I bought Ronan in May of 2007. He was the first horse I purchased on my own, without the help of my parents. He belonged to a woman who wanted an older, quiter trail horse. Ronan, being 4 at the time, was very active but well-behaved. The woman was a little nervous around him, probably because of his size (15.3 hh horse with 5'2 lady) and because he was so energetic. I rode him in walk and trot when I bought him. I could tell that he'd gotten away with going back to the barn when he wanted. I corrected him several times and received a small protest each time. Finally, he gave up and accepted my leadership. I knew then, it would be a match. He didn't know much...forward, left, right, whoa....and that's about it. He didn't respond much to leg aids much less seat aids. After a summer schooling him in the saddle and on the ground, he'd progressed so much that we were jumping cross rails, performing leg-yeilds and shoulder-ins, turns on the haunches, and backing. Ronan has the most personality of any horse I've ever met. He learns super fast and I have taught him several tricks in a matter of 30 minutes or so. His current trick is catching! He will literally open his mouth wide for you to toss a treat in. I will post video soon! As of now, we are jumping around 2 ft - 2'6 ft but my lessons aren't continuous. I'm hoping to get back into the routine when the weather warms and show on the local East Tennessee Hunter Jumper Association circuit.
This picture is from our second horse show. We were in an open walk/trot English class (this was before we worked extensively on getting the correct lead)
Ronan is a Grade Quarter Horse. I asked about his breeding and was told he was "pasture horse to pasture horse." I'm sure he was the result of some backyard breeding but considering, he has excellent conformation aside from being slightly cow-hocked. I do not know his real birthdate but I use the day I bought him because I was told he had just turned 4. So, this may 11th, he will be 6 years old. The before winter, I measured him to be 15.3hh but I've been praying he would make it to 16hh. I will measure him soon to find out if he had one last growth spurt left!! He is a dapple grey with a blaze you can hardly ever see. He's very athletic and fast. He has his moments but for the most part, he's well-behaved and reliable.
Here are two of my former students from when I was teaching at Jackson Stables in Birmingham, Alabama. Ronan is a great lesson horse.
My next post will be an introduction for Twiggs, my boyfriend's Tennessee Walker.
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