More Summer 2016 Rides

She is turning into a great trail horse.

Half Moon Lake, Wyoming.  This was a really rugged ride to get to this point on the lake.

Half Moon Lake trail.

Mule Shoe Trail, North Fork, Utah

Mt. McDougal, Wyoming-- first trail ride in just a halter.

Mt. McDougal, Wyoming

Stream crossing on the Mt. McDougal trail

Summer 2016 Rides

North Fork, June 1, 2016...First ride with boots.  The trail was extremely rocky in places.

North Fork, June 1, 2016..

North Fork, June 1, 2016..

Antelope Ride With Amberle!

Amberle "fell in Love" with her on this ride.  What a sweet, willing, sensitive horse!  Too bad Mountain horses aren't more popular out west.  I think they would be if people only knew about their fantastic dispositions and gaits.  They are bred to be comfortable, sensible trail horses.

Lake Point--Bates Canyon Ride

Another milestone!  Longest ride yet at 10.5 miles and 1400 feet elevation change. Snow, mud, water, slippery trail,  rocks, brush, gates, hillsides,and A BIG GROUP OF OTHER HORSES. She did super and didn't appear to even get tired, but was mostly mellow and calm.  There were a couple of incidents where other horses cantered and she wanted to join in.

Bothwell Utah Ride

Longest ride yet, 6.88 miles--but on level ground, mostly soft.  She did a super job!  Laid back, controllable and didn't pay much attention to the high energy of the other horses.

Antelope Island Ride, March 11

On March 11 we took Zamba and Shrek and rode part of the Mountain View Trail.  Zamba did quite well. Didn't seem too phased by the bison we encountered.

First Rides

March 2, 2016 in the round pen

March 4, 2016, in the neighbor's small pasture.

March 5, 2016, on the Bonneville Shoreline trail near One Horse Canyon

March 5 on the Canal Road

After three outings, we are pleased with her progress.  She handled the canal road with it's hard surface and gravel very well even though barefoot.  She seems to love going up a mountain and moving out on the trail.  Energetic, but controllable.

Spring is Coming!

Zamba meeting our cat, Flicka

Yay, first outing to the arena.

Second outing, not so much action.

Still Snow Here!

Way more snow than we want...  

With her friend "Star" from next door

Looking like the fancy dancer...love that hock action.

"Mugging" for the camera.

Musical Hay piles..."Who has the best one?"

Looking Good after one week in Utah

After watching her run around the pasture doing her lovely canter and floating trot with her tail in the air like an Arab, I have been calling her "Zamba". She looks like she's doing an elegant dance.  What a pretty girl! 

Arrival--January 12, 2016

Why are we constantly buying horses in January?  The last three. Spirit, then Ellie, now Zamba.
We have been looking on and off the last year for another horse.  Ever since we sold Kachina. We wanted a smooth gaited horse with a sweet willing personality and mellow disposition. Not taller than 15.1 or shorter than 14.3.  Color or breed doesn't matter.  We had centered our search on the following breeds: Fox Trotter, Walking Horse or any of the Mountain Horse Breeds. We looked at horses in Utah, Wyoming, Montana and Colorado.  At first I limited my search to surrounding states. I also looked seriously in Idaho, California, Nevada, Arizona and New Mexico  Didn't want to ship cross country without seeing the horse in person, but was willing to do it for the right horse. I saw this horse first posted on facebook on December 13.  Within 10 days, we had the pre-purchase done and were arranging for shipment!  What happened? We know basically nothing about her background. I was told she was owned by an older couple who didn't ride anymore and she was just sitting in a pasture not being used.  Never could find those owners to find out anymore.  So....she is somewhat of a "mystery."
I felt drawn to her beautiful gaits.  The saddle rack and canter looked so smooth and she even did a nice slow flat footed walk.  I tried to get a feel for her disposition through videos. Felt drawn more and more even though she had a white face and four white socks!  Would rather she didn't, but she is what she is.
She was picked up by transporter Ben Stout in Cynthiana, Kentucky on January 9th, spent the first night in Indianapolis, the 2nd night in sub-zero Iowa, the 3rd night in Big Springs, Nebraska.  Arrived in Ogden around 3 pm on January 12.

Glamour shot in Kentucky. She came with the name "Fancy Pants", but we didn't care for it. Our next door neighbor's horse is "Fancy", so we are still trying to come up with a name. We called her "Kentucky" and "Brave", (neither of those seemed to fit)  "Little Girl", "Pretty Girl" and eventually settled on "Zamba".  

Ridden in Kentucky, November, 2015

Minutes after arrival on January 12

Minutes after arrival on January 12

Minutes after arrival on January 12

She arrived slightly underweight from not eating much and the stress of the cross country trip.  A week later she seems to be gaining back the weight and eating fine.