As of yesterday (10/31/09), we have a new pony. Her name is Sweet Pea, and we adopted her from the United States Equine Rescue League. She is three years old, and stands 13 hands high. She's a Hackney/Appaloosa cross, and is able to be registered as Pony of the Americas (which I will likely do after the Holidays). As her name says, she is a sweet little lady, and has a very laid back personality (though she does have a playful side). Courtney just loves her, and she's becoming good friends with Jasmine also.
In September, we had a two-year-old Quarter Horse gelding here for some ground training. He came to us with a bit of a reputation for being psychotic, complete with rolling eyes, a bad habit of rearing, overreacting to every little thing, and a tendency of breaking away when being led. The interesting thing about this horse was that I didn't find him to be a bad horse at all. He was simply a young horse that needed to learn his boundaries, and realize that he was making big deals out of nothing. He turned out to be very willing, and once I found his comfort zone, we made fast progress. The horse that used to rear and try to strike out at you for trying to fly spray him now stands like a gentleman. The horse that had wanted nothing to do with baths now plays with the water hose (with the water on). The horse that would break away over clippers was having the clippers run all along his body (with them on). The horse that had to be sedated to get him in a trailer walked calmly on to go home. He was also lunging in the round pen with a bareback pad (the type with a girth) and a bridle (loose ring snaffle bit), all of which were completely new to him, and he took to all of it like he'd been doing it for years. The owner of this horse is ecstatic, and swears that he's a different horse. I am very happy to hear this, as it reinforces my opinion that horses just need a fair shake in life, and that kindness and patience can work wonders.