Mini Inspects Horse in Van

GrapeNuts is a frequent flyer when it comes to trips in the van although she has only had one trip posted on the blog. She almost thinks it is her private van.

GrapeNuts was just hanging out waiting to see if she was going on a trip again. 

But we surprised her. The beginning of April, because of the warm weather, we decided to get the big Horse out for a trip to the shop and get a tune up.
 
What kind of horse gets a tune up? A Troy-Bilt Horse tiller of course!!

GrapeNuts did not think much of this monster getting into her van, the peacock could care less.

After supervising the loading technique, GrapeNuts gave her approval to continue and we finished loading the Horse in the van and driving off to the lawn mower shop.

Too bad GrapeNuts, perhaps next time we go for a ride you can come.

Like Father, Like Son - Blue Roan in Springtime

A while back I compared the various colors that Boones Buckeroo Fancy Pants changed through the seasons in "Fancy Pants - The Transformation".

Today when I went out with the camera, I snapped two photos one of Fancy Pants and the other his son, Little Blue.

Right now they both appear fluffy white with black points, but since Little Blue had his neck clipped a little, you can start to see the roaning showing through.

Too bad I could not get him to pose like daddy.

When I gave Little Blue his first haircut, he looked like the photo above...not fluffy with with dark neck, but light where I clipped and dark fuzzy on body.
Roan coloring is fascinating to  watch just like the colors of the seasons.

Roman Chariots at 2011 AMHR Nationals (YouTube)

Below are links to two videos that you might also enjoy in addition to the ones I took and posted at:

http://toadhillminis.blogspot.com/search/label/ChariotRace

Below are the links to two videos that you might also enjoy.

2011 National Champion Top Ten All Stars

Foxfire's Picture Perfect - AMHA/AMHR

Tested Positive for Frame (LWO) and Sabino (sb1) overo with blue eyes.

AMHR Multi-Color Stallion & Gelding – 34” & Under
1. Foxfire’s Picture Perfect, 283664, owned by Toad Hill's Minis (768)
2. Toad Hill’s Spots And Dots, owned by Toad Hill's Minis (633)
3. Toad Hill’s Hob-Goblin, owned by Toad Hill's Minis

• Picture Perfect AKA Pirate - First MiniVan Ride 

• AMHR Model Stallion, 2 & Older – Under
  
• 2. Foxfire’s Picture Perfect
• AMHR Aged Stallion, 3 & Older – 30” & Under
• 5. Foxfire’s Picture Perfect
• Foxfire farm

 *-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*

Toad Hill's Spots and Dots -AMHR 29", Black/white pinto

• AMHR Multi-Color Stallion & Gelding – 34” & Under
  1. Foxfire’s Picture Perfect
  2. Toad Hill’s Spots And Dots, owned by Toad Hill's Minis
• 3. Toad Hill’s Hob-Goblin

AMHR Stallion, Owned, Bred and Shown by Exhibitor, Under
1. Toad Hill’s Spots And Dots  

Also showed Spots and Dots and his full brother Goblin in Produce of Dam

AMHR Produce of Dam – 38” & Under

• 1. Toad Hill’s Kiss Me Kate (Spots and Goblin)

Spots and Dots' 2010 Record

• 2010 National Champion MultiColor Under
• 2010 All Stars - AMHR Division A
  National Champion (1st Place) 34" and under,Multi-Color Stallion and Gelding -
• Owned, Bred and Shown by Exhibitor
• 3rd place - Toad Hill's Spots and Dots

Toad Hill's HobGoblin - AMHR 27", Black/white pinto

• AMHR Multi-Color Stallion & Gelding – 34” & Under
  1. Foxfire’s Picture Perfect
  2. Toad Hill’s Spots And Dots
  3. Toad Hill’s Hob-Goblin, owned by Toad Hill's Minis
• AMHR Owned, Bred & Shown By Exhibitor – Under
  
• 7. Toad Hill’s Hob-Goblin, Wheeler, IL

 PHOTO coming soon.

Toad Hill's She's Magic -

AMHR Multi-Color Mare - Over

1. Toad Hill's She's Magic, owned by Toad Hill's Minis

AMHR Mare Over - Owned, Bred and Shown By Exhibitor

2. Toad Hill's She's Magic

AMHR Owned, Bred and Shown By Exhibitor

5. Toad Hill's She's Magic

Dorsal Hitch - Circus Wagon

Lost photos...looking for them.
On the MiniHorseDriving, Yahoo list Susan M. posted photos of her mini team and a unique cart. Her is what she had to say:

Last weekend we were invited to share our minis with the crowd at the Carousel Horse Show held at West World in Scottsdale, AZ.It was a lot of fun and a great trial for the team. I've only gotten to drive them a few times since I finished their team harness, so this little exhibition was a needed trial run before this weeks mini show.As you can see from the pics, they did very well! And when the crowd went wild, clapping and cheering, my team didn't even bat an eye!So now I'm getting things ready for Touch of Class. And I am bound and determined to have a blast!

