Toad Hill's Rust Spot - Summer Camp

Rusty spent the his summer at camp with his buddy Picasso. They both learned a lot about living away from home. For Rusty his time at summer camp was an opportunity to increase his skill set to include driving and halter training.

The photo above is a picture of Rusty pulling a wagon with five youngsters in it, the youngest is just a year old. This was the first time Rusty had pulled this particular wagon. It was very noisy (creaked a lot) and a lot heavier than one he had pulled before, but it was no problem.

Rusty is a muscular stallion. We had talked to the dad of the kids, who told us that in Indiana they have horse pulls, and some people bring miniatures that pull a skid that is sized for minis. I sure hope I can see that sometime. We both agreed Rusty would probably be a winner in that sport. If I ever get to see a mini horse pull, I will certainly include it on this blog!!

Rusty is about 31 inches and was not trained for riding because I think he is just too small, although you can see he is well built.


Rusty is now a four year old stallion. This year (2009) he was the sire of four foals. We are very pleased with his offspring but since we have four stallions Rusty is one of the stallions we have decided to sell.


He has produced overo and tobiano pinto patterns.

See his foals:
2009
Overo colt (not named yet)
Tobiano buckskin filly (not named yet)
Tobiano buckskin filly (not named yet)
Tobiano black filly (not named yet)
2008
Lincoln Award and Baldrige Award - 2 colts, keeping for driving team
Run for the Roses - tobiano palomino filly

2007 sired: Blue Water - overo filly -
This post shows a photo of Blue Water with her dam, Excaliber's Typhoon Queen.

Fancy Pants and Henry County Fair

Just for the fun of it, I decided to take Fancy to the Henry County Fair. He has never been shown to my knowledge and was taken right out of the field, quick clip on head, mane and feet and brought to the fair. There was no weeks of neck sweating, daily training exercises or conditioning, just pack him up and go. I was curious to see how he would behave more than anything, since there is the possibility I could show him still in driving.
We did not do great in the over stallion class or color, but when it came to manners, Fancy was fantastic. I was worried he would attack the other stallions, not stand and show for the judges, but he proved me worry. For a six year stallion never before shown, he was a perfect gentleman.

Henry County Fair has an AMHR santioned show and it desires a second look at those of you in the area who wish to show and still have some fun visiting with friends. One bonus for me, I had him officially measured: 29.75 was the height...

Fancy Pants and his 2009 Foals

March, 2009 - Fancy after being clipped and in better condition.

February, 2009 - Fancy with head and neck clipped. By the way, someone asked about his teeth. Judge for yourself by clicking on this link to see them.

Summer, 2008 - Fancy after shedding out, but very overweight. Still, you have admit, he is a nicely colored blue roan with black points. It's hard to believe this mini is the same one as in the next photo after this one.

Tail of the Biggest Loser:

Since coming to Toad Hill, Fancy Pants has undergone a wonderful transformation. When I first went down to photograph Fancy, it was late evening in November. He was owned by an Amish family and was in full winter coat. I was photographing him for registration papers. I was able to get Fancy registered in both AMHA and AMHR, the biggest challenge beening the photographs. These were taken at night, in a barn with generated power since the Amish do not use electricity. After taking the photos I drove back home in a driving snow storm and it took three hours to go what would usually take only 90 minutes.

Below is one of the registration photos that was taken that night.

As an Amish mini Fancy learned a trade as a driving horse. You can read about that at this link.

Fancy was bred once in 2006 while down in Arthur. I have tried to find records of any offspring prior to his time in Arthur, but have been unable in either AMHA or AMHR stud books. This little guy at least was proof that Fancy can through blue roans.

Fast forward to 2009. Fancy has two foals on the ground this year. Follow the links to see a solid, possibly roan filly and the other a really colorful colt out of T. H. Kiss Me Kate .
The request for a DNA kit has been sent into AMHA. It appears that previous owners did not bother since they did not bred Fancy. I already have put in two AMHA/AMHR mares with Fancy for the 2009 season so getting that paperwork completed is high priority.