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Laurie wrote:
> ...I didn't want to mention my friends horse ,who is a 
> 3/4 arab,1/4 saddlebred ...You hate to generalize.
> Laurie/RAscal/Honey (who doesn' need any saddlebred blood thank you)
Well, if you want to generalize, add our "No. 3 Horse" into
the mix.

When my husband and I talked about getting a third horse, 
we both agreed that what we wanted was a "dead broke horse 
that anyone could ride"... so we ended up with a 4 yr old
greenie 1/2 arab, 1/2 saddlebred. <sigh>

And she's been great.

Of our three horses (the other two are arabs - 15 and 9 yrs 
respectively), Zini is the calmest and least likely to do 
something really stupid - she has a good brain. I think part 
of the key is that she was well brought up and had good early 
training.

(The horse that Laurie describes had none of these 
advantages, seemingly. Small wonder he turned out to 
be the neurotic bag o' problems he is today.)

The first trail ride we took her on, Zini insisted she had
to be in front - and promptly got ran into by a guy coming
around a blind corner on a mtn bike (nobody's fault - it was 
a multi-use trail and we were all in the wrong place). The
guy zipped out from behind a bush, bounced off her shoulder 
and ended up on the ground at her feet. My friend and I, 
riding behind my husband, froze in our saddles, expecting 
fireworks in the next nano-second. Instead, Zini looked at 
the bicyclist slightly surprised and shrugged it off. 
After that she still wanted to be in front - but every time 
she got there, she'd suddenly change her mind... <g>.

Given the chance, she likes to jump around on the trail 
for the fun of it (she's 5 now and still just a baby, so
likes to kick up her heels). She can definitely show her 
high spirits. Occasionally she'll also spook at stuff if 
her brain has to look at too many things at once (I repeat,
she's 5) - but usually this just involves jumping sideways
a few feet. Nothing out of the ordinary, given her age/
experience. As for out-and-back trail rides, she's often 
a slug on the way out, and a prancing snorting stallion
on the way home (funnily enough, my other two can be like
this as well... must be a horse thing...).

4th of July, we went out at ~7:30 pm, rode about six
miles until it was good and dark, and then sat up on
the hill behind Cool, CA, watching the fireworks a
couple of miles across the canyon. Zini was so scared
she had to graze the entire time... must be the saddlebred
in her. Provo, 15, kept a careful eye on them and made 
sure he was hiding behind her at all times.

We haven't taken Zini out unchaperoned as yet, so have
that part to look forward to - she is worried about being
separated from her friends, so we'll take it slowly. 

She hops in the trailer without any worries, drinks on
the trail, eats whenever possible, etc. She moves beautifully 
and is very comfortable to ride. Assuming her feet and legs 
(00-sized feet, twiglet legs) hold up, we hope that she'll 
make a great distance horse.

Her biggest "drawback" <grin> is her "fertile mind". Of 
the three of horses, she is the most likely one to get into
mischief. But also least likely to flip out when things
go wrong (witness me finding her the other morning
standing with her front leg stuck through the hay net,
looking bored).

If mistreated or misunderstood, I think any horse with 
half a brain will turn "bad". If people treated a child
the way some horses get treated, no-one would be surprised
if that child remained neurotic for a very long time. Why
expect a smart horse to be any different?


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Lucy Chaplin Trumbull
elsie AT foothill DOT net
Repotted english person in Sierra Foothills, California
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