Gone native

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TinseLeneHorse

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He is lovely and I like his name. Did he come with it or did you choose it? It would be nice to have a whole herd of highlands named after Scottish mountains. Blaven would be a good name if you ever get him a pal!
 
Caol Ila

Caol Ila

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I chose it. His previous owner called him Moose, and I couldn't cope.

I went through a lot of mountains before I settled on that one. Thought about Bla Bheinn. Worked my around the Skye Cuillin. Really liked Gillean but I'd come across a guy called Gillean (named after the mountain) who was really strange, and I couldn't get past that association. Then I thought about Askaval and Ainshival in the Rum Cuillin, then onto the mainland with Suilven, Quinag, Liathach (really liked Liathach, but the pronounciation does people's heads in...Hermosa is challenging enough, and Spanish is very phonetic), Wyvis, Garbh Bheinn, Fhionnlaigh, Saileag, Gairich. Then for a laugh, Ceathreamhnan. But I can't even pronounce that (we call in 'Sgurr na Caravan' when we've climb it).

Foinaven seemed to fit, and you can fall back to Finn when people freak out at the Gaelic. Many do.
 
Caol Ila

Caol Ila

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HeyMich said:
I did wonder if that was Moose! Very glad he's ended up staying local-ish. I can put you in touch with the lady who helped tame and back him, if you like? Rest assured, he's been started slowly and sympathetically! Hope you have lots of fun together!
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Small world. How do you know him? I would love that. He's a cool dude.
 
Caol Ila

Caol Ila

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Sam_J said:
I wish you many happy years together - but I think I missed the backstory! Is there a thread I can read to catch up?
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It's buried in my thread about my PRE's unexpected foal. The highlights are that at some point in April, I'd decided I would buy a riding horse when it came time to put my 28-year old horse down, because my 2-year old PRE needed to chill and mature, and I needed to ride something in the meantime. The day I PTS my old girl, I discovered that aforesaid 2-year old was pregnant and due to foal imminently. And then she did. A week later. After a few weeks of blind panic, I decided that I could not keep the colt (he's being sold as soon as he's weaned), because I needed two unbroke youngsters like a hole in the head, but a mature riding horse was still in the cards. I resumed the search.

The backstory on the pony is that he came from a Highland stud farm in Moray. The owner of the stud farm apparently wasn't well, and he stopped managing the horses, so they ran feral on the 2000 acre estate, breeding as and when they wished, totally unhandled. After some years, the herd had grown to between 75 and 150 head, and WHW, along with Ian Stark and some Highland breeders, stepped in and rounded up the horses. My horse must have been a foal or in utero at the time of the first round up, but it sounds as though he remained unhandled until the person who (I think) HeyMich knows bought him.
 
Caol Ila

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Took him on his first hack tonight. Our only company was OH on foot, which was ambitious, but I figured I could always jump off and go back if things went pear shaped. We did a 30 minute ride I call the "mansion loop" because you ride on the roads past some mansions. He was super. Tense and a bit worried in some sections, but held it together and didn't put a foot wrong.

I did think that the cavesson sidepull thing wasn't brilliant. The epic tack faff will continue, but I was pleased with the pony.

Added a photo of Hermosa and Caso, so they don't feel left out.

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ArklePig

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Foinavon is absolutely gorgeous! A Highland has always been my dream pony, and I've only ridden two (in the last week, I just knew they were for me). Jealous! Hope you are very happy together!
 
Caol Ila

Caol Ila

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Tried to get into Mugdock today, but two riders from... somewhere else (not my yard)... turned down the road just in front of us, and he had a minor meltdown at seeing two strange horses on the road. Instead of pushing it, myself and my hacking buddy turned the other way and did another loop through the mansions. He settled once we'd turned away from them. Gypsum didn't stop being a lunatic about the 'strange horse on the trail' thing' until she was about 25. I'm hoping it doesn't take Foinavon that long, but dealing with it three days after arriving at yard is asking a lot! Otherwise, he was really good. The cyclists and drivers were a bit deathy today, zipping past us at 100mph without giving any f*cks. He was great in traffic at his old owner's place in Aberfoyle, but the drivers around there are much better behaved. The Milngavie ones can be awful.
 
Caol Ila

Caol Ila

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We got into Mugdock Park today! He was a good boy, even managed a few leads on the 'easy' bit. I finally manage to bodge a bridle so the Mylar combination bit fit him, and he was the quietest he'd ever been in his mouth.

Hermosa and Caso had the farrier today; his first time, ever, and her first attempt without Domesedan. Friend (his owner-to-be) and OH manhandled him into submission while I held her, and he was a very a good boy. Hermosa has improved but not 100%. We'd been practicing with banging objects (hoofpicks, etc.) on her feet but realised we hadn't practiced with random strangers banging objects on her feet. She was a bit upset by random man grabbing her feet and banging them with things. Only flung me to the deck once, though (better me than the farrier). Given she took an entire tube of Domesedan last time, I was very proud of her for managing stone cold sober and only being a little dangerous.

Friend, who's German, suggested that she could hold the foot while farrier trimmed, but he looked at her like she was mad. Apparently that's a normal thing in Germany. Not so much here.
 
nikicb

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Caol Ila said:
He's doing well, but fashion has gone to hell in a handbasket.

Matchy matchy as unplanned as Hermosa's foal (just cobbling together things that used to belong to Gypsum), plus he appears to be wearing a weird hat. And the rest.View attachment 77371
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So pleased to see you are having fun with him. I thought he was wearing one of those umbrella hats when I first saw the picture. :D

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katastrophykat

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Oooo! You went for the Dallas pony! He’s lovely. I had a shetland the same colour- also called Moose! I hated the name and shouted every name under the sun at him for a week before deciding that he was, in fact, Moose.
My friends is an ‘internalised worrier’ and rarely has a big reaction- he shuts down instead, and can be seen as stubborn (but you know… Highland!), but he’s older and definitely one of the colts dealt with in the 2011 drifts- we’ve checked his passport and there’s nothing on it pre-June 2011 when he was gelded and microchipped.
Best of luck with him, and good news regarding the farrier- every step forwards is a good one!
 
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