The Height Debate.

So, in my quest to find the perfect all-around mare, I found Ally. She's only been here since the beginning of the week, and I am in love! There is only one "less than perfect" quality to her, that being that she is 15.2 hands. Oh, if only she'd of been an inch or two bigger! Granted, she is only a four year old so there is still some potential for oh.. say... half an inch or so to gain? ;-) I bought Ally for a western all-around horse. WP is her strong suit, and I want to add horsemanship, western riding, trail, showmanship, and equitation. However, when I get this mare here, I see that she could be excellent legged for the huntseat as well! Could it be, I found my "all-in-one" horse, that can do BOTH the english and western events? I suppose, that depends on the judging at any given time... whether they prefer the height or the moves. She really is amazing legged and soft... she'd be a GREAT one in the HUS if she was only a couple inches taller.

So, I decided to take on the challenge. I will begin showing Ally, all 15.2 hands of her, in the hunter under saddle in addition to western events. The worst we can do is lose, but she is SO great legged that I'm willing to bet that over half the judges out there will judge her fairly. The other bonus is that I'm pretty short, at 5"3, so I don't make her look dwarfed.

So here goes nothing... I will try showing Ally in the HUS this weekend at a Venice, FL show (if I get her papers in time), and then the HQHA futurity in Unadilla, GA next weekend. Depending on how she goes at those shows, I can't say I'm not keeping a late Congress entry for the Novice Am HUS in my thoughts... :-X But we'll cross that bridge when we get there!

Did I say I'm in LOVE with this mare? She is so pretty with her dishy, blazed, almost arab looking face, her flashy rabicano frosting all over her body, tall stockings and skunk tail... and she is a SWEETHEART. Now that she has settled in, we are becoming the best of friends. She had her first showmanship lesson last night, I can't wait for that, boy will she have the eye appeal for that. I'm in LOVE... and if I can get her doing EVERTHING, that will be icing on the cake! I'm so excited for our future, I might have finally found the all-around horse of my dreams.




Stay tuned!
~Amy