Summary:
Sioux is an adorable little guy -- and gaited! At about
14.2hh, he's an ideal
height, and built broad chested, stocky and strong. He's
also amazingly inquisitive, eager, and willing, and just
a touch playful and silly. Sioux is an absolute joy to ride,
with a superb running walk, a crisp REAL trot, and a canter to die for. He
English reins only. He is ALWAYS interested in
exploring new things. Something 'scary' out there? Sioux
wants to go touch it, explore it, and move beyond it. He
also carries his weight fantastically, sitting down to
slow down, with a perfect on-the-haunches halt without a
hint of falling to his forehand. Sioux went on to
his new life in November, 2007 and we're so very happy
for him and for Kathy!!!
Trails: Sioux has really developed as a trail pony, eager to go
anywhere, never hesitating, doesn't care if he leads or
follows (although he is timid about unfamiliar horses
after getting bit by a strange horse on his second ever
trail ride). He loves to ride bareback, and loves to
play in water crossings. Normal traffic and farm
equipment don't bother him, although we've not ridden
along the edge of any really busy roads. He can do that easy rocking horse canter
all day long. In mid-May 07, we did a 15 mile ride,
riding the course of a competitive trail event, without
even a hint of a refusal. (He did get nervous when a
group of strange horses came up fast from behind, but
otherwise handled other horses OK.) We climbed up and
eased down numerous grades, some muddy and slick, and
crossed more than a dozen water crossings, and even more
mud/standing water, all without a bit of fuss. Sioux is
still quite uncomfortable about riding with unfamiliar
horses. If he and his partner ride behind the other
horses, he does perfectly fine. If strange horses come
up behind him, he is quite nervous. If we ride a section
of trail or even an entire ride with unfamiliar horses
and they are behind him or his riding buddy passes the
other horses without him, he gets stressed. We hope
he'll get over this behavior with some additional riding
time, we simply don't get a lot of chance to take him
out with unfamiliar horses.
He also has shown real potential as a gaming
pony, with his bright, eager mind and his great balance.
His hand gallop is smooth and balanced, and shows
promise of real performance ability at a run. He is NOT a beginner's
horse, as he's too smart and playful. He'd be ideal for
a small adult (under 150 lbs rider weight) or an
intermediate or above teen. He behaves great whether
ridden every day or given months off due to awful
weather!
First notes: When
Sioux was really just a 2 year old colt with
maybe 30 days professional riding training, he was sold
as a 'perfect' beginner's first horse. Despite his
owners' lack of experience, Sioux never was mean; he simply took advantage because he's bright,
curious, and, well, he could. He was dominant over his humans,
never a good situation. His family can only manage 2
horses at their facility, and they're an ideal home for Bob,
our former world champion halter horse who needs to be
kept with just one other horse and on grass 24/7, so we
agreed to trade Bob for Sioux, and bring Sioux to CWER
to complete his training, teach him the rules of our
human world, and find him a great new home.
June 2006: Sioux
continues to make superb progress. Today he did a trail
ride with 8 other horses. He got a bit nervous a
time or two, but he stayed with the others, behaved
well, and had a great time. Unfortunately, very close to
the end of the ride, he stumbled coming up out of a
ditch and skinned both his knees. The scrapes are fairly
minor, but of course tender (remember wiping out on your
knees as a kid? OUCH! Poor boy...). We're really very
excited at the progress this sweet little fellow is
making, and look forward to finding him the ideal home.
August 2006: What a great little guy this is! He's
really making wonderful progress.
We did a PARADE today! With a 4 year old who has
about 30 days professional training time with us here...we
went parading!!! We
live in a smaller country town
(not tiny -- we have a grocery, a movie theater, etc,
but pretty small). Every year at our Ag Days we have a
parade. Sioux was FANTASTIC!
We rode between the antique tractors and the fire
trucks,
and nothing seemed to really bother him much at all! He wasn't
crazy about the sound of the 2-stroke dirt bikes, and he
didn't like the balloons flying off one of the floats,
but all in all he was terrific. He looked curiously at the
carnival rides (we were not even 100' from them when we
rode through town), but balked at nothing. He slowed a
few times, had to be nudged to walk on, but we were
leading at the time, with Memphis and Tess behind him.
He preferred to keep Memphis in his sight, and the only
time he was naughty all day was when Memphis cantered
off without us while we were already in a running walk
to catch up. He wanted to run, I said no, and he was
tense but he obeyed while I called to mike to stop
Memphis (this was after the end of the parade, going
back to our rig, with Memphis about 100 yards away.)
