Toad Hill's Paint Me Picasso, Summer 2009

Both Picasso and Rusty spent the summer of 09 visiting the Amish family and have some fun learning how to pull a wagon and get riding lessons. Rusty's movie was posted a couple weeks ago, and here we have the video of Picasso. Picasso took right to driving and riding and is certainly more dependable than Rusty because he is less distracted by noise and animals that go by him when he is working.

Picasso is a well behaved, quiet stallion. Rusty and Picasso are buddies and when they are away from the mares, they enjoy chasing and sparring with one another.

Another blog entry can be seen -- follow link.

Picasso's Sire is:

Toad Hill's the Great Gatsby

His dam is:

Toad Hill's Wind in the Willows

Single Roman Chariot - Tulsa 2009

If you want to see chariot driving you can go to Italy or save some money and go to one of the AMHR miniature horse shows where there is a chariot class. This year at both N.E.W. Miniature Horse shows in Pulaski, Wisconsin there were chariots. That show is well run, clean stall area (although a little walk from the show ring) and a outdoor driving area well suited for chariots. In spite of a six hour drive for me, it is a show worth taking the time to attend.

Also, if you get to Tulsa in September for the AMHR Nationals there are three events with chariots. The first one is class 186, single Roman chariots. Video is below.

Every chariot class starts with a parade lap.

Those deadly projectiles the announcer was referring to was the candy and flowers thrown by the passengers in the chariots to the audience.

Next up, the class:

Okay folks, time for you to be the judge...who do you think won this class??

When you have made up your mind, now check what the judges thought.

So did you score them the same as the judges?? Watch for the team chariot class coming soon.

COMMENT added 7/9/2014 from Facebook regarding the winning chariot:
Keely Zeller Exum I bought parts from different places and designed and assembled it. The body is plastic pool liner around a wood frame with a heavy wood floor. I bought wheels and an axle that fit them then cut the axle and welded it to make a drop axle. The wooden shafts that wrap around the body are also home made. The single tree was purchased. The horse decals were vinyl stickers.

Kibbles 2009 Foal, Growing UP

How quickly these little foals grow. Here this little buckskin filly is now four months old, compare that to her first few days.

Update...this filly is now offically named: Toad Hill's Pip-Pip Cheerios

Her sire is Toad Hill's Rust Spot.

Rusty's Sire: Toad Hill's Oreo (Black pinto, 32.0" AMHR only) by WF Flashy Boy (32.00", black pinto, AMHA, AMHR). Flashy Boy is by Rainbow Ridges Starburst Cody (30.50") out of Circle S Missy (34.00")

Rusty's Dam: Toad Hill's Neon Echo (Sabino Overo, 30.0" AMHA/AMHR). Echo is by Colorworlds Neon Knight (33.0, overo) out of Mini Bucks Painted Princess (33.50", liver pinto)

Filly's dam is Toad Hill's Kibbles and Bits

Kibbles' Sire: Spragues Buckeye (AMHR/AMHA 30.25", buckskin). His sire is NFCS Yankee Clipper (AMHA-28.00", sorrel), his dam is 4GS Hemlock Brook Silver Jane (AMRA - 33.50", grey)

Kibbles' Dam: Koch's My Angel Baby (AMHR/AMHA 33.50", chestnut pinto). Her sire is Little Hoof's Midget Mite (AMHR/AMHA 29.75", bay), her dam is Koch's Little Brandy (AMHR 36.00" chestnut)

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.

Pilgrim's 2009 Foal - T. D. Black Jack

It nevers ceases to amaze me how fast these little foals are up and running after birth. Yesterday morning Toad Hill's Pilgrim had her foal (June 25) and today it is trying out for the Olympics in the 100 meter run. Behind him is mom, trying hard to keep up and protect the youngster.

Pilgrims foal is a little colt, he will be jet black just like mom. I am calling him Black Jack. He will be AMHA and AMHR registered.

Chariot Measurements

So you want a chariot and don't know where to start? Of course you need to know if you are going to use one or several miniature horses and how large they are. You also have to take into account your height and weight.One way to figure out some things is to observe what other chariots look like and actually measure them. At the Central Pony States Club this weekend (June 20th and 21st) I was able to measure a chariot that D. Carlton brought to the show. This was the second of three chariots he has had built. This one is really designed for one rider, but the third was a little wider and could accommodate two riders easily.

Below is the vertical shaft that is welded to the frame. This image depicts just one way you can connect the frame base to the shafts.

In the next photo you can see how a single hitch fits over the vertical

shaft. The vertical shaft is about eight inches long with multiple pin holes drilled into it. This allows

adjustments based upon the the height of the

team.

The photo to the right and the one below this column shows the connection of the shafts to the chariot.

Finally another view of the hitch for a single horse is shown below. The team horse hitch was not at the show, but this single hitch may give you some ideas.

Notice that the wheels on this chariot are about 26 inches. If you increase the diameter of the wheel you may need to adjust the heigh of the axles. You do not want to have the chariot too high off the ground in relation to the size of the horses.

Also, the height of the chariot is 31 3/4 inches from the frame base to the top of the shell. The shell is made of a shower liner. The trim was purchased from a trophy shop, they sell the top and bottom trim in four foot lengths. The little knobs on top were cabinet knobs. Obviously you have to be creative.

The owner of this chariot will be at H.A.M.E. show and hopefully I can take movies at the show.

Other views of this chariot: Slideshow

Other images of chariots:

Bo Step

Details of Bo's, Hal Bryants, and several others. Other Chariot Photos

Toad Hill's. Buttermilk's First Foal - T. D. MISS Peach

Friday, June 12th, and I thought since I had already put in 36 hours at work I would sleep in. Dream on... at 5 AM the horses were running around the yard and towards the front the house. I figured something was up, so I immediately went out to see what was happening.

There was Buttermilk, Willow and Pilgrim swarming around a new buckskin pinto foal. I picked up the baby and headed towards the barn with all three mares following. I knew immediately that Buttermilk, the only buckskin was mom, so I let her in the stall, put down the foal and made sure everyone else was locked out.

Now I had checked the mares the night before, and Buttermilk was the least likely to foal soon...fooled me.
Anyway, everyone was fine, mommy and foal settled so I fed them and them the rest of the herd. So much for sleeping in.

 Her name is officially Toad Hill's Miss Peach.

Chariot Harness

While searching the internet for more information on miniature horses and chariot class I ran across a link that showed a chariot harness. There are many other photos of this sample harness, but look at another example of this harness makers craft.

The harness below on the white horse is called: Turquoise Showring Style Costume . The next one is: Tan Showring Style Arabian Costume Have you figured out what you are looking at yet??

Perhaps this last one will help:














If you guessed that all tack was created for a Breyer Model Horse contest, your faster than I was.

Link to the Chariot Harness, all photos.

I would like to thank Heather Downing for giving me permission to put some of the photos of her fantastic harness online. Quite honestly I was blown away by the detail and accuracy of the work that she has done on these.

Take the time to go to the various links, if you have not been exposed to the hobby of resin model horses and costumes this is a good opportunity to see some of the best.Above is another view of the chariot and harness.