Three Mares and Me

Mares get a bad rap. They're called difficult, challenging, moody. Mares ARE different from geldings, for sure. You have to ask a mare and give her an opportunity for buying in to whatever you've asked her to do. After riding a mare for two decades, I worked with a gelding for a while, but over the past year my equine family has transitioned to three mares.

Stella Bar Starlight is an American Quarter Horse. She came to me with "open" papers, which meant I got the privilege of naming her. Her sire is a fancy reiner named "Starlight's Wrangler" and she has Three Bars (a favorite stallion of mine) blood on both sides of her pedigree. So the musician in me just could not resist a play on a great jazz tune: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xDQ-Erg3KlQ Stella is a great mare, a fun riding partner, and a beauty inside and out. Hat tip to Everyday Beauty Photography who took the amazing photo of Stella above.

Lady Grace is my retired dressage Diva. I've had Grace a rather long time, and she literally taught me to ride. I call her my McClaren because she rides like a fine sports car. Grace is pretty much retired now and enjoying a life of leisure.

This little cutie is Athena, an 18 month old pony mare I just adopted from West Virginia Horse Network https://horsenetworkwv.com. Athena has one job - be a companion for Grace, so when Stella and I take a ride in the mountains with friends, Grace is never left alone. Athena is a smart and sweet pony mare and I am delighted to welcome her to the fam.

This post is to catch folks up on my equine family and, after a hiatus of settling into my new "day job" and surviving 2020, to get me ready to blog again.

Peace to all.