Category: Rocky Mountain Gaited Horse

OFF THE MARKET – Chaco, Registered Rocky Mountain Mare

May 2, 2021 /

Chaco is no longer for sale. The owner has elected to keep her, as one of his kids has claimed her as his horse.

Chaco is a double-registered Rocky Mountain Gaited Horse/Kentucky Mountain Horse mare, 17 years old, certified for both gait and breeding. She stands  15 hands, medium build, and is sound in every respect. She is the classic Rocky Mountain color, chocolate dapple with flaxen mane and tail. She is beautiful!

Chaco has been lightly used her entire life and shows no signs of age.  She has a very nice gait and is expert on the trail.  She handles even the most difficult trails easily and safely.  She is quite courageous and will willingly try things she hasn’t experienced before with just a little urging.  Chaco is affectionate and forms a bond of trust with her owner/trainer, although it takes a bit of handling for that bond to form.

I have spent many hours on Chaco, over the past six months, refreshing her saddle training.  It is evident to me that Chaco had some excellent training in her early years. She is very obedient and responsive to voice and heel cues. She will side-pass, move her fore and hind quarters, and gait on cue.  I can open/close gates from her saddle.  She also longes very well in a round pen without a lead rope. She has a nice space-eating walk, a flat-walk, rack, and excellent canter. She is very responsive to the bit, voice, and leg/heel cues.  Chaco neck reins very well, but can also be guided with leg cues alone. She is enthusiastic on the trail and never needs to be “peddled.”  A prior owner told me she used the Pirelli Natural Horsemanship training methods with Chaco, but I believe that was restricted to ground training. Chaco handles well with spurs (I train with spurs) or without.

Chaco is easy to handle on the ground and is good with her hooves for the farrier. She is easy to saddle and to bridle. She is easy to catch in the corral, once a little trust has been established. She rides well in a trailer and loads and unloads easily. She has ridden double without issue. Chaco is good with other horses, does not kick or bite or cause problems in a group setting.  She is gentle and affectionate with people.

Chaco apparently has little experience with small children, as she tends to shy at them and is easily surprised. On several occasions she has pulled back from a tie when surprised.  When handled regularly, this has not been a problem, however the current owner has several small children  (1-5 years old) and Chaco has shied at them several times, which is why she is for sale.  Chaco has occasionally kicked-up with inexperienced riders, but she has not done that with me.  I suspect she does this out of frustration with the rider, as I have been using her to teach the owner’s family how to handle and ride horses.  In saying this, I will confidently state that she has not actually tried to unload the rider. In fact, recently, she kicked-up and bounced the 12 year-old boy onto her neck, then stopped and allowed him to push himself back into the saddle. She allows a nine year-old boy to lead and brush her and lift and clean her hooves.

I truly enjoy riding Chaco on the trail or in the arena. She is suitable for any rider with a little experience and some confidence in the saddle. As I said, Chaco is very willing and very obedient and she likes to move out quickly. She will try to do what ever is asked of her, which is why the rider should have a little experience. She will try, even if she is not sure what is being asked. I am happy to offer coaching, so that the new owner will understand how Chaco has been trained and what cues she responds to. With some regular riding and handling, this mare forms a bond of trust with the owner and becomes a pleasure to ride and to be around. I have told this owner that it is a mistake to sell this mare at any price, but his concerns about the safety of his small children overrides.

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Registration papers:

Here is a short video about Chaco:

PRICE REDUCED: Chaco is offered for sale at Goshen, Ut for $11,000 with a 15-day trial period.  Please text or email to schedule a showing and test ride. Tony@385-424-9788, tony.henrie@westerntrailrider.com

If Chaco is not sold within the next couple of months, she will be listed on an online equine auction site.

She is currently being advertised for sale on ksl.com classified ads at:

https://classifieds.ksl.com/listing/63800603

SOLD – Calypso, a Rocky Mountain Gaited Horse mare

August 6, 2020 /

SOLD.

Calypso has been sold to a very nice lady from Cedar City, Utah.

