Sunday, June 19, 2011

New Horse!!!!

I'm so excited! We now have a new horse and it was sort of by accident. Yesterday my farrier told me about a carriage rental farm she'd gone to for shoeing/trimming. She told me there was a black Percheron gelding they were giving away for free because he was too skittish to pull carriages for weddings and birthdays and she is too busy to work with him on it. We said we were interested (because he sounded exactly like what my husband wanted for his riding horse) so she emailed his owner.

This morning my farrier calls me to tell me that if we want the horse we had to get him by Tuesday. Since today was my last day off I asked if today was okay. She said fine. So we drove down there.

His name is Zorro (we're going to change it if anyone has any suggestions). He is 16hh tall, eleven years old, black with a star, trained to drive (pairs or singles, although he doesn't have the confidence to go in singles, needs more training), he's had a rider on him but not much training so we will be starting with the basics as if he hadn't had any training. The downside to this gorgeous boy is that he is distrustful of humans and painfully shy. He's very difficult to catch and is very jumpy. It's all stuff we can work through. His owner hadn't had him long and knows nothing of his history because she got him on trade.

He's in good health except he's too fat and his hooves need work, but those aren't big problems. I'm excited to start working with him. Right now we have him in a round pen away from Chrome and Zeppelin for quarantine. Then we will move the round pen onto the lease land so he can get to know them before we turn him loose. We have to get him reliable to catch before turning him out because I'm not chasing a horse down on thirty acres!!

So anyway here is what I'm sure you have all been waiting for. His pictures!!

Keep in mind I'm 5'11" tall.

Keep in mind I'm 5'11" tall.

Our new Percheron looks more Friesian than my Friesian cross lol!!

Playing with his rope.

He definitely shows curiosity about people and his surroundings, but he's so sensitive! I think he's going to settle in just fine. He needs a ton of desensitizing and the clicker training should teach him for think for himself instead of just reacting. I look forward to sharing our adventures.

As soon as we think of a name I'll edit the blog to include him and Zepplin in the title and banner. :) Again I'll take suggestions on names! My husband is picky and this cutie will be his trail horse so it's up to him.

P.S. I was gone all day so I didn't get to do Chrome's monthly progress report. I'll do it tomorrow.

7 comments:

  1. He is amazing! Can't wait to see how he does with the boys. Hopefully he will like them enough so that he follows them when you call even if horse to be named is still shy of humans. He really hit the jackpot moving to your estate.

    Mango Momma

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  2. Congratulations! He sure is a big boy!! How does he get along with Chrome?

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  3. So fun to have a new project to work on! Hope the desensitizing goes well and he gets more trusting quickly. Cute guy!

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  4. CONGRATS! HE IS SOOO COOL!!!!!!!!!! YEAH!!! DID CHROME MEET HIM YET? LOL.

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  5. Congrats! He's adorable. I've always thought the name Gallagher suited the riding draft types well. Percherons are great riding horses, as they are in general sensitive. One of the perks. They are forward, uphill and light in the hand. At least the one's I've worked with. Have fun!

    -DS
    Adventures In Colt Starting

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  6. I'm sure you will do a wonderful job with him. I'll bet clicker training is just what he needs to build up his confidence. Sometime horses have to go through several owners before finding the right one.

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  7. OMG! OMG! OMG!

    I'm so happy for you! what a sweetie. I absolutely LOVE horses, but you know that. i don't have any and i think i've only ridden like 5 times in my whole life but i love them all the same. am plannign to find some time to ride here in CH.

    i'm so curious to how long it takes to start riding a horse, you've had chrome now, how long does it take before they can carry a person (not just the training part)?

    i can't wait to read more about him. he's gonna be so happy there.

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