What a TERRIFIC little guy this
is!!
click
here for ... RIDE
VIDEO! November
15, 2006 update: Sioux is doing wonderfully. My
shoulder injury delayed me getting to ride this great
little guy for quite some time, so volunteer Dana was kind enough
to do it for me, as time allowed. Now that the shoulder
is healing, he and I are having great fun together
again. I don't believe
Sioux ever would be a 'little kid pony'; however, as a
youth rider's partner, for an intermediate rider,
I think this little guy just could not be beat. Oh if
only I'd had HIM when I was 13, 14, 15 years old! He
needs a caring partner who is confident but not mean, and won't let
him learn any bad habits. December
06 update: Sioux had another chiro and full
checkup. It seems he has a bit of scarring in his
throat, likely from a case of strangles as a youngster,
and has some trouble swallowing as his throat gets
drier. He's on an herbal supplement and veg oil on his
feed to ease him past this minor issue. Apparently he
did this also sometimes at his former home. He is still eating fine,
just makes some funny faces and turns his head oddly as
he eats sometimes. Sioux continues to ride
wonderfully. Took
him to Coyote Creek to ride in the indoor one day last
week and he was a little tense at riding somewhere
different -- he wanted to stick close to Memphis -- but
he quickly settled himself down and rode very well. Had
I not gotten sick, we would've taken him to the horse
show there this past weekend. Spring
07 update: Sioux continues to be a pure joy. I
ride this little man every chance I get. We've gone on
various trail rides at a variety of locations, and he
never disappoints me. He's still not good about letting
his alpha mare ride away without him, BUT he will ride
away from HER without difficulty. He loves to play in
water crossings, goes through mud like it isn't there,
and climbs everything we put in front of him with ease.
With our flat ground here, he doesn't see down hill
often, so for a while he had to work a bit to get his balance for
downhills; he's since learned and manages down with ease
and confidence. I think this boy would be a pure joy as a
competitive trail mount or even endurance for a smaller
(under 150lb) rider. He'll gladly ride out alone, and is
a bit better about unfamiliar horses now (he was bitten on
his 2nd ever ride by a friend's horse and it scared him
a lot.) With every chance to go trail-riding he proves
himself more confident, more level headed, often taking
the lead when his alpha mare is pausing at an obstacle
or unusual site such as garbage barrels, tents, etc! May
07 update: Memphis and Mike did their first
competitive trail ride! While they were out competing,
with me riding Sioux and Tory on Sandy, we chose to go ride the
trails 'for a while'. Fifteen miles later we'd completed
the entire course and were back at the trailers with
everyone else! Sioux went up and down hills and gullies,
cantered across open fields, ignored tractors and
traffic -- not to mention cows and even maintained his cool
near a wild turkey! We crossed more than a dozen water
crossings and twice as many mud patches, all without any
fuss. He got tense when a group of strange horses rode
up fast behind us once, but otherwise handled the
unfamiliar horses reasonably. He was eager and willing and
moved along at a nice pace all day long.
Registered:
Sioux is now registered with the AApA as a full-blooded
appaloosa, hardship registry since we cannot locate his
original bloodlines. His
markings clearly show him as an appy, complete with
mottled skin -- EVERYONE says our website photos don't
do justice to his eye-catching colors and markings!
June
07 update: We are hopeful that Sioux met his
forever "mom" today!!! A wonderful lady from
northern IN called us Saturday eve and said she would be
in the area and wanted to meet our Sioux. She came and
spent over an hour with him on Sunday, had a great ride
with him, even spent some round pen time with him. They
got along fabulously and he was nuzzling her in no time!
She was polite and patient with him, yet had a good set
of rules that she simply required him to follow -- no
fuss, no upset. Just go ahead and do your work. Sioux
seemed to respect her, and they appear to make a superb
team!! We are processing her application and are hopeful
that Sioux will be going home in July 2007! August
2007 update: Sadly, Sioux will be coming home
this weekend. As can happen to anyone, life has gotten
in the way of Sioux's new future. Multiple emergencies
completely unrelated to Sioux have lead to financial
issues for Sioux's new family, and they are unable to
afford to keep any of their horses at this time. We are still hopeful
that perhaps they will be able to get back on their feet
and, if Sioux is still available then, may be able to
adopt him at a later date. 
September
2007 update: Sioux is home, settled and in heaven
in our new 41 acre farm!
You can see him any time of day or night, off teasing
one of the drafts of playing with one of his buddies --
particularly halter tag with Gin or body tag with D! He
loves to ride in the huge pasture. He's fit, happy,
healthy, and ready for the right forever home. September
2007 update: Sioux has a home! Sioux's adoption
to Kathy H in Virginia is in process! Her application
has been approved and we're working on arrangements to
truck him. Kathy owns a 35-year old appy mare that she's
had for many years, and is used to the smart, playful
personality of an appy. We're confident Sioux will do
well and be well loved in this forever home. We're so
happy he'll finally have a human of his very own! November
2007 update: Sioux is home!
Professional transporter Double T Transport out of
Calif. picked Sioux up as part of another haul
heading east. His new mom, Kathy, is thrilled and says
he's even cuter than his photos and absolutely adores
his playful personality!
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