Calypso is a Rocky Mountain Gaited Horse mare, not registered, about 14 years old*.  She stands 15 hands and has a medium build. She has nice conformation and is sound in every way. Calypso is gentle and calm around people, leads very well, and is very good with her hooves. She ties well and does not pull back. She loads and unloads in the horse trailer easily and trailers very well. She has well-formed hooves that are hard and tough. She has been barefoot most of her life, but is easy to shoe for those longer backcountry trips. Calypso is easy to catch and halter from a pasture, as she usually comes to the gate when I approach. She loves attention from her “people.”

Calypso is a very experienced trail horse. She has served as a pack and saddle horse on multiple long-distance pack trips in Arizona and Utah. She has also been hauled to Alaska, where she was a pack and saddle horse on a moose hunt in the Wrangell-St. Elias National Park. She is a tough, strong, competent trail horse. I have ridden Calypso through some very rough country and I am never concerned about my safety with her. She is among the most sure-footed trail horses I have ever ridden. She will cross rivers without hesitation, mud is no problem, steep ascents are easy, she carefully handles steep descents and drop-offs.

Calypso really steps out on the trail, but does not push. She is not the horse for you if you like to lallygag on the trail! She has a very nice walk, a flat-walk, a foxtrot, a rack, and the nicest canter I have ever ridden. She is a very pleasant saddle horse. She will ride out alone or with other horses. She is a horse that loves the trail.

Having said all that, Calypso is best suited for a rider with some experience. I have owned her for about a year and a half and most of that time she has been pregnant**. You can see from the photos that she threw a beautiful colt out of a Missouri Fox Trotter stallion.

Her colt is now four months old and is being weaned, so I am again riding her regularly. During the time I have owned her, I have introduced her to some new things, as her prior training was lacking. She is learning to move her fore-quarters and hind-quarters independently and she side-passes well. She is learning to allow me to open and close gates from the saddle. She backs and stops well.

Calypso is somewhat herd-bound and tends to “mother” other horses around her. She does well in a herd environment, but does not like to be alone. I have been working steadily on that and I normally ride her alone. She tends to want to turn around at the beginning of a ride and gets a little anxious as we leave the other horses, which is why I suggest an experienced horse person for her. However, once away from the barn, she turns her attention to the trail and becomes a pleasure to ride. She is very gentle and affectionate with people, but occasionally gets anxious, which causes her to fight the bit and toss her head. She is much improved since I have owned her. She has never offered to buck with me. She rides with other horses very well and is not a kicker.

Calypso is a wonderful, trouble-free pack horse. She stands to be loaded and leads perfectly in the tracks of the lead horse. She does not lead a pack horse quite so well. She doesn’t like to have a horse close behind her, as she has had her heels stepped on a few times. She prefers to have a pack horse to the side of her hind quarters. She will haul game without problem. On the trail, I now use a neck rope on her, rather than a halter, because she has learned to slip the halter in a matter of minutes when tied or high-lined at night.

I as I said above, Calypso has the best canter of any horse I have ever ridden. I love her canter! I could ride around all day in her sweet little canter! She also has a very nice foxtrot, but keeping her in that gait will require some tune-up. She has a nice, smooth rack, but tends to slip out of it and get a bit pacey. She just needs more miles to get her tuned-up and smoothed out. I am working on that and she gets smoother every day. Calypso occasionally fights the bit when she gets anxious, but more and more she is becoming compliant and soft on the bit. She is learning to flex at the poll and give to the bit. She will handle well with or without spurs (I normally ride and train with spurs).

Calypso is offered for sale in Diamond Fork, Utah at $3,500.  As usual, my 15-day money-back trial period applies. If she’s not right for you, bring her back in good health and I’ll refund your money 100%.

Here is a video link to my YouTube channel for a video about Calypso:

*I advertised her in 2019 as being a 14 year-old. Since then I have located a previous bill of sale on her and been able to calculate she was then 12 years old, making her 14 years old now.

**Last year my registered Missouri Fox Trotter colt, then 18 months old, jumped a gate and bred to Calypso. In May she produced a beautifully gaited dark bay colt. I expect I’ll keep him. She was an excellent mother. The young stallion is now a gelding.  🙂

TH

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