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