targetsmom
Well-Known Member
Some of you watched Sox on Mare Stare in 2012 when she foaled tiny Snappy, which was a results of her NINTH full term pregnancy and 6th live foal. We decided not to breed her for this year, and may never breed again (sound familiar?). So what do you do with a mare like Sox that has done her best for you but needs a new "job"? In the short time since Snappy was weaned last fall, Sox has become a 4-H project mini, and learned to drive, jump, and do in-hand trail, and a few other things she could never imagine a year ago! After the initial "You mean I have to do something other than eat and make babies?" she took to her new role like a pro. She went to her first show at the ripe old age of 13, in a local open show in the youth small equine division, with 6 classes and shown by an 11 year old who was showing a mini for the first time (but she has done walk/trot before). We also took 2 other 4-Hers. There were also 2 other minis in the division who had been showing in the show series before. Well, Sox won the halter class, the hunter class and the trail class and was high point mini of the Division. So that was July 21.
Then this past Sunday, we took her to another show, another handler, a very competitive show series with 3 mini classes: halter, hunter, and trail. Well, she did it AGAIN - won halter and hunter, although this time her 3 year old son was along and HE won trail. She was again High Point in her division, and her son was Reserve. The biggest surprise is how easy it is to deal with an older mare like this, especially obvious when you are training yearlings and 3 year olds at the same time. She was the first of to be ready to be hooked to the cart although she was the last to be started ground driving. After only a few drives in the EE cart we moved her to the show cart and then back to the EE to give a lesson last week (with me in the cart). Two of the 4-Hers have also been in the cart, again with me. You have to know how safety conscious I am to understand how steady I feel this mare is.
Now, I don't know that I should be surprised at this, because to me, it is just confirmation that this was a good mare selection for our breeding program. So it seems that whatever you breed for, if you select the mares carefully, they should be productive without having to make babies. I am counting the days until Dancer's foal is weaned and I can continue her driving training and Kristen is waiting for her to be available as a 4-H project again.
Sox: Jumping, in trail and showing conformation.
Then this past Sunday, we took her to another show, another handler, a very competitive show series with 3 mini classes: halter, hunter, and trail. Well, she did it AGAIN - won halter and hunter, although this time her 3 year old son was along and HE won trail. She was again High Point in her division, and her son was Reserve. The biggest surprise is how easy it is to deal with an older mare like this, especially obvious when you are training yearlings and 3 year olds at the same time. She was the first of to be ready to be hooked to the cart although she was the last to be started ground driving. After only a few drives in the EE cart we moved her to the show cart and then back to the EE to give a lesson last week (with me in the cart). Two of the 4-Hers have also been in the cart, again with me. You have to know how safety conscious I am to understand how steady I feel this mare is.
Now, I don't know that I should be surprised at this, because to me, it is just confirmation that this was a good mare selection for our breeding program. So it seems that whatever you breed for, if you select the mares carefully, they should be productive without having to make babies. I am counting the days until Dancer's foal is weaned and I can continue her driving training and Kristen is waiting for her to be available as a 4-H project again.
Sox: Jumping, in trail and showing conformation.
