I found him….
I have been on a search for a paint gelding as close to Skip as I could get for quite some time. I know there’s no one exactly like him, but I was hoping to at least get somewhat close on temperament.
I found him…well, my sister found him for me. The last several “second” horses I bought were at her direction and they ended up not being what I needed. (In her defense, she and I like very different types of horses and we don’t like to spend a lot of money, so sometimes we get what we get for the money we spend!)
I really had kind of given up but behind the scenes she was still looking on my behalf. She did tell me about this horse but my husband was like “nope, nothing has worked out for you so far, so we’re not spending any money”. She bought him on her own and worked with him for six weeks, sending him to my house Tuesday of Thanksgiving week. It’s been raining and the ground has been a mess, but I’ve really liked how he is on the ground and with the other horses. He’s very “lovey-dovey” like Skip, puts his head on my shoulder,
etc. (Yeah, yeah I know, but I LIKE that kind of stuff [emoji849]).
Today was the first day it was dry enough to get on him. His name is Cade, he’s 8 (not registered but he was born on previous owner’s property so can verify age), stands to be mounted (he’s 15.2-.3 and I was able to get on him from the ground, yay me!), picks up all 4 feet for cleaning,
doesn’t need shoes, responds to some verbal cues, stands while saddling/bridling. My husband rode Skip along with me since it was a first time ride, and we just rode in the pasture. Poppy (mare and pasturemate) was an idiot, running up on them, running in between them, air kicking and generally acting the fool and neither Skip nor Cade cared one bit. This is the gelding I had talked about before in my “heart over head” thread, and I had said he didn’t know anything. My sister did such a great job working with him over the past six weeks that now he just needs finessing and wet saddle blankets. He’s the first one I have had come through that I actually looked forward to getting on! And she said I can just hang on to him and really get to know him before actually buying him from her which is also a good thing.
He’s not “goey” at all, and he’s not a mostly white paint which I will love when bathing for parade/performance time [emoji1787][emoji1787] He needs work neck reining, and I’m sure there are other things that may come to light. So far, though, he hasn’t bucked, bit, kicked or reared.
Hopefully he will continue to progress and be what I need him to be, although I’m aware it could be a two steps forward, one step back sort of thing for a while. For the first time, though, I’m willing to put in the time and effort on my own to get him where he needs to be [emoji3590]
He is almost a carbon copy in looks
to my sister’s mare, who is by the same stud Skip is, and I love my sister’s mare so that probably contributes to my positive feelings toward him as well.
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He was just thrown out to pasture at previous owner’s so we’ll be working on diet and topline as well.
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I found him…well, my sister found him for me. The last several “second” horses I bought were at her direction and they ended up not being what I needed. (In her defense, she and I like very different types of horses and we don’t like to spend a lot of money, so sometimes we get what we get for the money we spend!)
I really had kind of given up but behind the scenes she was still looking on my behalf. She did tell me about this horse but my husband was like “nope, nothing has worked out for you so far, so we’re not spending any money”. She bought him on her own and worked with him for six weeks, sending him to my house Tuesday of Thanksgiving week. It’s been raining and the ground has been a mess, but I’ve really liked how he is on the ground and with the other horses. He’s very “lovey-dovey” like Skip, puts his head on my shoulder,
etc. (Yeah, yeah I know, but I LIKE that kind of stuff [emoji849]).
Today was the first day it was dry enough to get on him. His name is Cade, he’s 8 (not registered but he was born on previous owner’s property so can verify age), stands to be mounted (he’s 15.2-.3 and I was able to get on him from the ground, yay me!), picks up all 4 feet for cleaning,
doesn’t need shoes, responds to some verbal cues, stands while saddling/bridling. My husband rode Skip along with me since it was a first time ride, and we just rode in the pasture. Poppy (mare and pasturemate) was an idiot, running up on them, running in between them, air kicking and generally acting the fool and neither Skip nor Cade cared one bit. This is the gelding I had talked about before in my “heart over head” thread, and I had said he didn’t know anything. My sister did such a great job working with him over the past six weeks that now he just needs finessing and wet saddle blankets. He’s the first one I have had come through that I actually looked forward to getting on! And she said I can just hang on to him and really get to know him before actually buying him from her which is also a good thing.
