Beau
12 years old, Percheron/Quarter Horse cross.
(Let's hope the Percheron was the mare.) Incredible ground
manners, a real
doll. Trained
beautifully
on handling,
anti-spooking, etc. He is very sensitive to the slightest cue and tries
very hard to do
what you want. Out of shape; needs some work on the
canter depart. However, he was responsive to the point of being psychic.
Beautiful and kind; I thought waiting 30
years for my dream would pay off big time. Everyone who met him fell
in love with
him.
There's just something about him. He is sweet yet
regal. He was The One.
He also broke my heart. He failed the vet check! X-rays showed navicular
syndrome, an incurable, degenerative disease of
the foot bone. The vet
said if
he were worked at all he almost certainly go dead lame.
Most likely, and the timeframe was sketchy.
No one
can predict the future, blah, blah, blah. And he shows no current signs
of
lameness
other
than
uneven
wear on one
foot. But for a performance horse, it was a terrible, inadvisable
risk. I retained false hope and pestered the vet until he used the
words
"pasture pet."
I cried
for
three
days
solid.
The happy ending is that his loving owner
didn't really want to sell him, just thought all that talent deserved
cultivating.
So he's back home living a happy, rather idle
life.
Priced at $3,500
If you have certain media players (Macs, usually), you can just click and it will play.
| Trotting (1.4 MB) |
Jen cantering (3 MB) |
Fast
canter (!), getting him to slow (5.1 MB) |
Jason
trotting
(800 KB) |
 |
Wet after a workout and bath; he already has his winter coat.
He needs tuning up, needs
some training on the canter, needs to get in shape. But he's not at
all
dangerous, spastic, or nervous;
that part of his training is superb.
Can he jump? My trainer took him over one for the first time and he
acted like a pro. He isn't like
the tall,
skinny thoroughbreds I'm used to, but he certainly is lovely.
And sweet. And STOPS when you ask.
Ok, the picture
at left is a joke. People said,
"
Hmm,
percheron, QH cross?" And we all
wondered if he would look like
the horse version
of a welsh corgi. So I made the photoshopped
image at left (using a picture
of a miniature horse)
and emailed it to my trainer with a straight face.
I am evil.