ANNIE - 2003 chestnut Saddlebred mare

[akoehmstedt]

OH WOW! That is exciting! Glad to hear she did well!!! Can't wait to see the photos.

[monicabee]

Here you go!


blog.seattlepi.nwsource.com/horsebytes/archives/140910.asp

[lizstabbertphoto]

WOW!! She looks fantastic!! She is super cute tacked up! How very exciting!!

[rabbithounds]

WOW what a looker ! I wonder how Hope will turn out?

So, is there Arab in the background of a Saddlebred?

Another lucky duck will get her. ;D

[akoehmstedt]

OH MY! She looks GREAT!!!!

[schwung]

Great news!!! Good job Annie!! Isn't she just gorgeous all tacked up?

[jaybird]

this is incredible, I had no idea that she was going to progress so quickly. Nice work, Julie!!

[mrbakermiss]

She is GORGEOUS!!!! Looks just like my TB mare. If things were better pricewise I would jump on her. She doesn't need a foster home does she?

[trailsnail]

Jun 7, 2008 18:59:23 GMT -5 oneidea said:

Any chance of getting Annie in with a saddleseat trainer? She is young and nicely put together... it would be great (and a wonderful advertisement for rescues in general) to see her in a show home.

Without her papers, she cannot be shown in Saddlebred competition .

[leahlady]

Holy crap she is beautiful. Screw saddleseat, she should be a dressage horse!!!!!!!!!! Saddlebreds can also jump well - I guess in the 60's that most of the top show jumpers were Saddlebred.

Great, another horse that I want.......

[shekaberry]

Funny you should say that, Leah. She is super graceful and carries herself well, she would make a lovely dressage mount.

I would rather she didn't go into the Saddlebred world. I leased a horse at a saddlebred farm a few years back and almost had a coronary when then brought the fire extinguishers into the arena.

[Whitewolf821]

Jun 11, 2008 22:57:45 GMT -5 shekaberry said:

I leased a horse at a saddlebred farm a few years back and almost had a coronary when then brought the fire extinguishers into the arena.

When they did what? I'm confused now. Someone want to enlighten me?

[huskiesnhorses]

People do all sorts of wierd things to get the Saddlebreds "High Steppin" due to excitement.

At the shows - people clap and scream their heads off to also encourage the horses to really perform.

I think this is exactly why I was so surprised to find out how really friendly and docile these horses were because my exposure to Saddlebreds was much like Allisons. The horses were always stalled (due to the shoes) and when they were ridden - it was like firecrackers going off - lots of high energy and excitement! You can't help but start to associate the type of horse with those 2 feelings.

But yeah, they could use all sorts of things to generate excitement in the arena to get those horses high steppin with energy.

[cat67]

Jun 11, 2008 22:57:45 GMT -5 shekaberry said:

I would rather she didn't go into the Saddlebred world. I leased a horse at a saddlebred farm a few years back and almost had a coronary when then brought the fire extinguishers into the arena.

Hey, I boarded at a barn in L.A. that was half polo ponies and half Saddlebreds! Let me tell YOU, nothing disrupts your ability to ride one and pony two like someone else deciding it's time to chase a Saddlebred with a fire extinguisher! Holy crap, I almost died a time or two there.

I took that up on my blog once and you should have seen the defenders of fire extinguishers as a training method pop out of the woodwork. Um, NO. Not in ANY world do I think that is an OK training method.

That said, there are many good Saddlebred people and particularly the folks who show in the natural shod events. They are not chasing horses with fire extinguishers and their show horses are happy and calm. There are also people training Saddlebreds for disciplines outside the traditional, with great success.

www.fullcircledressage.com/ourprogram.htm

Like I keep telling people, Saddlebreds as a breed are NOT HOT. You could make my Quarter Horses act hot, too, if you chased them with a fire extinguisher and put chains on them. There is no reason to think that a young Saddlebred who has not gone through this kind of, er, training will be anything other than a calm, willing riding horse like any other.

[shekaberry]

Annie is very sensitive and very intelligent, Julie reports that she figures out what you are asking pretty quickly and she tries very hard to please. She is very social and just a gorgeous mover.

Saddlebreds as a whole are extremely versatile and I think Annie could go in any direction. I would rather not see her in a "serious" show farm where the "traditional training" methods are employed.