{"id":1090,"date":"2015-03-01T22:48:26","date_gmt":"2015-03-02T05:48:26","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/westerntrailrider.com\/?p=1090"},"modified":"2015-03-01T22:48:26","modified_gmt":"2015-03-02T05:48:26","slug":"my-new-fox-trotter-mare-lizzy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/westerntrailrider.com\/wordpress\/blog\/2015\/03\/my-new-fox-trotter-mare-lizzy\/","title":{"rendered":"My New Fox Trotter Mare, Lizzy"},"content":{"rendered":"\r\n\t\r\n\t

When I decided I would buy a Fox Trotter as my trail horse, I was told one can not own only one Fox Trotter. Seems that has proven to be true. I recently came home with my second Fox Trotter, Lizzy.<\/p>\n

\"Lizzy\"<\/a>
Lizzy<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Lizzy is a coming four year-old mare (May), registered Fox Trotter of good breeding, standing 15.1 hands. I bought her from a friend and Fox Trotter breeder out of Ephraim, Utah, named Michael George. Mike had heard I was looking around for a second horse, so on a ride he mentioned he had a young mare he would part with if I wanted to come look at her. He said he had brought her from Missouri to train as a working horse and use as a brood mare, but that she just didn’t have the lateral movement he looks for in a good working ranch horse. She moves down the road well and is a willing worker, but just didn’t have the movement he was looking for; for what I wanted she might do just fine. We talked about it a few times and I decided I would take the drive down to see her.<\/p>\n

Seems like the best-laid plans can always go awry. I made arrangements half-a-dozen times to head down to see this little mare, but each time something would come up to side-track me. As things would turn out, I was invited by a mutual friend, Jon Tanner, to fill a slot in his trailer for a ride down in the Saint George, Utah area last weekend. Since Mike was also planning on attending that ride he agreed to take the mare, so I could take a look at her and evaluate her on the trail.<\/p>\n

During two days of riding, some of it on pretty rough trails, I was favorably impressed by the young horse’s temperament and willingness on the trail. She proved to be very sure-footed and not prone to be excited or panicky. I didn’t take the opportunity to ride her, since I was busy trying to put a few more training miles on my gelding, Ranger. In retrospect, I should have traded horses with Mike for a few miles, just to get the feel of her. Regardless, I saw enough of her to convince me that I should buy her.<\/p>\n

I made arrangements with Mike to meet him last Friday to finish the purchase and get the brand inspection done. As things would happen, again, I had to cancel and postpone the meeting, because I was called-in to work on a new part-time job I have acquired (to pay for my horse habit), and I didn’t feel right about trying to get out of it. I called Mike and explained. We put the meeting off until yesterday (Saturday). It turned out, however, that I got off work early on Friday, so I called Mike up and headed down his way.<\/p>\n

Mike had explained to me that one can buy a lifetime brand inspection in Utah, that is transferrable to any new owner. It turns out that Utah State law requires a\u00a0current<\/em> brand inspection to transport a horse within the state, but with the lifetime inspection they issue a nice plastic card with a photograph of the horse that is good for as long as you own the horse. The lifetime inspection costs $25 and transfers to a new owner with a simple application and a $10 fee. Since I was going to have one horse inspected, I figured I might as well have both done at the same time, so I loaded up Ranger and took him along.<\/p>\n

I arrived at Mike’s corrals around 3:30pm. I was greeted by several horses, all Fox Trotters, gathering around the truck and interested in the new arrivals. \u00a0After a minute or two most of the horses had satisfied their curiosity and moved off…all except for this one little colt that was constantly into everybody’s business and making a general nuisance of himself. That one belongs to Jon Tanner, and what a beaut he is. I don’t think I’ve ever seen a more precocious horse animal in my life. I told Jon that if he ever decides to get rid of that one, he is to call me first!<\/p>\n

