This blog may be about Artemis but she isn't the only horse in my life. All together my family owns nine horses. While they may not appear in this blog as much as its namesake but they are just as important to me.
Pawnee
Pawnee is the leader of the herd, when Socks isn't around to keep him in check. He was bought as an unhandled, testosterone filled two-year-old from the auction. After being gelded and spending a few weeks being worked in the round pen he finally calmed down. He was named after the movie Dances with Wolves. He's our trusty trail and tourist horse and has packed around many beginners. He doesn't as much, he's semi-retired from that as he's become too soured from having too many inexperienced riders on him. He's cutting bred and a cow's worst nightmare.
Seven
Sev is my brother's four-year-old Appaloosa gelding. He was purchased at an auction along with Jimmy. We didn't see him until he was in the auction ring and so didn't realize how skinny he was. He was a 1 or, if we want to be generous, a 2 on the body-scale. He was covered in scabs and could barely stay upright. He gained weight quickly though and soon came fat and healthy. Then he was kicked by another horse and developed a blood blister on his chest. The blister eventually popped and the wound was so bad you could see all the way up his neck. The vet didn't know what to do with him but we weren't ready to give up. Twice a day all summer we washed him out and put SWAT around the wound to keep flies away. Eventually it began to heal. It developed a tumor that was surgically removed and now only a small scar remains. Today he's a very fat, very happy, and very stubborn horse. He's in training to be my brother's trail and gymkhana horse.
Jimmy
Jimmy is my mom's horse and he was purchased at the same auction as Sev. Both of them were weanlings at the time and are now four-years-old. We only bought him because I managed to convince my dad that Sev needed a friend and since he was a last minute buy, we picked him over his brother for the superficial reason that he had a nicer mane. I've never regretted that decision. For the first few years he was just a pasture ornament and then he was almost sold to a young girl. Our family was divided on that issue so in the end he came down with Socks to live at a stable near me. He's an overly sensitive horse and does not tolerate any personal discomfort. Loud noises don't bother him at all but if he's mildly uncomfortable he will let you know and loudly. He's secretly a speed demon and once he's learned more about being ridden, we'll see how he does on the barrels.
Thor
Thor is a six-year-old Mustang gelding. We first met him a few years ago when he came to my dad to be trained. He was a nightmare. He'd previously been sent to several different trainers and been badly abused from at least one of them. He'd go at people and jump the fence to get away from you. He hated men and was nasty to other horses. When he came to our place he was put out in the field with June, Pawnee and Socks for a few weeks and came back in a different horse. It took weeks of ground work before he was finally ridden. After a few months he was returned to his owners and everything was fine. Almost a year later we got a call from them. They wanted to give us Thor because they'd come to realize he was too much horse for them and wanted to give him to us rather than sell him and chance him ending up in an abusive home or slaughter. So Thor returned to us, and after Socks came to the stable, became my riding horse up at my dad's. He's currently my trail horse and will hopefully also be my gymkhana horse.
Hades
Hades is Artemis' big brother. They share the same father and are two weeks apart, Hades being older. He's a big lovable goof who still has a lot to learn. He takes after his father a lot. For the most part he spends his days in the pasture with the herd. His training is going slow and he will likely become one of our trail horses once he's a bit older and gelded.
