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Getting your first horse or pony
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Zoey
Zoeys Story- March 8, 2009 For the last couple months i've been searching for a new horse. A horse that I could compete at a higher level with. Jack is a great horse but his knee restricts him from bending it as much as he should, because of this at the first barrel he hesitates and slows a lot as he goes around it. I needed a horse that could have smooth turns and enough speed. It needed to be better than Jack. After looking at several horses I stumbled upon Zoey. She was living in New Jersey with a herd of ponies and a few horses. Her owner at the time sold horses for a living. The man said that he had this red horse (going by her color) that he thought would be perfect for what we were looking for. When I saw Zoey her right front hoof was pidgin toed, it grow out to the side, and she tended to drag it a tiny bit when she walked. I decided to see how she ride first before I judged her on that. My instructor came with me and she rode Zoey, who at the time had no To my surprise she was excellent and I was able to canter her around the ring with no problem. I even let her go into a small gallop, keeping her under control of course. I took Zoey though some Figure eights and she had great flying lead changes! My instructor and I both new that we probably would not find a better horse than this. My mom agreed and we talked to the seller about prices. We signed an agreement that we would have 1 week to return her if we were having any problems no questions asked. The very next day we went back to the barn to pick her up and take her home! I couldn't wait!
Zoey will most likely be the out cast for a few months until Jazz warms up to her. Just like when we first got Jack, Jazz hated him. It shouldn't be long till they all like each other. In the picture to the left if you look closely you can see Jack and Jazzmine far up in the right corner of the field.
_______________________ Zoey Almost Left!- March 15, 2009 We had our farrier come out right away when we got her and he didn't think that her right front hoof would ever be normal again. My mom told him to trim it down and take the shoes that she had on off. He warned us that her hoof could be totally bad or it might be okay. He also said that the seller might give us a hard time about it if she comes up lame. My mom and I decided that we will take that risk.
As our farrier took her shoes off and trimmed her down, My mom, my instructor and I were all anxiously waiting to see if she would be okay. It felt like forever! Then finally she was all don't and our farrier had me walk her up and down the drive way to see how she walked. There was noticeable difference in the way she was walking! A good difference, although it still wasn't totally the right shape Zoey wasn't dragging her hoof anymore! Problem solved, or so we thought... On Friday March 13th, our vet came out to do an exam of her to make sure she was healthy. The first thing he noticed was her right front hoof. Zoey had a misshaped hoof. He said, just like the farrier said, that it could be an under lining problem and it may be fine now but who knows in a week she could go lame. He was explaining the different things that could happen to her hoof and how she could end up being lame or she could turn out to be a great barrel horse. You just don't know till later and since my dad had said I could get ONE horse and I had to pay for it with my own money I wanted to get one with no under lining issue. I finally told my mom that I wanted to take her back and look for a different horse. The vet and her both agreed and it was set we were going to call the seller later and tell him that we were going to return her. I didn't really want her to go but if I could only get one horse I wanted one that had healthy hooves. Since I already have Jack and his hoof problem, plus his calcium deposit. My mom talked to the seller and we were going to take her back sunday morning. It was still Friday afternoon and we were set for sunday. My dad came home from work around 5:30- 6pm He had already heard that we were going to take her back and he was going to come. When he got home I asked if we could start building a fort in the woods like he had planned earlier that day. We got on the golf cart and went to look for a good spot. Once we found a nice area we started clearing the sticks and tree branches. We built a fire and burnt the branches. When it was getting dark my mom came out and brought us some food. We started walking back to the house and Zoey came up. My dad then said why don't you just keep the horse, and if she ends up not being good we can get another one. My mom and I both smiled. We talked about it for a few more minutes and since we had enough shelter in the field and enough stalls it was settled that Zoey is staying! I still had to pay for her but my dad said if she turns out bad then they would help me buy the other one. We are going to give Zoey about a year until we get another horse. Whether Zoey is good or not I think we are going to get a fourth horse that way if I take 2 of them to a show there will still be 2 at home in the field instead of one. Everyone is happy that Zoey is staying for good! _______________________
Zoey's Training Begins!- May 5, 2009
We took Zoey and Jack to a local ring that holds shows in the summer. Zoey doesn't seem to mind trailor rides either. They get a long great! Zoey is on the Left and Jack is on the Right.
Zoey's miss shaped hoof is turning out to show no signs of being a big problem. I've resently started training Zoey in various gaming events. We started out with pole bending. Zoey semed to pick it up very well, but she still has room to improve over time. As you can see in the picture above I'm using a tie down, which i did not need for Jack. Zoey often throws her head up in the air making it hard for me to control her, with the tie down her head stays at a lower level allowing me to control Zoey and stay safe. Zoey pole bending for the first time! After pole bending it was time to start teaching her a little bit if barrel racing. Zoey runs barrels starting from the left and then procedding to the right barrel. I normally start barrels from he right, like I did with Jack and Jazzmine but Zoey runs the barrel pattern better from the left first. Zoey barrel racing for the first time!
_______________________ Zoey Goes to Clover Leaf Stables- May 22, 2009
On May 23rd 2009 I took Zoey to the barn that I rode at ever since I started riding, Clover Leaf Stables. We were having a surprise party for the owner of the stable. I talked with my friends in school about the party and I decided to bring Zoey. The Stable owner thought we were all coming over to just go riding and help out with the trail rides in the afternoon.
Zoey was able to stay in a small field that a mare named Max would stay in. Max was in the stall while Zoey was in her Field which wasn't long till I had her out riding. She was very well behaived considering she was never at Clover Leaf before and there were many new horses. My friend Molly and I went out on a trail ride later that day when the temperature cooled. I rode Zoey and she rode her friends horse Sassy. Sassy is an Arabian mare. The two mares got along great! We had no problems cantering them next to each other.
As you can see Sassy is in great shape and barely broke a sweat!
Zoey on the other hand needs to be worked more. lol Look at all that sweat!
_______________________ Zoey's First Show!- July 11, 2009
7-11-09 Barrel Racing at Piney Hollow NJ- 26.09
7-11-09 Pole Bending at Piney Hollow NJ- 34.36
7-11-09 Combo Keyhole at Piney Hollow NJ
7-11-09 Baton Race at Piney Hollow NJ- 12.33
7-11-09 Grove at Piney Hollow NJ- 11.52 ____________________________
Cloverleaf Stables- September 4th, 2009 I decided that i wanted to go one last big trail with my friends before school starts on the 8th, so Zoey and I go over to Cloverleaf stables for the day again and ride the trails! Zoey has met many new horses and gets along great with all of them! In the picture below fron left to right is Lex on Dusty, Rachel on Fancy, and Molly on RG.
From left to right is Rosie on Onyx, Rachel on Fancy, Lex on Dusty, and Molly on RG. haha nice face Molly! I was on Zoey while this picture was taken. Here is a video of us riding through the trails!
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name (she was registered but the guy wasn't calling her by her registered name which was 
When we brought her home and she was a nervous at first but in about 30 minutes she was so calm it was like she had been living here for months! What about Jack and 
Jazzmine, well lets just say she never liked other horses. When we put Jazzmine in the field later she chased after Zoey, but to our surprise Jack got in between then and cut Jazzmine off as if he was keeping Jazzmine away from Zoey so she wouldn't get hurt. Zoey was so passive that she just ran away from Jazz not even fighting back. Jack took over and kept the two on either side of him. 
Zeoy Had a misshaped hoof. 