Of course I was extremely interested in the arched shaf to the "saddle." So I asked for more information. Her reply comes after the next photos.

Hi Susan, the gentleman I purchased this cart from had it custom built from old drawings of circus carts. These were made this way for use under the old big top tents as it allowed freer movement in the tight constraints of the circus rings. It also allowed the animals to perform tricks while hitched to the vehicle.This hitch can be dangerous as it does allow the horse/horses to turn completely 360°, at which point you have no control at all. And with the team, the horses must match hieght and stride or else it becomes very difficult for the horses.It connects with a wire hitch pin to a swivle on the pad for single, on the yoke for double.This isn't a hitch for anything other than level ground that is packed as the horse(s) pull from the saddle and brake from the saddle.

If you go back to some of my earlier posts such as:
he Modern Chariot (Part 1 and 2), you can see a less extreme, but similar idea.

http://toadhillminis.blogspot.com/2008/07/modern-chariot-part-1.html

http://toadhillminis.blogspot.com/2008/07/ch.html

Little Blue's First Haircut -Blue Roan Colt

With such beautiful, and unusually weather I have been hesitant to clip horses. But today, yet another warm, sunny day I decided to see how the little colts would take to getting a haircut. Perhaps not yet ready for showing, but the first step is the most scarey for a little one. What with the noise of the clippers especially around the head and ears...it was a good first try.

Little Blue (actually Toad Hill's Fancy Tanazite) stepped up and volunteered for the adventure.

Willow - This is Your Life

Toad Hill's Wind in the Willows,

THIS IS YOUR LIFE!!!

You were foaled 5/18/2001

Your sire was: WF Flashy Boy, 32" ...affectionately named: SPUD.(below)

  

Your dam was Quincy Made Patchworks, a 37" black/white pinto mare, crippled in one leg because of an accident before she was purchased by Toad Hill..shown below with your full sister from the previous year...Toad Hill's BNW Ribbet.

Ribbet (below) on the year you were foaled became National Champion Multi-Color, Mare Over 34." 

The next year, 2002 you followed in your sister's footsteps and went National Champion Multi-Color, Mare Over. Below is a photo of your first show.

 

We were able to take a better photo of you while you were still on the circuit towards the end of 2002.

 

 In 2004 you produced your first foal: The Phantom of Toad Hill.. A dapple grey coat sired by Toad Hill's the Great Gatsby. Phantom went on to become the National Champion Multi-Colored Over class Stallion/ Gelding 2005.He is now a therapy horse in Provo, Utah.

 

Phantom was followed by Toad Hill's Kiss Me Kate [foaled 2005], National Champion Multi-Color, Under Mare 2007 (first photo left below) and Toad Hill's Paint Me Picasso was also National Champion, Multi-Color Over Stallion/Gelding 2007 (Second photo right).

In 2007 the two together also won National Champion Produce of Dam for Willow.

 

Here they are together side by side...Kate in front and Picasso behind.

In 2009 Willow was awarded 2nd place in Produce of Dam (above are Slate [foaled 2008] and Summer Breeze [foaled 2007]). Her colt Toad Hill's Slate (to the right in photo above placed 3rd in Multi-Color Stallion/Gelding and his full sister Toad Hill's Summer Breeze came in 6th in Multi-Color Mare Over. It was a rough season and we missed a number of shows that year.

2011 brought Toad Hill's Shes Magic (foaled in 2010) to the ring. Shown above practicing before walking into the ring...she was the 2011 National Champion Multi-Color Mare Over and National Champion in Owned, Bred and Shown by Exhibitor.

Willows grand kids are showing now. Their dam is Toad Hill's  Kiss Me Kate. They have won National Multi-Color Champion awards and Kate has won the Produce of Dam the after she produced her second foal. But that's another story yet to be written.

Toad Hill's Wind in the Willows most recent foal is Toad Hill's Merlin. He is available for sale, as I will not be able to show him this year.

Merlin was DNA and is homozygous black, homozygous tobiano.

All of the next foals were sired by Lucky Four RebelChase RebelHeir.

2012 - Toad Hill's Princess Neytiri was born. She is still owned by Toad Hill. Neytiri is also homozygous for both tobiano and black. 

2013 - Toad Hill's She's a Pepper, a filly is now in Ohio and is a driving mini.

2014 - Toad Hill's Zipper, now located in Indiana and soon to be shown

2015 - CJ, filly with Willow, her mom.

Did not breed Willow for 2 years.

2018 - Toad Hill's Wheels Up

Great Day for a Romp on the Lawn

The weather was perfect for February and all the yearlings were let out on the lawn to run and have some fun.

Merlin (in front) is chased by Special Delivery. Both have potential as show horses. Merlin is a L O U D colored black/white pinto. Both his parents are National Champions in MultiColor. Both of these yearlings are for sale.

