Horses are like clamps....

[Jim Becker]

Horses are like clamps apparently, more than one is becomes the rule. Elvis has a new sister...meet Nellie, my new dressage mount. Only two years minus one day from when we bought Elvis. LOL :o

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v646/a-j-adopt/Nellie/nellie-15.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v646/a-j-adopt/Nellie/nellie-16.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v646/a-j-adopt/Nellie/nellie-17.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v646/a-j-adopt/Nellie/nellie-18.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v646/a-j-adopt/Nellie/nellie-19.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v646/a-j-adopt/Nellie/nellie-12.jpg

For anyone not familiar with Elvis, here he is...

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v646/a-j-adopt/jim-elvis-1.jpg

And just so you know, he's pretty smart...here he is studying the jumping courses before my daughter, Alesya, rode him to a grand champion ribbon. :)

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v646/a-j-adopt/elvis-learning-course.jpg

[Bruce Page]

I don't know much about horses but those are good looking animals!

[Steve Costa]

Great looking horses, but I must admit since I was 10 my agreement with horses was if they promised to stayed on their side of the fence I would stay on MINE!!!

[Ken Fitzgerald]

Nice looking bay and sorrel Jim!

[Bruce Page]

Nice looking bay and sorrel Jim!
Show off! :)

[Greg Peterson]

I know very little about horses. But I still think they are exceptionally magnificent creatures. Elvis and Nellie are beautiful.

Correct me if I am wrong, but I thought the adage was that one could never have enough clamps. I did not realize this was also true with horses. Wow. And I thought clamps were expensive.

[gary Zimmel]

Congrats on the new mount Jim. Looks like she is going fit right into the family.
Next on your list, to go with the new "clamp", will have to be a three or four horse Sundowner gooseneck with living quarters.;)
We have quarter horses that cut or rein and I have found that in the horse world the bleeding really never stops....
Have fun with Nellie and congrats again.

[Jim Becker]

Nice looking bay and sorrel Jim!

Yes, they are...although these days, Elvis and his color ilk would usually be referred to as a chestnut. :D LOL


Congrats on the new mount Jim. Looks like she is going fit right into the family.
Next on your list, to go with the new "clamp", will have to be a three or four horse Sundowner gooseneck with living quarters.;)
We have quarter horses that cut or rein and I have found that in the horse world the bleeding really never stops....
Have fun with Nellie and congrats again.

Yea, but that would also have to be part of the whole winning PowerBall or MegaMillions winning ticket thing. :) Seriously, I'd like to have a trailer someday so we could head to the horse park with some frequency, but I'd likely opt for something light-weight that I don't need a major piece of truck to pull...a Fautras (http://www.fautras.com/) or a used Brenderup, for example. I can pull them safely with my Highlander Hybrid.


Correct me if I am wrong, but I thought the adage was that one could never have enough clamps. I did not realize this was also true with horses. Wow. And I thought clamps were expensive.

Yea, and clamps don't eat much. ;)

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BTW, today is the two year anniversary of our purchasing Elvis. Ironic that Nellie comes on board at about the same time this year. Scary...very scary...

[Steve Schlumpf]

Jim - I know next to nothing about horses and have only ridden a few times in my life - but you sure have some beautiful horses! Have fun!

[Scott T Smith]

Jim, those two look great! What breeds are they? My wife rode dressage for years on a Trakhaner, and a few years ago she acquired a Cleveland Bay. Our latest acquisition is a quarterhorse for Extreme Cowboy Racing competition.

[Jim Becker]

Scott, Elvis is an Appendix (TB/QH) and Nellie is TB/Appy/WB with the WB portion likely something like a Trakhaner rather than a larger warmblood type. Elvis is 16.1h and 11 yo. Nellie is 16.2h and about 8 yo, although we don't know her age for sure. I'm training in dressage; my younger daughter is training for hunters, my older daughter occasionally rides (her meds have hurt her ability unfortunately) and Professor Dr. SWMBO is also riding. Oh, and I was actually in the shop today...making a sign for Nellie's stall door. LOL

Congrats on your new QH. I hope that you get lots of ribbons!

[Ken Fitzgerald]

Jim.....I, for one, am not a fan of purebreds. When I was in the market for a "mountain" horse, all the professional trainers I talked with at horse sales advised me to stay away from purebreds.

When I was looking, I would not look at anything younger than 8-10 years of age.

Both your horses appear to have good conformation.

Nice looking horses!

[Jim Becker]

Ken, it's both an objective and subjective thing when it comes to choosing breeding for a particular purpose. There are some disciplines where "more pure" excels and many other areas that benefit from more mixed breeding. And, of course, there are sometimes just human preferences, informed or uninformed.

That said, we are indeed blessed that our two are well built and healthy as they are. And both have incredibly wonderful personalities...and that's the part that really makes them a pleasure to have in the family.

[Jim Mattheiss]

Yea, and clamps don't eat much. ;)

And you don't need a shovel to clean up after your clamps either . . .

Cheers

Jim

[Jim Becker]

And you don't need a shovel to clean up after your clamps either . . .

True, but I don't need a shovel to clean up after our horses, either...it's included in the board bill. LOL

[Charles McKinley]

Hi Jim,
Glad to se the family is growing! It is nice that your entire family is involved with the horses. I hope that your older daughter will be able to ride more in the future.

That is an interesting trailer. It gets really good reviews. Ride with an experienced hauler a few time to see if you like hauling live animals.

ENJOY!

[Mike Cutler]

Nice addition Jim!
For now, I think I'll keep renting Royal, wife's OTTB, "friends" at the boarding facility.
I like being around horses. Sometimes I look at Royal now and forget what a train wreck he was coming off the tracks.

Good luck with the upcoming season, and if you travel up this way for any shows, you just might meet the wife. ;)

[Jim Becker]

Mike, I find that horses have a tremendous calming effect on many people, myself included. I don't really do shows as I ride for "me"...although I'll occasionally do a fill-in for the barn schooling shows if the barn owner needs an adult to fill a class for flat-work. I may do a dressage test at the horse park once in awhile just for validation, but I don't feel any pull to be in shows for some reason.

I was leasing Nellie, but it was clear that we had a wonderful bond and it was worth purchasing her. Ironically, her paperwork is dated 3 May...two years to the day after Elvis's paperwork. :) My younger, Alesya age 11.5, got on her for the first time tonight after I rode for awhile, although it was in my saddle for convenience. Here she is...

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v646/a-j-adopt/Nellie/nellie-23.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v646/a-j-adopt/Nellie/nellie-22.jpg

And this was while Professor Dr SWMBO was having her lesson on Elvis...who was just great for her tonight. Some after-shots...

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v646/a-j-adopt/elvis-4May2011-1.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v646/a-j-adopt/elvis-4May2011-3.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v646/a-j-adopt/elvis-4May2011-2.jpg