Hello to all

MavericksMom

MavericksMom

New Member
Aug 28, 2021
16
21
3
Middle Tennessee
Good morning!

I found this site while looking for information about barns. What a helpful forum and how encouraging you all seem to be.

I am retired and have loved horses all my life, but did not have the opportunity to ride/learn until later in life when I had the means to purchase my own horse. I ride western, am an advanced beginner and have an interest in learning western dressage.

I live in middle Tennessee. I am greatly blessed with a loving husband, two Shetland Sheepdogs and a grade Paint gelding named Maverick.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Jessey and lauren123
Hello, great to meet you! Many of us are in the UK but we have a fair smattering of members from the US now. I also didn't get my own horse until I was 50. It's never ever too late!

By the way, we love pictures. Especially of horses ;) . I would also like to ask you what is a "grade Paint" ? Does that mean a pedigree? Has your horse passed some sort of exam?
 
Hello and welcome! What would be the odds of meeting another Middle Tennessean on a UK forum but howdyšŸ˜„. I am also retired but I was raised with horses and have always had them. My remaining two are 26 & 27, when I lay them to rest, thatā€™s it for me.

Maverick is a cutie and nicely built, but better pictures would be greatšŸ‘šŸ‘

Is he Paint or Spotted Saddle Horse?
 
Jane & Ziggy (or Sid?) hello! Thanks for your kind greeting! I could see from the phrasing on the site that I was entering a new world, but you are all so kind to each other, I thought it a fair chance you would be the same with me! I will post more and better pics of Mav soon. 'Grade' means not a purebred here. He is supposedly a Paint and Morgan cross, but I don't see the Morgan in him. Regardless, I love his look. He has pretty good training, but it seems there are some areas that have been allowed to lie fallow, so he needs a refresher at the very least. He has not passed any exams and was previously a lesson horse.

And to LollyKay - hello from Thompsons Station! Where do you call home? As I told Jane/Ziggy/Sid above, he is more paint than anything, but he does have a Spotted Saddle look to him, doesn't he? I always thought those were a gorgeous breed.

I must get on those pictures, mustn't I? Here's one (not great), but I will put up more as soon as I can!
 

Attachments

  • 20210506_095915.jpg
    20210506_095915.jpg
    82.3 KB · Views: 7
  • Like
Reactions: Trewsers, Jessey and Lollykay
Maverick, you handsome blue-eyed ladšŸ˜˜. The angle of your avatar gives Maverickā€™s head a sort of Arab look to it, and his lean build could also lend to being part Arab instead of part Morgan. Either way, he is beautiful and looks to be full of personality:)

Thompsonā€™s Station is the right place to be for great equine medical care! You are fortunate to be close to Tennessee Equine - at least I hear they are the best, unless we want to haul all the way to Knoxville.

I am an hour or so from you (depending on traffic) in SE Bedford County. How are you and yours handling this heat/humidity? Weā€™ve been showering Rusty & Joker down every night - every single night for two weeks, then put them in their stalls with the barrel fans aimed them. I hope the cool down comes next week but I also hope it doesnā€™t get too carried away, lol
 
"Full of personality" is much nicer than I would have put it! LOL He's a silly goof sometimes. I just learned yesterday that he can untie himself. Great, just great....

Hadn't thought about an Arab look - that's interesting and definitely the camera angle. If you saw him in person, you'd see the stoutness of the Paint/Quarter Horse in him.

Oh gosh yes! TN Equine is fabulous. They cared for Butter while she was declining and their staff is all very sweet.

Bedford? Cool! My brother in law and his wife live in Wartrace. It's beautiful country there. But you're right, it's SO hot. The stall board horses all have a fan and that helps. I also rinse him off after a ride. They do night turn out so at least he gets day shade inside. The fans really do help.
 
How lovely that there is someone local to you here already, what are the chances of that!

Your blue eyed boy is beautiful (but you knew that already). My boy is blue eyed too:

IMG_1084.JPG

But oh so slightly a different shape from your boy

tempImageTqYGdT.png

I love the slender, athletic look of American horses but my Sid suits me just fine. We are probably quite alike...
 
  • Like
Reactions: Lollykay
Sid is gorgeous - I love his noble head! How tall? Is he Gypsy Vanner/Cob?

This spring, I met the fellow who introduced the GV breed to the United States. Very interesting story. I considered purchasing a GV for a while, but when I saw Mav, I decided I could have a similar look without the upkeep of the hair!
 
