Tuesday, March 09, 2010

Staff With Hooves

We are so fortunate to have such wonderful equine staff. They bring so much to the program. Without them, there would be no program.

Our therapy horses are very special animals, chosen for their dependable nature and their affinity with people. They are quiet and well trained. We have a wide variety of sizes and shapes; We are always looking for suitable horses, preferably under the age of 20 years. As well as dependability and a quiet nature, our horses must be serviceably sound and healthy. Excellent care is provided for all our horses and welcome everyone to visit us at any time.

Allie Cat

Allie Cat is a 12 year old palamino mare. Allie was donated to WELCA in July of 2008. She came from a very nice acerage where she took local children on pony and trail rides. Her owners had to move away so they brought her to WELCA. Allie is very shy but loves to take special care of her riders.

Babe

BABE is a lovely 22 year-old liver chestnut mare. She is about 13 hands high which makes her a pony. She loves her job teaching people to ride and loves going on the trail rides.

Breezer

Breezy is a grey anglo arabian. He is 23 years old. Breezy came to White Mud in April 2009 and started working for Little Bits in May 2009. Although he is new to Litte Bits he is great at his job and gentle with his riders.

Buck

BUCK is a 34 year-old buckskin gelding. He used to be a trail horse in the mountains. He was very brave and would go anywhere his rider asked him to. Now Buck likes to be a follower, not a leader.

Charisma

Charisma is a 14.3 hands high, chestnut arabian mare. She loves to do dressage, and go on trail rides. She is perfect for Little Bits because she is happy to do anything that pleases you. There is not much that can scare her since she has lived at a military stable before, so she knows tanks, bombs, fire engines , jets and helicopters. She is a great addition to our program and her owners hope we all enjoy her as much as they do!

Coke

COKE is a 19 year old appolossa gelding. Coke started his job at Little BIts in 2007 and since then has become a favorite with our riders, volunteers and staff alike. He is kind and gentle but LOVES to get into trouble in the field, he once came in with 25 porcupine quills in his nose, he did not seem bothered at all !!

Dakota

DAKOTA is a very pretty 12 year-old bay mare with four white socks. She is new to Little Bits but really seems to be enjoying her new job. She loves going out on the trails.

Danny

DANNY is a 25 year-old Appaloosa gelding. He is full of personality. He does not like being in a stall and will let you know by trying to push the door open with his head and feet. He does love being ridden and really enjoys going out on the trails.

Ecko

ECKO is an 10 year old-bay morgan. He is very gentle and very beautiful with his long thick mane, forelock and tail. He always looks so proud to be carrying his riders.

Flossy

FLOSSY is a 29 year old-bay mare. She is a fast horse who loves to trot and she clearly loves her job. She especially loves going on the trails. Flossy has been trained to have her riders mount at our mechanical lift and is wondeful at it.

Frost

FROST is a 27 year old skewbald paint gelding. He is 14.2 hands high which makes him a pony. He has done many interesting things in his life such as pony club, cross country, dressage and stadium jumping his showname is Butterscotch Ripple. He is a great addition to our team.

Joker

JOKER is a lovely 28 year-old grey gelding. He is the boss in his pen with the other horses and is always standing by the gate so that he gets to come in first. He loves his job and his riders love him.

Max

MAX is a very tall 26 year-old bay gelding. He had done a lot in his lifetime before joining Little Bits. He has done dressage, jumping and has even been used as a mountain patrol horse! Max is great at his job and his riders love him. He LOVES grass, but so do all our horses!!

Patches

Patches is a piebald paint gelding. He is about 14 hands high which makes him a pony. Patches used to compete as a hunter jumper at Spruch Meadows. He is a great horse for Little Bits and his riders love him. Patches lives with Snowball and Allie Cat in the pony pen, they are all great friends.

Popeye

POPEYE is a 15 year-old chestnut gelding. He is very gentle and is willing to walk at a very comforable pace. He does not really enjoy being groomed (Chestnuts often don’t as their skin is very sensitive) but he really enjoys being ridden. Popeye has a really nice western jog.

Prince

PRINCE is a very small (12 hands which makes him a pony) black gelding. He is just the right size for the little riders. He doesn’t like to walk very fast because he has a back leg that is a little slow. It does not hurt him at all to be ridden, he just looks a little different than the other horses when he walks.

Smokey

SMOKEY is a 28 year-old grey gelding. He has only been at Little Bits for a short while but really loves his job. He is gentle with his riders and is very quiet to lead. He used to be a trail riding horse so he is used to being outside and really enjoys it.

Snowball

SNOWBALL is a 34 year-old grey mare. She is about 13 hands high which makes her a pony. She has been in lessons for a VERY long time and knows her job very well. If you watch her eyes closely you can see that she often has a little nap when she is standing still. She used to do dressage and jumping but now prefers a slower pace of just walking and trotting.

Spruce

Spruce is 18 year old bay gelding. He is one of our tallest horses at 16.2 hands high. Spruce is very gentle and great off lead. He has been working for Little BIts since April 2008. We love having him in the program and he seems to love his job too!

Spud

SPUD is a 21 year-old chestnut gelding.He is 14.3 hands high. In his younger years, his riders used him for endurance riding. That means that he would be able to walk, trot and run for many, many miles. His riders would even dismount and run beside him sometimes. He really enjoyed it, but is very happy not be working so hard now.

Rooster

ROOSTER is a 34 year-old paint gelding. We are told that he is very famous and has even been in some movies. He does not enjoy being groomed very much but really likes to go out for his rides. He also really likes to trot but is very nice and slow and smooth.

Willy

WILLY is a 24 year-old chestnut gelding. He is very tall but is very gentle. It took him a while to learn his job (he used to think he should just stand in the middle of the arena and watch the other horses work) but he now understands what he needs to do and he does a very good job. Willy is trained to the mechanical lift.