Azastan wrote: ↑Thu Jul 15, 2021 9:53 pm
Mr. Gneiss wrote: ↑Thu Jul 15, 2021 4:40 pm
Anyway, I hope the horse lovers here enjoy my tale of becoming the owner of a "working" horse!
Yes, very much! What great memories you have there in those photos!
It sounds as if your Boots was what is known as an Appendix QH. In case you are interested, here's an explanation of the '
Appendix' status.
https://www.aqha.com/-/the-ailing-appen ... -ownership
The first gelding I ever owned, Donald, was an Appendix QH. He was a fabulous old boy.
Your Donald is a beauty (and well-trained for the feed bag). Thanks for the info on appendix quarter horses. I always end up learning something here!!
That summer was the end of the old ways for our family's ranch. My Grandfather was extremely frugal which meant that we still used a 4-horse team to stack the hay in the summer and feed it out in the winter in 1966. His reason for not buying a tractor was because he had spare grass for the work horses, but gasoline cost MONEY. That was the way things were done, period. He retired in 1966 and my Dad and uncle decided to have the work horses retire with my Grandfather. I have fond memories of getting up at 5:30 a.m. and helping my Dad get them harnessed. My main job was to STAY OUT OF THE WAY, but my task was to hold the halter ropes while they got dressed for work.
Tiredretiredlawyer wrote: ↑Fri Jul 16, 2021 10:42 am
My first horse was also an appendix quarter horse, sorrel and with four white socks. Her stable name was Maybelline and she competed in AQHA events. Her trot was as smooth as glass. She was everything I hadn't dreamed about (tall for me at 16 hands, sorrel and not an Arabian), but she was PERFECT!!!!!
Care to share a photo of your Maybelline, TRL? My Boots only had three white socks.
The family ranch was in the western part of the Nebraska Sandhills and because everything is covered in a thick layer of sand, we never shod our horses. In fact, we let their hooves grow a bit more than for shod horses so they didn't sink too deep in the blow sand. Boots had an uncanny knack of tripping on gopher mounds with those long hooves when I galloped her in the meadow. That often ended with her going to her knees and me taking flight over her ears (after first making "contact" with the saddle horn). The first couple of times that happened she would snap off the reins as she ran back to the barn. It didn't take her long to realize that if she turned her head to the side she wouldn't step on the reins. Horses are definitely not stupid animals. I appreciated only having to pay for a couple of sets of reins.
Oh, one more thing, I believe that photo is the last photo of me with a crew cut. Becoming a teenager required a longer hair style.