The Herd.... as we see them

I thought I should introduce the main characters in our blog as most of what I write will pertain to them. We purchased our farm in 2003 and haven't looked back since. Having horses in your back yard is probably one of the best things any horse lover can ask for. Lots of work but lots of fulfillment as well. We have had as many horses as 7 and a few as 3 but currently we have 4 horses with us and they are long timers who will remain with us indefinitely. N0n-horsey people are always so amazed at the fact that horses have such different personalities but they are in fact like children. Very individual with there own likes, dislikes and personality quirks.

We will start with the youngest Peach, also known as Kacy's Georgia Peach.Lets just say

Peach is not exactly a Peach and has been one of the most trying horses I have ever owned. Unfortunately most of her personality comes from us as she was born here at Stonehedge and our lack of experience raising foals is really showing right about now. She is absolutely gorgeous but headstrong, willful and challenging. Last December she cow kicked me while I was giving her a rub dead centre in the abdomen and since then we ( mostly me) have been working through some confidence issues. I have had several people tell me I should just get rid of her but I cannot give up on her as in some ways it would be giving up on myself, as I see it.

Scout a beautiful Canadian cross mare of 6 years. Large boned and stout is a apparently a trail master and that was the reason why I bought her although I must admit we have been as far as the round pen and that is it .... way more to do with my confidence level than mine. I purchased her from a dear friend with trail in mind and really haven't given her much of a chance yet. Scout is soft eyed, confident with a bit of spook in her and this year I plan to tackle my fears, take some lessons, boost back up my confidence and RIDE. Scout also happens to be Peach's barn mate and is very good a keeping Peach in line.

Our next is the love of my horse life, he has stolen my heart and I still don't know why. I see so much potential in Jack ( Cowboy's Kilobar Jack) and once again I have been told again and again to get rid of him as he will never amount to much. We have invested a great deal of money and time in training Jack but he is right brained extrovert ( as defined by Parelli) which means he is a react now think later kind of guy. Better and better on the ground not so good under saddle but again giving up on him is not an option. Jack did not have the best start in his life and has seen the hard side of a 2x4 in his past, so he came to us with his bags packed full of issues. We have come a long way together and need to go much further. ( Jack's picture is at the top.)

Lastly is our old Man..... Kashmir. Kash is a rescue we got through an organization called, "Ontario Horse Rescue" brought from Vulcan Alberta through another rescue called the " Mitchell centre for Equine Rescue and Education". He was a left over from a previous truck load that had someone interested but not enough to visit him so we ended up with kind of by default, he claimed me when I said to one of the rescue workers what about that one over there and she said" oh he is sick and depressed, not really suitable for a young girl". I walked over to the other paddock ducked the fence and slowing walked toward him. He was completely indifferent to my presence, a large wound on his neck from a bite he sustained on the trip from the west that was infected and being treated with antibiotics, underweight and depressed. I spoke softly to him to see if I could see anything in his eyes, there was nothing..... they looked empty, beaten and dead. He then turned into me and laid his head into my arms as if saying to me. "please, take a chance". I paid his adoption price and he was officially ours. I was so happy, smiling ear to ear, I had bought Zoë her first very own horse. Wait a second, we don't even know if he can be ridden. Well that was April of 2002, he is approx. 26+ years and he gave my daughter the best horse years of her young life. They have trailed, jumped, gamed and so much more together. Kashmir is officially retired now after he blew his sesamoid in the fall of 2007. He is a happy, healthy OTTB ( his tattoo cannot be read) who I really wish could talk as I am positive he has some amazing stories to tell.

We are also home to a couple of cats, we try not to talk about it as these were my daughter's idea and she no longer lives at home but the cats are still here...... and we have 3 amazing dogs. One of which is a Great Dane we rescued in July of this year. But that is a story for another day.