Green + Green = Black and Blue

I don't know about you, but I love finding out that one of my animals has a connection to another.  In my last post, I talked about how Gus and Bear share the same birthday.  I was really excited to discover their common bond on their papers.  I was similarly enthused when I found out that Fox and I have the same birthday- again discovered by looking at his adoption forms after getting him home.

Rocky has a sister, which in the horse world is not all that common. Now, some people will say that if two horses share the same dam they can be considered siblings, but if they only share the same stud it's almost as though they aren't related at all.  I guess it's because stallions can have so many progeny that to consider them all related is too complicated?

At any rate, Rocky's sister is his full sister, bred from his same dam and stud. When I discussed Rocky's HYPP status a while ago, I brought up the fact that his sister is lucky enough to be N/N- not a carrier.  Rocky's HYPP standing aside, I really like Rocky's mind- his willingness to learn, friendly demeanor, and calm personality.  So when his sister, Philly, went up for sale I wanted her. I got to meet her when she was young- here she is at four months old:

The other horse in the picture is Amber, their dam.  The only problem with Philly being for sale is that I have no money to speak of to buy her. However, my Dad has been fiddling with the idea of buying a horse to ride with my mom and I. Additionally, it would be nice to have a "guest" horse, so we could take someone out riding with us once in a while.

My Dad bought her. There are many issues to be had with the whole arrangement, and I know that in many ways it was a stupid decision to buy her.  My Dad has almost no horse experience, to the point that he needs guidance to put a halter on properly. Philly will be three years old in May. Green + Green = Black and Blue, I know.

HOWEVER. My plan (after two nights of struggling to sleep worrying about things) is to teach my Dad how to be a competent horseman with Rocky and Tapper, my mom's horse. I will work with Philly, getting her ready for an inexperienced rider.  My Dad will learn basics with Rocky and I will teach Philly what she needs to know.  Then I will teach my Dad with Philly once they are both prepared to work together.

Essentially, I'm signed up to spend a LOT of time at the barn teaching everybody how to not kill each other, and possibly get some productive work in besides.  I'm a bit worried about the time crunch, especially as I want to prepare Rocky for the ACTHA ride in May.  I also hope my Dad is willing to buckle down and really listen to me, be open to learning rather than assuming he can figure it out as he goes.  He has already tried to tell me that he plans to study Clinton Anderson DVD's and just work on ground work for a while, so my services aren't really necessary.

I'm glad he's going to be looking at the DVD's, because he will get to see examples of what we are going to work on and Clinton does a wonderful job of explaining things so even the most inexperienced person will gain a helpful understanding of how to work with a horse. The step my Dad is missing is that, in short, he doesn't know what he doesn't know.  He doesn't realize how much feel and timing go into training, being able to correctly read your horse and react appropriately.

Patience will be the key word for this summer. I can't wait!

Philly last fall, two years old