pintopiaffe
Nov. 3, 2009, 07:58 AM
This is my problem. My dream horse from 30 years ago is the mare I want now, for my breeding program. I can't find her. ;)
She was 14.2, permanent pony card, probably shaved (hair) withers and barefoot, trimmed just prior... still... :p
Baroque build and gaits. Never won the pony hunters, but never not placed. (never, ever came in higher than 3rd, but we still managed to come in 3rd for the series our last year, despite me missing the last show. Might've gotten Res.Ch. had we been there. :sadsmile: )
Huge, cresty neck--not fat pads, but rather just a high set, round neck. Round haunch, with round muscles, a defined crease (but not a pond!) between them at her spine. Double back when she was in the best shape. WIDE chest. Deep barrel. Took a 46 or 48" girth and a 76" blanket, which says a lot about a 'pony.'
Perfect feet. I think she got shod 3 or 4x a year tops. Most winters went barefoot, some had boreums. Straight, well angled legs. Sound, sound, sound, despite not-great management practices.
Showed hunters in the morning with me, then gamed in the afternoon. Did many Hunter Paces, ride n'ties etc.
No one quite knew her breeding--I don't want that 'unknown' quantity, per se--but I darn well wish I could figure out *what* she was. The closest I can find today are 'Gypsy' Cobs, the coloured cobs in Ireland & the UK, ... but she had a better hind end than most, and wasn't haunch high. She definitely didn't have feathers. :p If her head was a little more 'handsome' than a mare's should be, it was only because she had so much character and needed enough room for her brains.
People speculated on her breeding--she was tovero and the highest concensus/rumour was MorganXDraft.... then where did the spots come from? ASB X draft maybe, there was a lot of ASB blood in the N'East back then.
I suppose she *would* be a Gypsy Cob these days. She'd have been excellent at dressage though, was a really neat, big mover, but had too much knee action, really, for hunters, though that's all I knew back then. And you could do an outside course when you rode in Open classes, and she'd clean up darn well out there. :yes:
I know I am idealizing her somewhat, as memory tends to. :sadsmile:
What led you to decide on your "ideal"... be it breed or type ? Does it resemble your childhood fantasy?
She was 14.2, permanent pony card, probably shaved (hair) withers and barefoot, trimmed just prior... still... :p
Baroque build and gaits. Never won the pony hunters, but never not placed. (never, ever came in higher than 3rd, but we still managed to come in 3rd for the series our last year, despite me missing the last show. Might've gotten Res.Ch. had we been there. :sadsmile: )
Huge, cresty neck--not fat pads, but rather just a high set, round neck. Round haunch, with round muscles, a defined crease (but not a pond!) between them at her spine. Double back when she was in the best shape. WIDE chest. Deep barrel. Took a 46 or 48" girth and a 76" blanket, which says a lot about a 'pony.'
Perfect feet. I think she got shod 3 or 4x a year tops. Most winters went barefoot, some had boreums. Straight, well angled legs. Sound, sound, sound, despite not-great management practices.
Showed hunters in the morning with me, then gamed in the afternoon. Did many Hunter Paces, ride n'ties etc.
No one quite knew her breeding--I don't want that 'unknown' quantity, per se--but I darn well wish I could figure out *what* she was. The closest I can find today are 'Gypsy' Cobs, the coloured cobs in Ireland & the UK, ... but she had a better hind end than most, and wasn't haunch high. She definitely didn't have feathers. :p If her head was a little more 'handsome' than a mare's should be, it was only because she had so much character and needed enough room for her brains.
People speculated on her breeding--she was tovero and the highest concensus/rumour was MorganXDraft.... then where did the spots come from? ASB X draft maybe, there was a lot of ASB blood in the N'East back then.
I suppose she *would* be a Gypsy Cob these days. She'd have been excellent at dressage though, was a really neat, big mover, but had too much knee action, really, for hunters, though that's all I knew back then. And you could do an outside course when you rode in Open classes, and she'd clean up darn well out there. :yes:
I know I am idealizing her somewhat, as memory tends to. :sadsmile:
What led you to decide on your "ideal"... be it breed or type ? Does it resemble your childhood fantasy?