\"2015-02-28<\/a>As I said, Lizzy is a registered Missouri Fox Trotter, and while I don’t know anything about MFT pedigree, Mike assures me she has some very nice lines in her pedigree. She is coming on 4 years old in May and she stands a measured 15.1 hands. She looks a bit on the small side, because she could use a little muscle and a few more pounds on her frame, but Mike actually measured her height with a gauge. I think she’s going to fill out nicely. She is sorrel with flaxen hocks, and once she slicks out, she just might end up with a flaxen mane and tail. She has a spot of brilliant white on her nose that isn’t quite a blaze. It looks more like she has some paint in her and it only showed in that one spot on her nose. Unique, and I like it. She has a longer back, in proportion to her height, than Ranger and her shoulder line may be a bit more vertical, but she has a good, deep chest and moves well. She has an old scar on her right rear pastern from a bad cut when she was younger, but it has healed up nicely. It doesn’t seem to cause her any tenderness and I did not see her favor it at all in two days of some pretty aggressive trail riding. Since I’m not going to be showing her, and since it was a contributing factor in the low price at which Mike offered her to me, I am OK with it.<\/p>\n

I let Mike show me his process of handling and saddling the young mare and as he did so I began to realize she is a little more green than I had thought. She was a bit jumpy, due to the other horses ranging about, and a little less focused on what we were doing than she might otherwise have been. Mike took her out for a few minutes to work the kinks out before I got on her. I then took her down a dirt road a ways and into a pasture field for a test drive.<\/p>\n

\"Lizzy<\/a>
Lizzy with her new pasture mate and trail partner, Ranger<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

I found Lizzy to be less concerned with me than with the fact that she was leaving her pasture mates, but she continued ahead nonetheless. After a little riding around she began to settle down a bit and pay a little more attention to me. I was able to get her into a fox trot a time or two, but it was a very rough approximation of the gait. I was not able to get her into a flat walk, as she kept wanting to go from a slow walk right into a trot, due to her agitation at being away from her pasture mates with a rider she didn’t know. Eventually I was able to get her into a decent enough fox trot that I was sure that she will smooth out and produce a very nice gait with a little more work and training. She seems to be at about the same place with her training and gaits as Ranger was when I got him. He has begun to develop a very nice flat walk and fox trot and I’m sure a few more miles on Lizzy will produce the same results.<\/p>\n

The one thing about her gaits that concerns me at this point is her walk. She has about the most exaggerated “camel-walk” I’ve ever ridden. It is very uncomfortable and would be a killer to ride that walk for a full day’s ride. She has an enormous over-step, back to front, of maybe 12-14 inches, about the longest I’ve ever seen in a horse her size (being mostly acquainted with Quarter Horse types, myself). She walks with an extremely long stride, causing a very pronounced up and down motion in her withers, however, once she speeds up just a bit, that seems to go away. Once her flat walk develops, I think she’ll be a very comfortable horse to ride. Once I got her moving comfortably, she seemed to step out nicely at a speed that will match Ranger’s pace very well. I am told the long over-step is one of the factors that contributes to a fast and smooth fox trot. I have seen that in other fox trotters, particularly the big gelding Jon Tanner rides.<\/p>\n

\"MIke<\/a>
MIke George on Lizzy at Red Mountain Trail<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Having watched her move and negotiate some rough trails the week before, I had noticed none of the few negative issues I’ve just mentioned, so I’m pretty sure it was mostly her anxiety at having a strange rider on her and being so near, yet so far from, her pasture mates. I’m satisfied that she’ll smooth out and become a very comfortable ride with a smooth, fast gait eventually.<\/p>\n

But right now, I have about one month to get her tuned up for a very long ride.<\/p>\n

Lizzy is\u00a0a little light – could use a few more pounds – and a little greener than I would have preferred, but I’m pleased with my new mare and look forward to many, many pleasurable miles with her and Ranger.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

When I decided I would buy a Fox Trotter as my trail horse, I was told one can not own only one Fox Trotter. Seems that has proven to be true. I recently came home with my second Fox Trotter, Lizzy. Lizzy is a coming four year-old mare (May), registered Fox Trotter of good breeding, … Continue reading My New Fox Trotter Mare, Lizzy<\/span> →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_bbp_topic_count":0,"_bbp_reply_count":0,"_bbp_total_topic_count":0,"_bbp_total_reply_count":0,"_bbp_voice_count":0,"_bbp_anonymous_reply_count":0,"_bbp_topic_count_hidden":0,"_bbp_reply_count_hidden":0,"_bbp_forum_subforum_count":0,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[3,4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1090","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-great-western-trail","category-western-horsemanship"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t