...and the WINNER is Kendra, of Circle J Ranches--who have for YEARS recognized the value of geldings!!!
: :worshippy:
I LOVE how Kendra and her family have so many geldings, now that is a great example for the miniature horse world, and they are "using" horses too.
Thanks! Mostly though, it wasn't a concious "there needs to be more geldings in the world so we'll geld all these horses we raised/bought", we just wanted good show/parade/driving horses!
Shortly we'll be adding another to the list, a coming three year old who finally has all his "bits", and we have one yearling colt, no big rush to geld him but he'll be a fabulous driving gelding, very excited about him!
And in case anyone's interested (if not, sorry for boring you) here's our boys. All of them except Henry & Iginla are AMHA registered. They're listed oldest to youngest!
Flying W Farms Donner - 29 year old retiree … except when he went to a show last summer, and did very well! The only surviving member of our original four horse hitch of blacks.
Sheep Meadow Gretz- 23 years young, still traveling as a leader in our eight horse hitch, was a show horse for years, and still occasionally shows the 4Hers how it’s done
Sheep Meadow Bunky- 20 years old this year, also a leader in the hitch, self appointed “most important horse†on the place!
NFC Illusions Image- Best driving horse in the world! (but I’m not biased). Not able to show anymore due to lameness issues, but did very successfully for many years. Now teaching 4H kids all about driving, he takes his new job very seriously.
Sheep Meadow Nova- Longtime member of the hitch, and still going strong, even though he’s not quite black, he’s so good they can’t bear to leave him home.
Chinooks Knight Rider- Another hitch black boy, come along way from his first year with the hitch when his nickname was “Scaryâ€! Accident prone though, can pick him out from the other blacks in winter by finding his scars!
Circle J Elvez- Has spent time in the hitch, but was a “pain-in-the-butt†so was then a show horse, Supreme Halter Horse winner, will likely return to hitch in the future, currently on hiatus!
Circle J Zachary- Show horse since he was a weanling, does it all, drives single and team, obstacle, showmanship, halter, lots of championships over the years.
Mountain Views Woos Willie- Member of the hitch, Willie is a bonafide sweetheart, loves everybody, though he doesn’t believe in working hard!
Mountain Views Fozzie- Nicknamed Spook for a reason, he’s come a long way since we got him, and next year is set to become a “contributing member of society†by joining the hitch.
PitRPats Paco- A breeding stallion for a couple years, Paco is now the smallest (32.5â€) member of the hitch, like Nova doesn’t quite fit in, but so good at his job he keeps traveling with them.
Little L Acres Clunkers Pending- A show stallion in a previous life (people thought we were nuts to buy him and geld him!), he kept parades exciting for the first couple years, but he's settled in nicely now.
I’m Too Slick For You- A Country Pleasure Driving champion for his previous owners, another real angel, a great member of our hitch.
Circle J Dezigner Genes- A champion in halter, country pleasure driving, and team hitch, Duke is expanding his horizons this year with a 4H member, in showmanship, halter obstacle and hunter.
Morning Moons Arrow Dynamic- “Straight Ahead Fred†as he’s been dubbed is working on his driving training and is going to be a flashy member of the hitch in the very near future.
Circle J Finnegan - All around youth gelding, winner of many high point titles, and an athletic driving horse that just keeps getting better.
Circle J King George- Another great youth gelding, already adept at halter, obstacle, and a star at liberty, his goal this year is to complete an entire hunter course, and put some of that movement in front of the cart.
Raftered Hearts Blackjack- The sweetheart of all sweethearts, he was shown by a 4Her a few years ago in halter, obstacle and showmanship, now we’re just hoping he stops pushing that 34†height limit so he can be a hitch member.
Circle J Hawk- Crazy-nuts until he became a show horse last year, was a halter stallion, now well on his way to becoming an all around gelding.
Henry- Oversize black gelding, one of only 2 geldings actively for sale!
Iginla- Oversize black gelding, spitting image of Henry, also for sale!
Circle J Captain Jack Sparrow- 2 year old gelding owned by my 11 year old cousin, will be trained for obstacle and driving she tells me!
Circle J Jerome- 2 year old, already shown at halter, this year expanding to halter obstacle and showmanship with his 4Her, future member of the hitch.