For those who requested more pics... here you go. The blond lady is the seller. That was the day I met Maverick.

The second picture is the cleanest he has been since I got him. Mud all the time now...

A good night to all!
 

Attachments

  • 20210507_Mav with seller on meeting day.jpg
    20210507_Mav with seller on meeting day.jpg
    193.6 KB · Views: 5
  • 20210514_Mav.jpg
    20210514_Mav.jpg
    174.6 KB · Views: 5
  • Like
Reactions: Lollykay, Trewsers and Jessey
Oh gosh he is a beauty indeed, I love his markings. Minimally marked like that looks so smart. His blue eye is really brilliant, almost white! Do you find it hard to read? I find that Sid always looks cross or worried to me on his blue eyed side, even though he may be quite calm. I just can't understand blue eyes in a horse the way I do brown ones.
MavericksMom said:
I love his noble head!
Click to expand...
Oh madam you are too kind! I will tell Sid you said that. I doubt anyone has ever described him as 'noble" before but I will now. Yes, he is a GV: we would call him a Traditional Cob here, or as I did when I bought him, a "pikey pony" meaning that he looks as if he has been bred and brought up by Irish travellers. I haven't had him long and we have a long way to go to get him to his full hairy glory. He is 15hh high, just the perfect height in my book (I'm only 5 ft 2), and probably 15hh wide as well.

There's a diary thread about him, Sid's Diary, if you want to read more about us. He was a suspicious cynical soul when he arrived, but he's much happier now and I love him!

Tell me more about the chap who imported the first GVs. I believe they're becoming quite sought after in the States now, a couple of our top breeders have exported stallions and breeding mares for silly money.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Lollykay
Jane&Ziggy said:
Oh gosh he is a beauty indeed, I love his markings. Minimally marked like that looks so smart. His blue eye is really brilliant, almost white! Do you find it hard to read? I find that Sid always looks cross or worried to me on his blue eyed side, even though he may be quite calm. I just can't understand blue eyes in a horse the way I do brown ones.

Oh madam you are too kind! I will tell Sid you said that. I doubt anyone has ever described him as 'noble" before but I will now. Yes, he is a GV: we would call him a Traditional Cob here, or as I did when I bought him, a "pikey pony" meaning that he looks as if he has been bred and brought up by Irish travellers. I haven't had him long and we have a long way to go to get him to his full hairy glory. He is 15hh high, just the perfect height in my book (I'm only 5 ft 2), and probably 15hh wide as well.

There's a diary thread about him, Sid's Diary, if you want to read more about us. He was a suspicious cynical soul when he arrived, but he's much happier now and I love him!

Tell me more about the chap who imported the first GVs. I believe they're becoming quite sought after in the States now, a couple of our top breeders have exported stallions and breeding mares for silly money.
Click to expand...
My prior mare was also a paint and had a blue eye. Hers was definitely hard for me to read because she always looked surprised. With Maverick, I end up watching more body language. He has quite a bit of white around his other eye, which is kind of interesting to watch the pupil move so clearly. It's almost as if I can see him 'thinking' when I lunge him on that side.

Love, love, love beautiful GVs/TCs! I like the Pikey Pony label too. I will certainly look at Mr. Sid's diary.

Dennis Thompson and his wife, Cindy (deceased) 'discovered' GVs while on a trip to Europe. They realized that the breed was something special and established a registry and breeding program. Here is a link to the farm website: https://gypsygold.com/
 
  • Like
Reactions: Lollykay
Oh thank you for that link. Sid looks just like their foundation stallion! Who knew!

By the way, "Pikey" to describe a Gypsy or Traveller is rude - not quite as bad as the N word for a black person but definitely not something you would say in public ;-)
 
  • Like
Reactions: Lollykay and Jessey
@MavericksMom have you had the chance to ride any of the Natchez Trace trail system? I rode there quite a few years back and loved it but parts of the trail are not for beginner riders on green horses.

Somewhere in the attic I have boxes of real photographs, lollol. There are some of the rides at Natchez Trace. One was when I was riding a gorgeous Spotted Walker that Evening Shade Farm was wanting to sell but it needed some miles on it. I wanted to buy that horse but he was only a three year old and he was priced at $7,000. No ā€” nupeā€” wasnā€™t gonna spend that kind of money when I can train my own, lollol. I had a lump in my throat when I paid $1,800 for Rusty 25 years ago and that was only because he has that champagn-smooth running walk people lust after in a Walking Horse, lollol
 
newrider.com
Top Bottom
Back