this about 6 times one summer. She would get scared because of the rider on her back, and run to the front of the line where Axel was, and run around him at high speeds, until her rider had fallen off. It is strange how horses handle their fears, but atleast she did not run through fences or gates, or way off from the rest of the herd.