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Summary: Sioux is
an adorable little guy -- and gaited! At about 14.2hh, he's an ideal
height, and built broad chested, stocky and strong. He's also amazingly
inquisitive, eager, and willing, and just a touch playful and silly.
Sioux is an absolute joy to ride, with a superb running walk, a crisp
REAL trot, and a canter to die for. He English reins only. He is ALWAYS
interested in exploring new things. Something 'scary' out there? Sioux
wants to go touch it, explore it, and move beyond it. He also carries
his weight fantastically, sitting down to slow down, with a perfect
on-the-haunches halt without a hint of falling to his forehand.
Sioux went on to his new life in November, 2007 and we're so very happy
for him and for Kathy!!!
Trails: Sioux has really developed
as a trail pony, eager to go anywhere, never hesitating, doesn't care
if he leads or follows (although he is timid about unfamiliar horses
after getting bit by a strange horse on his second ever trail ride). He
loves to ride bareback, and loves to play in water crossings. Normal
traffic and farm equipment don't bother him, although we've not ridden
along the edge of any really busy roads. He can do that easy rocking
horse canter all day long. In mid-May 07, we did a 15 mile ride, riding
the course of a competitive trail event, without even a hint of a
refusal. (He did get nervous when a group of strange horses came up
fast from behind, but otherwise handled other horses OK.) We climbed up
and eased down numerous grades, some muddy and slick, and crossed more
than a dozen water crossings, and even more mud/standing water, all
without a bit of fuss. Sioux is still quite uncomfortable about riding
with unfamiliar horses. If he and his partner ride behind the other
horses, he does perfectly fine. If strange horses come up behind him,
he is quite nervous. If we ride a section of trail or even an entire
ride with unfamiliar horses and they are behind him or his riding buddy
passes the other horses without him, he gets stressed. We hope he'll
get over this behavior with some additional riding time, we simply
don't get a lot of chance to take him out with unfamiliar horses.
He also has shown real potential as a gaming pony,
with his bright, eager mind and his great balance. His hand gallop is
smooth and balanced, and shows promise of real performance ability at a
run. He is NOT a beginner's horse, as he's too smart and playful. He'd
be ideal for a small adult (under 150 lbs rider weight) or an
intermediate or above teen. He behaves great whether ridden every day
or given months off due to awful weather!
First notes: When
Sioux was really just a 2 year old colt with maybe 30 days professional
riding training, he was sold as a 'perfect' beginner's first horse.
Despite his owners' lack of experience, Sioux never was mean; he simply
took advantage because he's bright, curious, and, well, he could. He
was dominant over his humans, never a good situation. His family can
only manage 2 horses at their facility, and they're an ideal home for Bob, our former world champion halter horse who
needs to be kept with just one other horse and on grass 24/7, so we
agreed to trade Bob for Sioux, and bring Sioux to CWER to complete his
training, teach him the rules of our human world, and find him a great
new home.
June 2006: Sioux
continues to make superb progress. Today he did a trail ride with 8
other horses. He got a bit nervous a time or two, but he stayed with
the others, behaved well, and had a great time. Unfortunately, very
close to the end of the ride, he stumbled coming up out of a ditch and
skinned both his knees. The scrapes are fairly minor, but of course
tender (remember wiping out on your knees as a kid? OUCH! Poor boy...).
We're really very excited at the progress this sweet little fellow is
making, and look forward to finding him the ideal home.
August 2006: What
a great little guy this is! He's really making wonderful progress.
We did a PARADE today! With a 4 year old who has
about 30 days professional training time with us here...we went
parading!!! We live in a
smaller country town (not tiny -- we have a grocery, a movie theater,
etc, but pretty small). Every year at our Ag Days we have a parade.
Sioux was FANTASTIC! We rode between the
antique tractors and the fire trucks, and nothing seemed to really
bother him much at all! He wasn't crazy about the sound of the 2-stroke
dirt bikes, and he didn't like the balloons flying off one of the
floats, but all in all he was terrific. He looked curiously at the
carnival rides (we were not even 100' from them when we rode through
town), but balked at nothing. He slowed a few times, had to be nudged
to walk on, but we were leading at the time, with Memphis and Tess
behind him. He preferred to keep Memphis in his sight, and the only
time he was naughty all day was when Memphis cantered off without us
while we were already in a running walk to catch up. He wanted to run,
I said no, and he was tense but he obeyed while I called to mike to
stop Memphis (this was after the end of the parade, going back to our
rig, with Memphis about 100 yards away.)
What a TERRIFIC little guy this
is!!
click
here for ... RIDE VIDEO!
November 15, 2006 update:
Sioux is doing wonderfully. My shoulder injury delayed me getting to
ride this great little guy for quite some time, so volunteer Dana was
kind enough to do it for me, as time allowed. Now that the shoulder is
healing, he and I are having great fun together again.