The KID, aka Toad Hill's Apache Kid was out running and the seen playing with Storm Chaser (filly) below. The Kid is AMHA/AMHR registered and currently is about 23 inches tall. Should mature to be an outstanding stallion.

Derby Daze (brown colt in photo below) decided to join in and try to get The Kid to play with him too. "Tag, you're it!!"

Below is Storm Chaser peering over Derby Daze's back.

Storm Chaser front view.

The three Amigos, Graham (cream colored colt, 23 inches) The Kid (pinto) and Derby Daze (colt).

2012 Cutter/Chariot Events

2^nd Annual Jackson Hole WinterFest 

• Saturday, February 18, 2012 - Sunday February 19th, 2012
• Shriner's All American Cutter Races - Melody Ranch - 12:00pm each day
• http://www.jacksonholechamber.com/events/event_details.php?event_ID=47306&title=2nd%20Annual%20WinterFest&loc=Jackson,%20WY
• Overview: The Cutter Races are a western version of horse-drawn chariot races. Cowboys thunder past the cheering crowd in cutters, pulled by a team of thoroughbreds. Teams are run two abreast for a 1/4 mile down the snowy (or muddy) track to the finish line. Each February, hundreds of supporters come to Melody Ranch to watch the excitement of each race.
  
  When: Held every February during the Jackson Hole Winter Festival, the races are run Saturday and Sunday beginning at 10 am.
  
  Where: Melody Ranch, located about 4 miles south of Jackson Hole, is the home to this event. Snow or mud, meet your friends here.

Wasatch Slopes Chariot Racing

GOLDEN SPIKE EVENT CENTER COMMUNITY ACTIVITIES Children ages 12 and under admitted free. Price - Low: $5.00. Contact: Mark Hodson, 801-540-2776. Saturday, January 28, 2012, 1:00 PM – 5:00 PM. Golden Spike Event Center-Race Track 1000 N. 1200 W. Ogden, Utah 84404.

http://www.trumba.com/events-calendar/ut/ogden/weber/fairgrounds/golden-spike/activities/events/races/rodeos/team-roping/barrels/fair/weber_county_calendar

Wasatch Slopes Chariot Racing

GOLDEN SPIKE EVENT CENTER COMMUNITY ACTIVITIES Children ages 12 and under admitted free. Price - Low: $5.00. Contact: Mark Hodson, 801-540-2776. Saturday, February 11, 2012, 1:00 PM – 5:00 PM. Golden Spike Event Center-Race Track 1000 N. 1200 W. Ogden, Utah 84404.

Utah State Chariot Races

GOLDEN SPIKE EVENT CENTER COMMUNITY ACTIVITIES Price - Low: $5.00. Contact: Shannon Demler, 435-757-3162. Sunday, February 26, 2012, 1:00 PM – 5:00 PM. Golden Spike Event Center-Race Track 1000 N. 1200 W. Ogden, Utah 84404.

World Chariot Races

GOLDEN SPIKE EVENT CENTER COMMUNITY ACTIVITIES Children 12 and under are admitted free. Price - Low: $7. Contact: Mark Hodson, 801-540-2776. Saturday, March 17, 2012, 12:00 PM – 4:00 PM. Golden Spike Event Center-Race Track 1000 N. 1200 W. Ogden, Utah 84414.

World Chariot Races

GOLDEN SPIKE EVENT CENTER COMMUNITY ACTIVITIES Children 12 and under are admitted free. Price - Low: $7. Contact: Mark Hodson, 801-540-2776. Sunday, March 18, 2012, 12:00 PM – 4:00 PM. Golden Spike Event Center-Race Track 1000 N. 1200 W. Ogden, Utah 84414.

World Chariot Races

GOLDEN SPIKE EVENT CENTER COMMUNITY ACTIVITIES Children 12 and under admitted free. Price - Low: $7. Contact: Mark Hodson, 801-540-2776. Friday, March 23, 2012, 12:00 PM – 4:00 PM. Goldens Spike Event Center-Race Track 1000 N. 1200 W. Ogden, Utah 84404.

World Chariot Races

GOLDEN SPIKE EVENT CENTER COMMUNITY ACTIVITIES Children 12 and under admitted free. Price - Low: $7. Contact: Mark Hodson, 801-540-2776. Saturday, March 24, 2012, 12:00 PM – 4:00 PM. Goldens Spike Event Center-Race Track 1000 N. 1200 W. Ogden, Utah 84404.

World Chariot Races

GOLDEN SPIKE EVENT CENTER COMMUNITY ACTIVITIES Children 12 and under admitted free. Price - Low: $7. Contact: Mark Hodson, 801-540-2776. Sunday, March 25, 2012, 12:00 PM – 4:00 PM. Goldens Spike Event Center-Race Track 1000 N. 1200 W. Ogden, Utah 84404

Photo found at: http://cdn3.standard.net/sites/default/files/imagecache/max_800/2010/03/28/story-29chariotwinner-22323.jpg