Look what I've bought!

[LindaAd]

Rubbishy pix (taken with a phone!), but I bought her today, after a lot of humming and hawing and deciding and mind-changing: she's only a baby, not yet five, and hasn't done much. She's been at the riding school for a few weeks, to be sold, so I've ridden her a few times, but I rode her home today, nearly two miles, along some quite busy roads, adn that was a bit exciting because she spooked at everything (especially those concrete boxes they keep telephone equipment in), and jogged and trotted, and bucked and fussed and cantered at one point .... I'd never been out on my own with her before, and of course this was way out of her comfort zone, with a new rider, and new tack ... So I suppose she was pretty good, and not all that different from the way she was in the school - babyish but biddable.


I've had a full vetting done, and she was fine, flexion tests and all; my farrier reckons her feet will be fine in a few months with a bit of tlc; she's 15hh, although she looks like a pony, and a Haflinger with a microchip and a pedigree but no papers. The only problem is her conformation - she's built like a rabbit, high at the front and low at the back, but I'm hoping she might improve as she gets older. Anyway, she's suprisingly balanced and comfortable to ride, although not in my Heather Moffett saddle, which seems to tip me forward and make everything worse. ...

What do you think of her? I've never had a youngster before, so it was no or never.

http://i106.photobucket.com/albums/m251/LindaAd/blondieinstable.jpg
http://i106.photobucket.com/albums/m251/LindaAd/BlondieBarney5cropped.jpg
http://i106.photobucket.com/albums/m251/LindaAd/BlondieBarneycropped.jpg

[sheltiegroomer]

beautiful! how old is she?x

[palmerlover52]

Oh WOW at her mane!
She's very pretty :)

[zippytys]

She's gorgeous! You'll have to change your signature now...your no longer horseless!! Yay!

[*GroovyGallop*]

Wow! I was expecting a new pair or jodphurs, new riding hat.. new coat maybe... but a horse! :p
Shes gorgeous! Very pretty and shes halflinger, i love her already!
Best of luck with her :)

[sancho]

Shes lovely!!!!!!:eek::D

[chickflick1066]

Isn't she lush :D

[SO1]

She beautiful what a sweet gentle face. I have a youngster too it's great seeing them develop and learn and having them from the start but not always easy.

[Gasbag]

She's stunning. Well Done You! What's her name?

[coverblown]

she's gorgeous, and aren't you brave...

[Fanshawe]

She looks gorgeous!

[autumnsky]

Wow, she's lovely, good luck with her =)

[NoviceNic]

Does she have a name.....What a beauty. :D

[Yann]

Best of luck with her, hope you have lots of fun with her, she's very pretty :)

The haffies I've come across have all had big personalities, sounds like she's no exception :)

[Bay Mare]

She looks lovely, congratulations :D

[Skib]

Linda, she is lovely. We are so pleased for you.

[Showjumper]

Awww cuteness! Congratulations :D

[wild child]

shes so cute !!!!!!!! she sounds like funn

[Em 1]

Oh Linda, that's fabulous news! We're both so pleased for you! She's beautiful - what a stunning colour! After your long and patient search you deserve to have such fun together:)

[*taz*]

she is so pretty!

[LindaAd]

beautiful! how old is she?x

she's gorgeous, and aren't you brave...

She's stunning. Well Done You! What's her name?

Oh Linda, that's fabulous news! We're both so pleased for you! She's beautiful - what a stunning colour! After your long and patient search you deserve to have such fun together:)

She beautiful what a sweet gentle face. I have a youngster too it's great seeing them develop and learn and having them from the start but not always easy.

Thank you for all your kind messages ... In answer to your questions, she's rising 5:eek: - will be 5 at the end of May; and her name is Blondie - that's what they called her at the riding school. She hadn't got any papers, not even a passport, but the vet found a microchip, and when I investigated (long story!) I found that her real name is Steimi & she's Dutch ... I don't even know how to pronounce that in English, and it's pretty awful whichever way you say it, so I think I'll stick to Blondie , otherwise she'll have three names, and that's too many for any horse.

She does seem to have a sweet nature, but she has a mind of her own too. I Like they all do. Luckily I had my daughter with me today - she's a much better rider than me, and we managed to catch Blondie (easy), groom her, ride her (just walk, trot, halt) and lunge her, witih only a couple of little tantrums ... (from Blondie, not my daughter ...). She was better being ridden than lunged, although she's obviously been lunged before and responds the voice instructions. She also responds to 'Oi' (which is helpful).

It's such an adventure having a new horse, isn't it - especially with a baby horse.

[julia gulia]

ooo she's lovely Linda :D I'm so very happy for you. Congratulations . I really like Haflingers and I love the name Blondie :D
Have you decided on her colour scheme yet?

[Nayds]

HAHA It's a Barbie doll pony!!!!

Very cute and good luck with her!

[LindaAd]

ooo she's lovely Linda :D I'm so very happy for you. Congratulations . I really like Haflingers and I love the name Blondie :D
Have you decided on her colour scheme yet?

HAHA It's a Barbie doll pony!!!!


I know - Barbie doll or My Little Pony come to life! She really ought to come with her own hairbrush and a bunch of ribbons in a box ...