He’s not “goey” at all, and he’s not a mostly white paint which I will love when bathing for parade/performance time [emoji1787][emoji1787] He needs work neck reining, and I’m sure there are other things that may come to light. So far, though, he hasn’t bucked, bit, kicked or reared.
Hopefully he will continue to progress and be what I need him to be, although I’m aware it could be a two steps forward, one step back sort of thing for a while. For the first time, though, I’m willing to put in the time and effort on my own to get him where he needs to be [emoji3590]
He is almost a carbon copy in looks
to my sister’s mare, who is by the same stud Skip is, and I love my sister’s mare so that probably contributes to my positive feelings toward him as well.
He was just thrown out to pasture at previous owner’s so we’ll be working on diet and topline as well.
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8,059 Posts
I do too!He’s very “lovey-dovey” like Skip, puts his head on my shoulder,
etc. (Yeah, yeah I know, but I LIKE that kind of stuff).![]()
And I'll let Rowan start doing it the minute he stops thinking that's an invitation to play nipping game, LOL.But seriously, yay for you!!!
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752 Posts
Sounds like he's "the one"--wow!
My sister's are my best horsey friends too.
Have fun with him--what a great find.
My sister's are my best horsey friends too.
Have fun with him--what a great find.
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18,508 Posts
He sounds very nice....willing and think first be stupid maybe later.
He's cute too...
Enjoy the journey but sounds promising.
🐴...
He's cute too...
Enjoy the journey but sounds promising.
🐴...
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13,069 Posts
YAY!!!!🐎🐎. This is great news!!🤠🤠
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Congratulations - that's awesome! I'm looking forward to hearing stories about how he comes along, how you work through any issues that might come up etc. Your sister is a gem!
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4,989 Posts
Yay! I can hardly wait to read about your adventures with him!
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Thank you all! @newtrailriders, my sister IS a gem and knows her stuff. She is self-trained, but I’ve never seen a horse she couldn’t ride. She is a big cheerleader for me but also my worst critic. She’s my baby sister, but also the coach and director of the team I ride with, so that has made for some interesting dynamics over the years! I was co-director and 2nd in command of the team while I lived down there, but stepped down from those duties when I moved two hours away from where we practice etc.
Her main mare is now in retirement due to injury (and she’s 23!), and her own horses are well-trained, just needing riding for conditioning. She loves having a project to work with, so having Cade was good for her too. She gets a great deal of self-satisfaction from bringing one along.
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Her main mare is now in retirement due to injury (and she’s 23!), and her own horses are well-trained, just needing riding for conditioning. She loves having a project to work with, so having Cade was good for her too. She gets a great deal of self-satisfaction from bringing one along.
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16,981 Posts
Sounds like he's got some promise and potential! Congrats!
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Congratulations. Nice looking paint.
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@twhvlr, he’s good! I’ve discovered some good things: my farrier loved him and he was a complete gentleman so I was happy about that; he survived the country neighborhood fireworks New Year’s Eve and wasn’t bothered at all so I was happy about that; and now that Poppy (the little mare) has moved to a great new home, Cade and Skip
have developed a relationship and are good pasture friends! He’s dominant over Skip, runs him off hay and feed just like every other horse I’ve ever had of course. If Skip would nail him with those back hooves just once, I think Cade would back off. Riding is going well and he will have his first drill team event on Feb 18: a Go Texan parade that we use as a warmup for the big Rodeo Houston parade Feb 25. I’m a little nervous as there are very scary things in that warm up parade: balloons, Shriner cars, high school bands with drum lines and we have to walk beside a railroad track to get from the trailer parking to the parade line AND I have to carry a flag…..eeeekkkkk!
I think the difference with Cade is that I’m really taking my time to get to know him and see what he’s capable of and not expecting too much too soon. Skip is still healthy enough for performances so I have no deadline on getting Cade drill ready, which is nice. I really like him a lot and I’m happy to have ended up with him. He also seems to be “healthy as a horse”…no issues with his health or feet in any way.
I’m starting an Internet horse challenge on Feb 1 and I have to keep a log, so I thought I might start a journal then to keep track of my time and what we accomplish.
Thank you for asking about him!
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