Well, so much for the hours of research I did on buying my first horse! Although I grew to love Chili Pepper, I got quite a bit more trouble then I was hoping for in my first horse!

You see, Chili Pepper just didn't care a whit for two-legged creatures.

As long as she was saddled, she would follow a human anywhere; she knew when she was caught and it was work time.  However, if she was loose, her back end in the distance with her tail floating in the breeze was all you would ever see!
Chili grew up on a ranch near Ocala and her owner a true cowboy used her for cattle ranch work. She had a good life, hard but good. As often happens in ranch life (and I am not saying this is bad)! she was given very little attention or hands-on like our pampered city horses get. 

So........... when I became Chili's new partner, she tolerated my pets and kisses but didn't really know what the heck I was doing it for. She would stand perfectly still and just tolerate it with an occasional side look of confused inquiry. You could tell she had no idea why I wasn't saddling her or telling her to do something. She was the definition of TENSE and WARY.

Chili Pepper would turn away anytime someone tried to pet her head. She would turn away from a carrot or cookie. She would walk or trot away if she saw anyone approaching her.

Everyday I would spend hours with her, talking softly, grooming gently and walking with her in the pasture. Eventually she came to trust my presence. One day months later Chili saw my truck coming and met me at the gate. She walked right by my side up to the barn with no lead or coercion! I was thrilled but had to remain calm and act normal so as not to frighten her. From that day forward Chili would come to me when she saw me and follow me around.

A month later, Chili took her first treat from my hand. She took it tentatively and only nibbled it on a corner then left the rest of the cookie in my hand. It took her several nibbles to eat that one tiny Mrs. Pasture cookie! Have you ever know a horse do do that! We were definitely making progress!

To make a really long story short, after 6 months that horse would come up to me as soon as she saw my truck and follow me around without the lead or saddle. She started to enjoy the scratches and would make that cute little pleasure face our horses make- lips out and eyes half closed. She always ate a treat gently and Mrs. Pasture cookies remain her favorite. She would let me pet her head without moving away.

Chili trusted me but still had a problem with other folks. She was choosy as to who could come near her. Some people she would actually charge with ears back! She would always veer off at about 4 feet but she definitely did not like everyone.

The next step was actually riding her. Now, Chili trusted me on the ground but once I was on her back, she forgot who I was completely and became a TENSE SPRING, a FIREBALL! She listened intently but what she was listening for was the slightest indication of the signal to GO. You see, Chili was never taught speed control. She knew STOP and GO. And GO was at one speed and one speed only - FAST. That is a fast trot or a run.

I spent many many hours teaching that horse to walk. On the days she finally seemed to "get it", she would almost relax. Well, I know I could have continued her training but here is where I began to worry about making mistakes even though I had done well so far. I therefore enlisted a gentle trainer, Bobbie, to continue with Chili's training. What we needed to do was desensitize her to legs because, as soon as she was touched, she would think she was being asked to RUN. Then she needed to learn proper cues for speed.

Bobbie worked with her for several months and I saw Chili infrequently as her facility was far away. Her progress was very slow and I eventually ran out of money to pay for it. I didn't want to see her lose all she had gained so Bobbie agreed to buy her from me and continue her training. Chili is with Bobbie today and doing great! She is actually giving students lessons with her! 

I miss my little Chili Pepper. She taught me a lot and I helped her to learn a gentler way of life. I am glad I was able to find her a home where she can enjoy humans instead of being used just for work. Again, I don't think their is anything wrong with work horses. They have a nice life and often get to live more as horses do naturally on their time off. I just enjoy seeing the trust and communication that can be achieved between a horse and a human.

Thanks Bobbie for giving my girl an good home and thanks Chili for giving me your trust. I miss you.

NOTE: Bobbie is also willing to Lease or Sell Chili to the right owner. (If you are interested email me for contact info). Click HERE to learn more about Chili Pepper.

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QUOTES:

 "Take care of that horse you rode in on"

"You know you've been training too long when you get out of your truck and pat the door saying thanks boy, good job"

"Some of my best leading men have been dogs and horses" - Elizabeth Taylor

"If a dog will not come to you after he has looked you in the face, you ought to go home and examine your conscience". - president Woodrow Wilson

"Until one has loved an animal, a part of one's soul remains unawakened". - Anatole France

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Lets face it, personality is more important but boy do we like to look at the colors! Here are some of my favorites: (more will be added as I come across pictures - please send me yours)!