I think that mane is my punishment for refusing to buy My Little Ponies for my daughter when she was little. ... I'm the person whose least favourite colour is palomino; palomino is the only colour of horse I wouldn't consider when I was looking. Fortunately she's not palomino - I've found out (too late for the vetting certificate) that all Haflingers are chestnut!

As for the name, yes, I couldn't think of anything better - I would have like Sugar (after the Marilyn Monroe character in Some Like It Hot) but there's already a pony in the village called Sugar; I thought of Fancy, which is an old Dorset name, but I used that for a goat, and then there's Finney, from the Irish for "fair" but my sister-in-law had a labrador called Finney. And Foxy because chestnut in Dutch is vos, which means fox, and we live in a place with Fox in its name ... But Blondis seems to have stuck. I think of it as being a nice plain descriptive name, like Blackie or Blaze, with ironic overtones (think Debbie Harry, or, if you're as old as me, think Blondie and Dagwood). When she gets in a strop, she does toss her locks around in a very film-starry way ...

As for her colour (my daughter asked me that too), she'll just have to put up with faded blue, green and brown inherited from the other horses .... You can see I'm slightly embarrassed by all this prettiness, but I'm as charmed as anyone else by the little dark ears sticking out of the blond forelock. She's very like my daughter's first pony, a Welsh B, bright chestnut with flaxen mane; if she turns out half as well-behaved I'll be doing well.

[ariano15]

Awwwwwwwww she's gorge. I have a mega weakness for pretty haffi mares which is why I have one too. Well done and hope you and your girl have loads of fab years together.

xx

[LindaAd]

Awwwwwwwww she's gorge. I have a mega weakness for pretty haffi mares which is why I have one too. Well done and hope you and your girl have loads of fab years together.

xx

Is that yours in your avatar pic, ariano? She's lovely! Will you tell us a bit more about her? How long have you had her, what is she like, what do you do with her ...?

[ariano15]

Yes that her. Truusje is a 15hh Belgian Haflinger that was imported last year and I bought her from a dealer last September. She's 8 (9 next month) and a lovely Haffi girl like yours. Yours reminded me of her actually especially when you said she was imported.

Truusje (Tru) was VERY green when I bought her but with a very sensible 'can do' attitude. I've worked slowely over the past few months to bring her on in the school and get her working correctly - there have been plenty of hiccups along the way with tack problems etc but all in all she done brilliantly. Her manners on the ground are now superb although I have to be strict with her and make no allowances for rude behaviour - they learn unbelievebaly quickly - I've never had to tell her off more than 3 times for the same thing :)

She hacks out although not quiet brave enough on her own yet so we're working on that bit by bit. She's a really lovely mare to own and i'm learning loads by bringing her on. Our ambition is to do dressage in the winter as she has fab paces.

I'll try and post pics...

[Trio]

she looks very very pretty- love that mane!

[ariano15]

Have just started a Haffi appreciateion thread in general with pics of my mare as felt bad hijacking your thread - so ad your pics on there:D

[Haflingergirl]

Congratulations she's lovely! My first pony is a Haffie too - lovely but I have been having some problems. Would be lovely to chat to other Haffie fans/owners

J

[LindaAd]

Yes that her. Truusje is a 15hh Belgian Haflinger that was imported last year and I bought her from a dealer last September. She's 8 (9 next month) and a lovely Haffi girl like yours. Yours reminded me of her actually especially when you said she was imported.

Truusje (Tru) was VERY green when I bought her but with a very sensible 'can do' attitude. I've worked slowely over the past few months to bring her on in the school and get her working correctly - there have been plenty of hiccups along the way with tack problems etc but all in all she done brilliantly. Her manners on the ground are now superb although I have to be strict with her and make no allowances for rude behaviour - they learn unbelievebaly quickly - I've never had to tell her off more than 3 times for the same thing :)

She hacks out although not quiet brave enough on her own yet so we're working on that bit by bit. She's a really lovely mare to own and i'm learning loads by bringing her on. Our ambition is to do dressage in the winter as she has fab paces.

I'll try and post pics...

I've had a look at the pics on your Haffi thread in the café, Ariano. Your Truusje is lovely (lovely name too, I was hoping mine would have a nice Dutch or Belgian name like that, but she's called Steimi, which is just weird, and it isn't a name in Dutch at all). I think yours is a much more classic Haflinger - she has the lean, elegant head like the ones described in the breed standard: much more horse altogether and less like a pony. Blondie has roaning too, which they say should be discouraged (I don't know how to discourage it - I tried telling her not to do it, but she didn't take any notice!) - but they're all lovely in their way, aren't they. I'm amazed how different they are once you get to know them.

I'd love to know how you brought her on. Blondie is very babyish; I took her out for a little ride this evening, and she thought the whole thing was absolutely terrifying. Not just the huge lorries, but the drain-covers, the people in their gardens, the cars, the cows, the gates ... You know. And she practically galloped me home, which was worse because one of the big lorries was delivering my chicken ark, so it was waiting patiently by the gate ....

