About Horsin' Around's Horses
Dakota, a.k.a. Little ‘D’ This now plucky, plump pony was plucked from deaths grip January 06. Dakota was literally starving to death. She was a dull, lifeless mud ball when she came to live with us. Making a speedy and amazing recovery Dakota is no longer lifeless. She is the starlet of the pasture. Her best friend is Flea, which she is always watching over and sticking up for him from time to time. This colorful pony loves to trot! Thou she is small, she is spunky. We enjoy the comedy she brings to the barn. She is my childhood dream, a little paint pony that loves to trot. |
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Pepper Pepper is an awesome little horse. Her owner, Samantha Edgar, lets us use Pepper in our lesson program; we are lucky to be able to use such a unique horse. With a semi-gated trot she can be exceptionally smooth if ridden correctly. Pepper listens and responds quickly to her riders and also loves to trot. |
Minted Moolah Moolah is a huge goofy guy that loves the little people. What I would call a gentle giant. In no rush to go anywhere, Moolah loves taking life at a slow pace. He inspires confidence and helps strengthen communication skills in all his students. He is a great beginner horse with a huge supply of patience. Loves taking long naps in the pasture and getting all the TLC he can find. He is always the first to walk up to you in the pasture to say hi. Moolah loves his job teaching and entertaining his little friends. |
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Dakota Malbec A.K.A. Big D Wow, Big D, where dose one start. We were the luckiest bunch of horse lovers to be able to work with this regal horse. Big D has shown AjQHA to a World Championship Level and all the smaller accomplishments that lead up to that. This horse has seen it all and now is sharing his experiences with the next generation. Horse people would describe him as a push button horse. Big D has famous grandparents; one grandfather being DOC BAR (most influential Quarter Horse Stallion) and King Fritz was his dames sire. Both grandfathers are in Hall of Fame for horses. He is by far the most royally breed horse I have ever ridden. The kindhearted nature and experience of Big D make him great for beginners all the way up to advanced students. |
Ransom Ransom is a quite the character. Very distinguished and quiet he seems to have a calming effect on all. He is the tallest horse in the pasture. Very commanding presence with his colorful coat and different colored eyes. He likes to take things slow and yet responds to commands quickly. He still has some go left in him and is a great intermediate horse for the students. Being a retired hunting horse, Ransom is used to all sorts of noises sights and smells. Not much surprises the old guy. He has been known to steal apples right off the tree. |
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Tic Tic is an athletic and intelligent horse. A quick to please attitude makes this guy great for lessons. We are lucky to have Tic involved in the program. Owned by Alycia Darlington (age 11) he is a great intermediate to advanced horse. Alycia works hard to make Tic the best horse he can be. With a smooth and steady canter a great set of breaks he is perfect for building confidence at a faster pace. Tic usually comes right up to the fence to great any visitor. He always wants to be involved with whatever is going around the barn. |
Pete I have had the pleasure of working with this guy since the age of two. Pete is a fun loving mischief-making guy. Quick to throw you stuff on the ground as a joke or eat your peanut butter and jelly sandwich when not looking. Very intelligent horse with a curious nature. He hates to break a sweat and loves to show off his rock star hair do. Second in charge in the pasture he takes his job seriously and makes sure everyone’s in line for feeding time. An advanced horse Pete can be ridden with no bridle or saddle only using body cues to communicate. He has just about the fastest whoa this side of the Mississippi. |
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Toast 23-year old, Black It was 1995 when I saw Toast of Texas ‘Toast’. He was a huge, hostile black horse pacing in his stall. Even the most novice of horse people would say he seemed to be slightly enraged. I was just seriously getting into the barrel racing scene and looking for a horse with more speed. Well, toast had speed, but in ever direction. My mother strongly advised that I not purchase this particular horse. Watching him pace that stall I felt he was looking for something or wanted something. So I decided it would be my new job to find out what.
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So after a few months of conditioning it can time to try our first race. He was a nightmare to haul to the race and even worse when we got there. He started the race rather ruff but then flew threw the rest at horsy hyper-speed making up time. We took second place. As a result I entered Toast in a ton of races. I found out I was riding the Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde of barrel racing horses. Half the time he didn’t even turn the first barrel and blew up the fence as they say. His other two barrels were fine, even great. I tried all sorts of bits; different patterns and nothing seemed to help. I decided to take time out and figure this behavior out. Then I had two changes that helped Toast go from 32nd to 2nd in one season. The first stroke of luck was having an Equine Massage Practitioner and Physical Therapist come through our tiny town. She brought to my attention that Toast was extensively overdeveloped on his left side and rather weak on his right. With that came involuntary muscle contractions in certain locations that had to be hurting. All these things were common in racehorses that raced primarily to the left. She also discovered Toast had his ribs broke at one point in time and scar tissue. That explained why he was very defensive of his ribs and other locations. Knowing was half the battle with Toast. We trained almost extensively to the right. Had a few sessions with a professional Practitioner, and did a special cool down routine. Worked with desensitizing. I also gave him three weeks of just pasture rest and changed his training to different natural horsemanship techniques. We worked on the ground for another two weeks. Then amazed people on how quickly he rose threw the standings of the region and than state. Best thing about the new approach was that his sore attitude was %90 gone; yet his spirit was back %100. There was no stopping him. After winning many Jr. Rodeo & High School Rodeo Buckles and Toast now 23 is retired, and helps train the younger horses. He was famous in his own right and taught me more than any horse to date. He will always have a special spot in my heart, and pasture. |
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