Dominant Northern Skye - Skippy
2001 Registered paint gelding - 16 H
In the winter of 2001, I braved a snowy drive to the Eastern Townships in Quebec to seek a show quality registered paint gelding and in short order found myself to be the owner of a brand new a paint colt.
He was a beaut and at the time it looked like he would certainly distinguish himself in the halter ring. His mom was a big solid QH mare and so much so that she was nursing an orphaned foal in addition to her own colt. This was accomplished by tying the mare at nursing time and bringing one and then the other foal into the stall for their meal. I was to find out later that this feeding time ritual would leave a lasting impression on my colt. Later in June, my colt arrived at the farm and onlookers commented that he looked like a little four-legged football player. I named him Skippy in memory of a friend’s horse who was everything you’d ever hope for in an equine partner.
Without missing a beat, Skippy was instantly the life of the party. He climbed onto the porch, he wanted into the house, he was up close and personal at every opportunity - in short, he was game for anything. When he wasn’t socializing he was networking out in the pasture with a neighbour's loaner foal and casting himself under the paddock gate at least twice a day. No doubt about it - It was a full time job keeping up with Skippy and he was only 4 months old.
One day I decided it was time for Skippy to experience the company of some adult horses so I tied an older gelding to the fence and let Skippy loose into the pen. Skippy’s eyes were as wide as saucers. He hadn’t seen such a thing since he had left home and a big ‘ole horse anchored to a fence could only mean one thing - soup’s on! Before I could intervene, Skippy was busy looking for a drink from a gelding who had a very surprised look on this face.
Skippy couldn’t wait to be backed and when I climbed aboard after his second birthday he seemed thrilled and I think curious as to why we didn’t do this sooner. But then at three years of age Skippy was 4 inches lower at the wither than he was at the hip. Although this didn’t bother him one bit it meant that it was pretty much impossible to fit a saddle - so much so that he enjoyed his leisure well into his 4th year.
Skippy is the happiest, quietest and most curious horse you will ever meet. He’s a clown in a horse suit - at his best in front of an audience - puffing himself up to appear 18 H high at feeding time, escaping all confinement with houdini-like precision, attracting every visitor to his stall door with a variety of facial expressions or gestures and tossing in his own unique interpretation of classical jumping technique at his whim - things that are better seen for yourself than described.
He is an accomplished escape artist and it always plays out like this. I am busy with chores and one thousand other things - I hear hooves in the aisle and I look up to see Skippy exiting the barn at the lope - all because I forgot to put the extra clip on his stall door latch about 5 seconds ago.
Skippy also has a remarkable knowledge of the english langueage and perhaps french too since he started out in Quebec. This means that all of the regular words that you might hear in a lession such as halt, walk, trot, and the like must be given in some sort of code otherwise he will perform whatever is asked for just by my voice. His response to my voice is quite helpful for my beginner riders while they are learning the aids but over time my students must learn a whole new code so that for a brief minute they can outwit Skippy and give the required aid themselves.
Skippy's contribution to the riding school has resulted in him making many friends from near and far who speak of him fondly. Who knew that a little colt from the Eastern Townships would eventually have his own web page and a fan club that often asks after him - all the way from Denmark.
Best horse friend - Elmo
Favorite horse treat - candy canes
Best trick - disappearing from his stall
Birthplace - Sherbrooke, Quebec
|
