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Who IS the horse of the month for April?

Posted: Fri Apr 01, 2016 2:40 pm
by Chancellor
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Who IS the horse of the month for April? Ponichiwa?

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Re: Who IS the horse of the month for April?

Posted: Fri Apr 01, 2016 3:41 pm
by Rockabilly
ok

Re: Who IS the horse of the month for April?

Posted: Fri Apr 01, 2016 4:15 pm
by Ponichiwa
Sorry, Rockabilly.... that's my 2007 German Riding Pony mare Kiwi.Thanks, Chancellor!

Re: Who IS the horse of the month for April?

Posted: Fri Apr 01, 2016 5:31 pm
by Chancellor
Ponichiwa wrote:Sorry, Rockabilly.... that's my 2007 German Riding Pony mare Kiwi.Thanks, Chancellor!


Usually people take this opportunity to tell us a little about the horse.

Re: Who IS the horse of the month for April?

Posted: Fri Apr 01, 2016 8:56 pm
by Ponichiwa
Sorry, just briefly popped in this afternoon.

I found Kiwi via, of all places, Craigslist. She was unbroke, fat, and was "free to good home". Later, that was edited to "free". Someone had apparently tried to get her started under saddle and failed.... or so we learned when she lawn-darted my sister into the ground after several weeks' worth of uneventful groundwork. That torn meniscus landed Kiwi a spot in pony boot camp with a racehorse/young horse trainer we know.

I've had the ride on her for 5 years now (yikes!), and have taken her from greenbroke (90ish days under saddle) to schooling 3rd/4th. She's SUPER talented, SUPER fun, but also SUPER difficult and humbling. We're hoping this year to get some mileage out at 3rd and potentially 4th by the end of the year if the upcoming crosscountry move I've got to make in June doesn't throw a wrench in the plan.

Finally, some pictures:

Baby Kiwi:
Image

No parking?? Kiwi parks where she wants to.
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Post-show rockstar hair:
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Kiwi, casually leaving the arena on a long rein, as if this weren't the site of the 2010 WEG:
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Re: Who IS the horse of the month for April?

Posted: Fri Apr 01, 2016 10:53 pm
by Shirrine
Is she by Hilkens Black Delight? I saw baby pictures of her when I had mine born and liked her then.

Shirrine

Re: Who IS the horse of the month for April?

Posted: Fri Apr 01, 2016 11:11 pm
by Ponichiwa
She is! Hilkens Black Delight x Welsh/TB mare.

I also know another Hilkens Black Delight mare (also 2007), out of a Connemara. Both she and Kiwi are pretty spicy. Now I respect those little European pony jocks even more.

Re: Who IS the horse of the month for April?

Posted: Sat Apr 02, 2016 3:08 pm
by M&M
Awesome story, gorgeous photos!

Re: Who IS the horse of the month for April?

Posted: Sat Apr 02, 2016 4:59 pm
by demi
Nice horse! That baby picture is beautiful. She is going to be a fabulous FEI pony!

Re: Who IS the horse of the month for April?

Posted: Sun Apr 03, 2016 11:35 am
by TeresaA
She is lovely!

Re: Who IS the horse of the month for April?

Posted: Mon Apr 11, 2016 3:11 pm
by Ponichiwa
Thanks for the love! I've let Kiwi know. She was unimpressed:

Image

Updating to say that the pony that once wouldn't let me put my legs on her (as recently as spring 2015) and who launched me approximately 13 months ago in an incident that separated my shoulder is now laying down clean, sometimes too-expressive, 4-tempis.

Victory!!

Re: Who IS the horse of the month for April?

Posted: Mon Apr 11, 2016 6:07 pm
by Chisamba
that is fabulous, her expression is priceless

Re: Who IS the horse of the month for April?

Posted: Tue Apr 12, 2016 1:22 am
by Hayburner
Thanks for sharing her background! She's adorable!

Re: Who IS the horse of the month for April?

Posted: Tue Apr 12, 2016 1:45 pm
by chantal
Wonderful journey, thanks for sharing it. And I love the latest picture of her, bwahahaahaaaaa!

Re: Who IS the horse of the month for April?

Posted: Tue Apr 12, 2016 6:31 pm
by Ryeissa
Lovely!

Re: Who IS the horse of the month for April?

Posted: Tue Apr 12, 2016 10:53 pm
by piedmontfields
And this, Ponichiwa, is why we are fans of you and Kiwi. It ain't easy, but damn, she is just gorgeous when she sets her mind to it!

I also think "Kiwi" is one of the best names ever. :D :D

This is a totally different thread, but my Emi is one step removed from a craigslist horse. She was picked up by an earnest amateur off craigslist for a little (not quite free, but not much) when she started terrorizing her owners for venturing into her paddock, put back in work, and sold within a year to me for just a little more. She was bred by a serious dressage enthusiast/therapeutic horse program person (ex. had GP horses with Heather Blitz) who died before her time...and her personal horse ended up in a field alone for years with the people who put her on craigslist.

Re: Who IS the horse of the month for April?

Posted: Thu Apr 14, 2016 8:55 pm
by Ponichiwa
piedmontfields wrote:And this, Ponichiwa, is why we are fans of you and Kiwi. It ain't easy, but damn, she is just gorgeous when she sets her mind to it!

I also think "Kiwi" is one of the best names ever. :D :D

This is a totally different thread, but my Emi is one step removed from a craigslist horse. She was picked up by an earnest amateur off craigslist for a little (not quite free, but not much) when she started terrorizing her owners for venturing into her paddock, put back in work, and sold within a year to me for just a little more. She was bred by a serious dressage enthusiast/therapeutic horse program person (ex. had GP horses with Heather Blitz) who died before her time...and her personal horse ended up in a field alone for years with the people who put her on craigslist.


Craigslist horses, unite!!

Also, Kiwi is currently living up to her name: small, brown, and fuzzy. Hoping the shedding stops soon.

Ryeissa wrote:Lovely! when ever I hear your updates... I feel soooo behind in my training with Riot!


You know, I worried about keeping pace with the FEI 4/5/6yo schedule and when she turned 7 and wasn't PSG I was (completely irrationally) really disappointed. But they all mature at different rates, and it's not too shabby to have a horse you enjoy riding and have put some training on. That's a great thing, actually. So every day I just try to make something better, and every year it adds up.