I don't believe Sioux ever would be a 'little kid
pony'; however, as a youth rider's partner, for an intermediate rider,
I think this little guy just could not be beat. Oh if only I'd had HIM
when I was 13, 14, 15 years old! He needs a caring partner who is
confident but not mean, and won't let him learn any bad habits.
December 06 update:
Sioux had another chiro and full checkup. It seems he has a bit of
scarring in his throat, likely from a case of strangles as a youngster,
and has some trouble swallowing as his throat gets drier. He's on an
herbal supplement and veg oil on his feed to ease him past this minor
issue. Apparently he did this also sometimes at his former home. He is
still eating fine, just makes some funny faces and turns his head oddly
as he eats sometimes.
Sioux continues to ride wonderfully. Took him to
Coyote Creek to ride in the indoor one day last week and he was a
little tense at riding somewhere different -- he wanted to stick close
to Memphis -- but he quickly settled himself down and rode very well.
Had I not gotten sick, we would've taken him to the horse show there
this past weekend.
Spring 07 update:
Sioux continues to be a pure joy. I ride this little man every chance I
get. We've gone on various trail rides at a variety of locations, and
he never disappoints me. He's still not good about letting his alpha
mare ride away without him, BUT he will ride away from HER without
difficulty. He loves to play in water crossings, goes through mud like
it isn't there, and climbs everything we put in front of him with ease.
With our flat ground here, he doesn't see down hill often, so for a
while he had to work a bit to get his balance for downhills; he's since
learned and manages down with ease and confidence. I think this boy
would be a pure joy as a competitive trail mount or even endurance for
a smaller (under 150lb) rider. He'll gladly ride out alone, and is a
bit better about unfamiliar horses now (he was bitten on his 2nd ever
ride by a friend's horse and it scared him a lot.) With every chance to
go trail-riding he proves himself more confident, more level headed,
often taking the lead when his alpha mare is pausing at an obstacle or
unusual site such as garbage barrels, tents, etc!
May 07 update:
Memphis and Mike did their first competitive trail ride! While they
were out competing, with me riding Sioux and Tory on Sandy, we chose to
go ride the trails 'for a while'. Fifteen miles later we'd completed
the entire course and were back at the trailers with everyone else!
Sioux went up and down hills and gullies, cantered across open fields,
ignored tractors and traffic -- not to mention cows and even maintained
his cool near a wild turkey! We crossed more than a dozen water
crossings and twice as many mud patches, all without any fuss. He got
tense when a group of strange horses rode up fast behind us once, but
otherwise handled the unfamiliar horses reasonably. He was eager and
willing and moved along at a nice pace all day long.
Registered:
Sioux is now registered with the AApA as a full-blooded appaloosa,
hardship registry since we cannot locate his original bloodlines. His
markings clearly show him as an appy, complete with mottled skin --
EVERYONE says our website photos don't do justice to his eye-catching
colors and markings!
June 07 update: We
are hopeful that Sioux met his forever "mom" today!!! A wonderful lady
from northern IN called us Saturday eve and said she would be in the
area and wanted to meet our Sioux. She came and spent over an hour with
him on Sunday, had a great ride with him, even spent some round pen
time with him. They got along fabulously and he was nuzzling her in no
time! She was polite and patient with him, yet had a good set of rules
that she simply required him to follow -- no fuss, no upset. Just go
ahead and do your work. Sioux seemed to respect her, and they appear to
make a superb team!! We are processing her application and are hopeful
that Sioux will be going home in July 2007!
August 2007 update:
Sadly, Sioux will be coming home this weekend. As can happen to anyone,
life has gotten in the way of Sioux's new future. Multiple emergencies
completely unrelated to Sioux have lead to financial issues for Sioux's
new family, and they are unable to afford to keep any of their horses
at this time. We are still hopeful that perhaps they will be able to
get back on their feet and, if Sioux is still available then, may be
able to adopt him at a later date.
September 2007 update:
Sioux is home, settled and in heaven in our new
41 acre farm! You can see him any time of day or night, off teasing
one of the drafts of playing with one of his buddies -- particularly
halter tag with Gin or body tag with D! He loves to ride in the huge
pasture. He's fit, happy, healthy, and ready for the right forever home.
September 2007 update:
Sioux has a home! Sioux's adoption to Kathy H in Virginia is in
process! Her application has been approved and we're working on
arrangements to truck him. Kathy owns a 35-year old appy mare that
she's had for many years, and is used to the smart, playful personality
of an appy. We're confident Sioux will do well and be well loved in
this forever home. We're so happy he'll finally have a human of his
very own!
November 2007 update:
Sioux is home! Professional transporter Double T Transport out of
Calif. picked Sioux up as part of another haul heading east. His new
mom, Kathy, is thrilled and says he's even cuter than his photos and
absolutely adores his playful personality!
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