Jeanne-Claire's Horses

[Deleted]

The Postman

The Basics
Show Name: The Postman
Barn Name: Jack
Age: 6 years
Gender: Gelding
Breed: Dutch Warmblood
Breed Registry: KWPN-NA

The Appearance
Coat Color: Bay
Stable Color: Maroon and White
Height: 17.3 hh

The Personality
Personality: Jack is a powerhouse, to put it simply. He's one of those horses who is bold and difficult to handle. Though he is not hot-headed in the sense that he is spooky, he gets worked up easily and is difficult to ease back down. However, well-behaved horses, like women, seldom make history. If one is able to get him under control, Jack is a fantastic show jumper. He is scopey and has very good judgement while jumping. If one is able to collect him properly, he can make jumper turns despite his size, but this is the real trial for his rider. If one is too heavy on his mouth, he'll just lean into the bit, so it is best to play with his mouth to get his attention, and then half-halt occasionally. His manners are not bad, but he doesn't have a good idea of personal space and tends to push his weight around to get his way. One should always be careful of where their feet are (and where his are) when around him.
Caution Around: Jack is pushy, so one should always be aware of what he is doing.

The History
Basic History: Jack, like many other serious jumpers, is an import. Born in Europe, he was raised at his breeding stable and started training at a young age. It was clear from the beginning that he would be a jumper, as both his sire and dam had been very successful show jumpers. When his preliminary training was completed, Jack was sold to a show stable in the United States, where his training continued. Jeanne-Claire, always on the lookout for new horses, spotted him in a jumpers class at one of her shows and made plans to contact his owner. The same weekend, she tried him, her trainer and father watching from outside of the fence as the young girl tried the enormous horse. Mr. Augustin, of course, was impressed, and despite his general lack of horse knowledge, he knew that the gelding was impressive, and that he would make a nice talking point for any occasion. Her trainer was just as pleased, knowing that the horse would be successful with Jeanne-Claire aboard, and that he would look very nice under the stable's name. Jeanne-Claire, who had been impressed from the start with the gelding, loved riding him, and though he was a challenge, she knew that he would make her stronger, and that they would be able to go far. After a trial for a couple of weeks at Jeanne-Claire's barn, Mr. Augustin handed over the significant sum that would buy his daughter Jack, and a new partnership began. Jack soon grew to be one of his owner's favorite horses, and less than a year after his purchase, he made the cut to come to Blue Ridge with Jeanne-Claire.

The Technicalities
Discipline: Show Jumping
Owner: Jeanne-Claire Augustin
Rider: Jeanne-Claire Augustin

[Deleted]

Bells and Whistles

i   ii

The Basics
Show Name: Bells and Whistles
Barn Name: Cricket
Age: 8 years
Gender: Gelding
Breed: Oldenburg
Breed Registry:  ISR-Oldenburg NA

The Appearance
Coat Color: Bay
Stable Color: Maroon and White
Height: 16.3 hh

The Personality
Personality: 
    Cricket is a very sweet gelding who adores attention (and sugar cubes). Though when ridden properly he appears to be a packer, Cricket is no such horse. He requires a good, productive warm-up before he is show-ring ready, and it takes a little while to get him in frame and moving along nicely. When one gets one, Cricket is often a little hot, so his rider need to work him through this and settle him down. Once he is settled, however, he is a fantastic mover, with a good length stride (that isn't too long so that it makes striding difficult). Cricket is a solid jumper, who will trust his rider and take anything he is asked to take, with style. His jump is rounded, pretty, and consistent, and he knows how to set himself up well for jumping, though he does require a good rider to tell him what to do. He will not tolerate a noisy rider, and needs light hands and still legs to do what he is told. He has been known to refuse to work when he has a noisy, handsy rider on his back, and on one occasion, he threw this rider. 
    Cricket gets auto changes on course, and is very responsive. Once set up properly, his way of going is very easy, and he is able to maintain his power in his hind end even if his pace isn't very fast. The trick to riding him is to be able to keep him in hand and collected enough without getting him his face, which he will not tolerate. Cricket isn't the ideal trail horse, however. He loves fields and will enjoy hacking out in nice, familiar meadows, but he is very cautious about anything new or strange (which is odd, considering that he will jump anything his rider asks him in the ring). One is advised not to hack him anyplace other than fields or normal trails, as he can get spooky.

Caution Around: Trails and places that he is not already familiar with, new objects outside of the ring.

The History
Basic History: 
    Cricket was born in Europe on an Oldenburg farm where he was halter and saddle trained before being sold to a hunter/jumper trainer who trained him to be a hunter. He competed there for his green years until he was a little more experienced, and was then purchased by the trainer at Fox Meadows, who had traveled to Europe to import horses as he did once or twice each year. Cricket came back with that year's crop of hunters, jumpers, and equitation horses, and was settled in at Fox Meadows, where he was owned by the farm for a short period. Many of the imports were ridden and showed by Maeve Gallagher, the working student, but the other juniors would sometimes ride them as well. Cricket was the first horse that Maeve really clicked with, and though she'd ridden far more horses than any of the other riders had, Cricket was the one that she really connected with. She rode him in her lessons and showed him once - they won the class, beating out the other juniors, including Jeanne-Claire. After this show, Jeanne-Claire decided to try him, and unfortunately for Maeve, she clicked with him as well. Then, there were only a few days before Cricket was purchased for Jeanne-Claire as her new hunter. Since then, Jeanne-Claire and Cricket have done very well in the hunter ring, and Cricket is her most successful hunter to date. 

The Technicalities
Discipline: Hunter/Jumper
Owner: Jeanne-Claire Augustin
Rider: Jeanne-Claire Augustin