Hand Gallop Blog Hop: What's in a name?

Seeing as there is nothing more interesting happening than a snotty Allie nose that seems to be clearing, let's do a blog hop, shall we?

Ballymount Alleycat - Allie

Miss Allie. In all her muddy, muddy glory.

Allie came with the name Ballymount Alleycat. They called her Alleycat which a) doesn't suit her at all and b) I hate. Years ago there was this poor old Standardbred mare crippled with navicular at the property I used to agist my OTTB which broke my heart. Her name was Alleycat, and to me the name is cursed.

She is so sweet.

So Alleycat wouldn't work for me. I just called her Allie for short and to be honest I love the name for her now. She has a nick name of Al-bal or Allie-ballie thanks to Nat. No idea where it comes from but it has stuck!

Back when she was still pretty from both sides...

Honey Badger - Gracie

Don't let the cute face fool you. She is out for your blood.

So when we first got Gracie she looked like a feral horse straight from the bush, which she pretty much was.

Super feral.

Nat named her Gracie simply because she liked the name Grace. We all know now that she can be a mole of a horse and is rather graceful while tearing around the paddock kicking at your head. She is so marey. So, so marey.

The Honey Badger thing is best explained by this video:

Seriously, Gracie doesn't give a shit. She eats ANYTHING. She takes what she wants, does what she wants, is a general bad ass and really doesn't need any human in her life. She is the opposite of sweet affectionate Allie.

But she looks so cute!

When Nat took her to her first show, she wanted a show name for her but couldn't come up with anything. We joked about Honey Badger, but I don't think Nat was serious about it. Too bad for her that I did the online nomination for them. I chose Honey Badger and it really has stuck. We love it now. She lives up to it on a regular basis.

Shaun's Image - Beckham

"Getting REAL sick of your shit Lisa..."

Beckham's sire was a TB from New Zealand called Young Shaun. Apparently Becks looked just like him, therefore Shaun's Image.

He really was quite handsome.

His stable name when I got him was Gus. Weird thing was, the old man who I got him from was also called Gus. He looked like a Gus, with his big round belly and short chewed up tail. But I hated Gus. Hated it. I couldn't find a name I liked but my mate Casey suggested Beckham. Now, I'm not a soccer fan at all, but the name really suited him. So it stuck.

Gosh I miss that horse.

Wombat - Pom

Oh my sweet pony. Sweet, long suffering pony.

Wombat was my first pony I got when I was 12. He came with the name Wombat. I don't know anything about his history, we bought him from a dodgy horse dealer.

No helmet. No hair tie. No saddle. Really, it's lucky I was even wearing boots.

His nickname was Pom. After about the first year or so I hardly ever called him Wombat. Always Pom. Some people assumed that was his only name! The way a 13 year old girl progresses from Wombat to Pom is this: Wombat>Wombie Pombie>Wombie Pom>Pom.
I shit you not.

So cute, so yellow.

Anira

That is the look of a pony who suffers ownership by a 13 year old pony obsessed girl.

Anira was a sweet old long suffering paint pony we bought from another dodgy horse dealer. Can you tell we didn't come from a horsey family?

Anira is a nerdy nerdy nerdy name. I am a super nerd, just FYI. It means desired in Sindarin Elvish from Lord of the Rings.

Yep.

So she got that name because Natalie (being about 9 years old at the time) desperately wanted a paint mare. This horse was too old and too expensive but she got her because she was a paint mare. The poor pony only stayed sound for about 3 years after Nat got her and retired not long after. She was also always a crazy hot ride. All she wanted to do was go fast, jump, or do sporting events, which her arthritic hocks couldn't handle.

Summer coat, winter fuzz ears.

She was super sweet and quiet on the ground so she wasn't any trouble to have around really. She was loved and I know Nat still misses her terribly.


That's it! What a great idea for a blog hop.

Spring spring spring spring spring!!!!!

FINALLY!!!



I am so excited for spring. Spring means to me the anticipation of daylight savings, feed costing less, warm sunny days while still getting a good nights sleep. It means currying your horse til your arm falls off, while your horse looks less patchy every day. Perfect riding (and trimming) weather. The water trough being emptier at the end of the day than you have seen it in months. Grass, clover, bees and the beginning of flies (where do they go in winter?!). Rugging less and less until that magical night where they stay naked and you know you are on the home stretch for summer.

We got Gracie in spring.

Spring is happy geldings sniffing mare pee.

Spring is fat happy ponies.

Spring is playing in the dam!

I love spring. I really do.

Horse-Love

I read a post over on The Literary Horse this morning. She's asking why you fell in love with your horse.

 

 

I fell in love with Wombat at first sight. I was 12 and saw this great big (well, I thought back then!) grey horse standing at the gate. I loved him from right then, the way only a twelve year old girl could. I had him from 1996 til 2003, all through high school and a couple of years after. He got me through my parents divorce, bullying, first boyfriends and break ups, plus all the other horrible crappy things that you have to go through in order to be a 'grown-up'. I was in love with that horse because he was always there, always waiting. I still love him because I feel he is still waiting for me somewhere. I feel him give me confidence when I am nervous on a horse. I still to this day just pretend that I am riding him, and then I can trust the horse. Anything Pom dished out, I could handle. Therefore, anything this horse can dish out, I can handle. Confidence is just a bluff anyway, right?

 

 

 

Becks was a different story. I had lost Pom about 6 months earlier when Beckham came on the scene. I got him thorough a friend of a friend's friend. He was a free horse too. The guy was too old to look after him properly anymore, and he just wanted him to go to a good home. We did not click. He was totally different to what I was used to and he wasn't sure what I was all about either. He had a few health issues too, and the tiny bit of rapport we built up was totally shattered when I needed to float him to the vet clinic for eye surgery. He refused to get on. I had very little experience trailering too, and the whole day ended in tears for me. My horse didn't trust me. He had loaded fine for his last owner when I went to pick him up, and I felt terrible. I ended up having to hire a professional horse-truck driver to get him to the clinic a few days later.

Our love was a slow moving one. By the time I had him at home with me, I loved him just as much, if not more then I had loved Pom. I couldn't tell you when the turning point was, or what set it off, because there was no one little thing. It just crept up on us, and then I realised we were dependent on each other. I had him from 2003 til 2010. I have written before about our one moment of perfection under saddle, and that was like the culmination of all the years of hard work, but I always had a soft spot for him. Always.

 

 

Allie is an enigma. I love her certainly, but mostly because I know I'm supposed to. I'm not yet in love with her, but I am starting to see certain things about her personality that I know will form part of the puzzle that will lead to me being in love with her. Things like when she leaps into a trot she does a silly little squeal, or how she LOVES cuddles and will come up to you and put her head on your chest for one. She is just... so dumb sometimes! She is a quick learner, and she is quiet, but she is certainly not a clever thing. I'm used to clever horses like Gracie (who is FAR too clever and smart for her own good!) and Pom, and even Becks was smart because he had a lot of life experience. I expect Allie will become like Becks once she has been out and about. She is just off with the fairies half the time. Kind of like me I guess!