Meet the Horses

This stunning girl is 4 years old this year. She is probably the most intelligent horse I've ever met. She's very well behaved and sweet as can be. I'm looking forward to starting her groundwork soon with the potential for some light saddle work in the fall. She is very athletic and graceful and I'm very much looking forward to riding with her.

She is an Akhal-Teke, which is a very old and amazing breed. They are pretty rare with only a little over 500 in North America. Their hair has a unique structure making their coats just shine this metallic gleam that you can see fairly well in the picture. In person it looks more like her glitter has glitter. They also have a unique trot referred to as the "teke glide" where their feet don't land at the same time in the trot. Instead, they land slightly off making for a rather nice smooth trot. More breed information can be found here. https://akhal-teke.org

We have plans to breed her next spring after she's had some training and maybe a couple short AERC rides. She is intended to be my endurance horse, but we would still love to have some foals from her.

CG Azdarha

Spot

Spot is a full registered Arabian, and he has been around awhile. I've had him since he was 3. He is 24 this year. He's so good around the kids. I look forward to him being their first riding teacher and hope he'll be around for many more years. We are looking to start offering beginner lessons with him, and now Dave. I've got a bunch of old saddles to restore for this. We've both volunteered in therapy riding previously and he's perfect for it. He's semi retired for the moment and will just be helping me start Azdarha, doing beginner lessons, and going on short rides here and there.

This is Dave. He is the newest addition and comes with a police background which should give him a very nice solid foundation to work with once he's ready to. He is red roan in color, 17 years old and a Percheron cross. He's a nice sized boy and his gentle demeanor and solid background should make him a very good lesson horse if we make enough progress on his feet.

He was diagnosed via x-ray before we got him; with changes consistent with navicular. No bone degeneration yet. I'm optimistic we can pursue rehab rather than shoeing at this point in his life to get him more comfortable and back to functionally working feet. While I'm not expecting a complete cure, there is good potential for him to regain a significant amount of function and be a comfortably riding horse without the use of shoes and wedges. It may change as he ages and I'm open to that direction in order to keep him comfortable.

He has already made very good progress with a couple trims. His feet are now landing flatter instead of toe stabbing, he is no longer stumbling on the soft ground in the turnout or on the more solid ground on the driveway. His right front is all cleared up from trush, and his left is making good progress on the thrush. His stride has also lengthened, and he is more able to make sharp turns. In addition, his general demeanor has improved, he appears less grumpy, and willingly trots off, now, with no outside motivation, which tells me he is already feeling more comfortable. I'm optimistic that he may become comfortably rideable again.

That aside, I have gotten to work with him from the ground a bit. Tossed things over him, made loud noises with zero reaction. I'm looking forward to assessing his suitability as a lesson horse in the saddle as well.

Dave

Lessons

(coming soon)

Sweet and calm as can be with kids. She was only up there for a few minutes. Most of that with me right next to her. I only backed up for a quick pic because it was so sweet.

I am working on getting more lesson stuff together. I think we're almost ready, though. I have several kids saddles that all fit him reasonably well they just need cleaned up, restored, and some safety parts replaced or added. We have helmets in every size. We still need a couple saddle pads, probably a longer cinch, and some smaller brushes for little hands.

Below is Mr. Spot decked out for a birthday party without any worries. He is the best boy. And Mr. Dave patiently soaking up some love while he eats.