Then I had to take her out again, because I couldn't find the gate key, and I thought I'd dropped it, and she won't lead either - she just barges you out of the way and goes round and round - not fun! I've already discovered she's quite one-sided on the ground; lunges happily one way but not the other, and when you ask her to, she tries to barge you out of the way, or kicks. But my daughter, who's worked with young horses in Spain, got her do it, just using her hands and body language, and I managed to do it to, yesterday, by being very quiet about it. She leads fine in the field, and stands to be tacked up and groomed. But I've got a long, long way to go, and I'm not sure where to start ... So any advice from an experienced Haffi owner would be welcome.

[LindaAd]

Congratulations she's lovely! My first pony is a Haffie too - lovely but I have been having some problems. Would be lovely to chat to other Haffie fans/owners

J


Thanks for the congratulations, Haflingergirl. I'm sorry you've been having problems too - maybe you've sorted them now? I think maybe we ought to start a 'how to manage your Haffie' thread .... Have you seen the thread ariano posted in the café area? Lovely pix - maybe you'll post some of yours there (or here!)?

[annareeves0]

I would be up for a 'how to manage your haflinger' thread!!!! To be fair have had loads of good advice and support over the last few weeks - has really helped me to decide the way forward for me (as opposed to what everyone else wants me to do) and realise be firm, be firm, be firm - that seems to be the essence of it!
Loved the photos - she's gorgeous ..... and now the hard work begins :D

[ariano15]

Hi Linda,

Thanks for the kind comments about Truusje - don't think she a saint thought as she wouldn't be a true Haflinger if that was the case :D

Before all my saddles issues I was hacking her out every weekend - one day with company one day without (all very logical). All this went very well until one day when out on our own we met a pram!!!!! She spun on her heel and gallopped me back home on the road - very scary. Since then I have started hacking her out again in company with no problems and have decided that i'll wait a few months so she's seen more before trying on our own again - just for safety's sake - also she'll be out at grass then which should take the edge off things :D

Schooling is going great - when she's good she sooooooo good! I'd like to add that she's my first horse and i'm certainly not an experineced Haffi owner but perseverance seems to be the key and keeping discipline constant.

By the way Truusje was only broken last year and she's 9 on Monday:eek: but I found out she was kept as a milk mare until she was 6 so effectively i'm riding a cow - how funny is that.

BTW I think we should start a Haffi progress thread - i'd love to hear how you guys get on expecially through all the ups and downs that come with haffi ownership.

My dream is to start competing in dressage this winter - mmmmmmmmm we'll see...

[lizzy]

Congratulations, I don't seem to have much time for NR these days and I have missed this thread.

I would love a horse that colour, my childhood dream, perhaps next time!

[go max!]

She's wonderful, but then I a sucker for all Haffies!!! Welcome to the select group of people who are privileged to own a Haffie ( or is it "be owned by a Haffie?" - still working on that one! keep us up to date on how you get on with her!!

[blues mum]

You kept that one quiet!
she is lovely, and hopefully well worth the wait.

[Wally]

You bad person!

Have fun. :D :D

[Hallmarked]

Congratulations :)

[amandal]

Congrats she's gorgeous :D

[cazrider]

She is lovely Linda:), and I agree with the person who descibed you riding her home through traffic etc, when you'd never ridden her before as "brave".:eek::)

All the very best with her.

[LindaAd]

She is lovely Linda:), and I agree with the person who descibed you riding her home through traffic etc, when you'd never ridden her before as "brave".:eek::)

All the very best with her.

Well, yes it was brave - but not *that* brave: I had ridden her before, three or four times, at the riding school, so I did have an idea what she was like. But it was still a bit foolish: I thought she hadn't been at the riding school long enough to be worried about going away from it (wrong!); I thought she was bombproof in traffic (right, but I didn't know she'd be scared of drain-covers, babies in pushchairs, dogs on leads and bicycles) and I thought if she got difficult I could always get off and lead her (doubly wrong - because she never stood still long enough for me to get off, and, I found out later, she was unleadable).

Anyway we did it, with some moral support from my daughter in the car ... And it's taken a long time for me to get over being scared to ride her :eek: :mad:
But, fingers crossed, we're beginning to get there - and it's quite nice to know that I did the ride, and I did manage her, and we were ... on the whole .. . fine!

[AllieB]

A Haflinger! I love them and I have one too. Mine is only 3. Real characters.
Good luck - I hope you have lots of fun together.

[Trundlecat]

Congratulations on the arrival of your new baby! Here's to many happy days together :D

[coyote]

It's a Barbie doll pony!!!!

i thought that too,
she has such a sweet face,
i love my baby too,
good luck and have fun with her.:D

[Hippyhorse]

Aww she is a cutie! Good luck with her and keep us updated on your progress!

[lyn&lulu]

It sounds like you had a lively journey home, she looks lovely - haflingers were one of my faves as a kid - I just love that big long full mane.
She is a beauty.

[HAYLEY GITTOES]

She is lovely, I have a Haffie.

[LindaAd]

She is lovely, I have a Haffie.

Thanks for all your kind remarks, Hayley and everyone. I hadn't realised there were so many Haffies about .... Maybe we ought to start a Haffie group