Excerpt from www.ColorHorse.com
The color of a horse registered with the IRC (International Registry of Colored Horses) is generally up to the owner to decide upon.  The IRC will only step in and alter an owner selected color if the color selected is obviously the wrong one for that horse or if the owner asks the IRC to decide which color to select for that horse.  Please realize that color names have different meanings in different registries.  For example the color often called “dun” in the Connemara registry is called “buckskin” here.  This is to keep the color terms as unique and understandable as possible and as close to known genetically inheritable color traits as possible.  Also be aware that the color of the horse may change if it is body-clipped.  Many blacks and near blacks look almost like grullas when clipped, complete with a dorsal stripe.  Many chestnuts look like red duns again complete with dorsal striping.  Greys sometimes are sometimes hard to determine when in the early stages of greying and in some cases can even appear roan or dun from a distance.  To determine the true color of a horse it may be necessary for you to watch the horse through several seasons of coat shedding with the horse retaining its natural unclipped hair coat.  The IRC is putting into place a system for changing the color registration for a horse should it be needed however owners are encouraged to try to be as accurate as possible when they first register their horse.

dapple gray	buckskin	palomino
black	white	sorrel
paint	red roan bay	strawberry roan
leopard appaloosa	cremello	chocolate with flaxen mane and tail
chestnut A known genetic rule is that chestnut bred to chestnut will always produce chestnut.  If the offspring of two chestnuts is some other color then one or the other horse is not a true chestnut but has been mistaken for one.  The most common cause of this kind of mistake is the color called silver dapple bay.  Please note that any black hair on the legs or in the mane disqualifies the horse as a chestnut	bay A horse that has a black mane, tail, and usually legs, possibly also the tips of the ears and the muzzle but the body color is either red, brown, light red to slightly golden red (not to be confused with buckskin), dark reddish brown, to dark brown and even approaching black over the back but still having large areas of red and/or brown hairs on the body.  Within the color bay are many shades from light to dark and in between.  Some bays have black very high up on the legs, possibly as high as midway between the knee and elbow, others have black only from the fetlocks down.	dun The defining feature of the color dun is a strong well-defined dorsal stripe extending from the base of the mane to the beginning of the tail. The color of the dorsal stripe is the same as the mane and tail color.  The body color of the horse is diluted everywhere except the mane, tail, part of the face, the legs and the dorsal stripe.This color on a bay background (yellow dun) is thought to be the original color of horses prior to domestication.  All true duns have dorsal stripes.  Some registries use the term ‘dun’ to refer to horses that have a yellow body and black mane and tail regardless of whether it has a dorsal stripe or not.  For example the Connemara registry commonly calls a horse a dun and yet most of those horses are genetically what we are terming buckskin.
More on the way! Please send me some more colors! e-mail me I am by no means an expert on color so  here are some links to web sites that have done a lot more research on the subject! http://www.vgl.ucdavis.edu/~lvmillon/coatcolor/coatclr3.html http://www.coloredhorses.com/colorkey.html Excellent explanations of color along with photos. The above color explanations come from this web site. http://members.aol.com/MFTHorses/sponenbg.htm http://www.equiworld.net/uk/horsecare/colors&markings.htm http://www.angelfire.com/wi/foreverfarms/project.html BACK TO TOP

Silver Spurs Rodeo - Kissimmee

We had a lot of fun!

CLICK ON A PHOTO TO MAKE LARGER

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INFO ON TRAILS

Located on McCormick Rd. between Apopka-Vineland and Ocoee-Apopka rds
(Clarcona Horsemens Park is at the east end of McCormick) 

The facility 
had been available for trail rides around the perimeter since being built 
in the
late 80's. With the acquisition of Windy Acres ranch and the property
between (phipps) fences were erected blocking the trails around the
perimeter. A group of local horse people recently petitioned the county 
to
open the facility for horse trails as originally promised in the 80's 
and
they have responded by forming a committee of interested persons to 
submit
proposals of what to do with the property. As a result of this 
committee, a
north-south corridor on the east end was recently opened (along McQueen 
rd)
allowing a 5 mile circular trail around the west section of the 
facility.
Further plans are under way to move fences so that access from horsemens 
park
will be available and fences along McCormick will be moved back 100 
feet to
allow safe access for the full 7 miles. there is plenty of room for 
trailers
to park along McCormick or to park on Keene rd at the northwest corner.
Currently there is not water available, but that is also on the list 
for the
future. The trail is an easily followed circuitous route which is 
partly
shaded and has a few hills and a small lake. We need to be out riding 
this
trail to let them now it IS a valuable commodity to the area. If anyone
would like to come, but would like a guide, feel free to e-mail me and 
I'd
be happy to meet you and ride. Thanks, kerry (click on kerry to email her)

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