# Between Golden Ears: A Golden Pony in The Golden State



## QtrBel (May 31, 2012)

I've admired that picture many a time. Looking forward to reading more!


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## csimkunas6 (Apr 18, 2010)

How awesome! There is a Haffie across the street with the pangare gene....love the look! Looking forward to more pics and looking at your blog when I have some more time to do so!


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## CaliforniaDreaming (May 8, 2011)

Today is the 11th anniversary of the day that Mitch and I became a team.










​We've been thorough a lot together, and I hope for the next 11 years to be as awesome as the first. He's only 20, he's got loads more adventures in him yet!​


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## Elsie (Nov 14, 2018)

Lovely photo's and what a pretty boy. I hope that you two have many awesome adventures together. 20 is still young.


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## tinyliny (Oct 31, 2009)

what is pangare gene?


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## carshon (Apr 7, 2015)

@tinyliny I am no expert but was always told that the pangere gene causes the lighter muzzly, tummy etc. Many horses thought to be brown but with a tannish muzzle have the pangere gene


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## CaliforniaDreaming (May 8, 2011)

carshon said:


> @tinyliny I am no expert but was always told that the pangere gene causes the lighter muzzly, tummy etc. Many horses thought to be brown but with a tannish muzzle have the pangere gene


Yup! That’s the Pangaré/mealy gene. It’s basicaly what makes Fjords look the way they do (Pangaré on the dun modifer, I think) and Exmoor ponies (Pangaré on the bay gene). Haflingers have Pangaré in the chestnut gene which makes them look the way they do. Mitch just happens to express more of it since having a white belly and white legs is actually considered a flaw in Haflinger breed standards. 

He really stands out in the winter before he gets clipped. He turns a red chestnut, but is more golden in the summer and once he gets clipped.


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## CaliforniaDreaming (May 8, 2011)

And we’ve made it an even dozen years. May there be many more!! Happy 12th Gotcha Day, Mitch!

My Freeform Classic arrived Monday, so I got to try it out yesterday. I wasn’t sure if the sheepskin seat saver from my dressage saddle would fit, but I made it work. Gotta have the cushion! I swapped the compositi stirrups that came with it for my caged EzRides. The leathers were awesome, pretty much like webbers so it was easy to change. The billets are loooooooong, even with my short mohair girth I was almost at the top of the billet holes. I’ll need to figure out if my girth is longer than 18” because I thought it was 18” (but maybe it’s 20” … gotta compared it to the 18” Thorowgood girth I have). I used my Equipedic knockoff pad that has a spine channel and pads.

I gotta say, I’m glad I got this saddle. I like treeless, the Haffie-face likes treeless because he moves way better in a treeless saddle than anything else ever. I loved my Sensation and the Barefoot was nice (although awfully wide), but the Freeform is in a class all of its own. It was very very much like riding in your typical AP saddle, with a twist that was really comfortable. Nice secure seat too, although I might want to save up and get the trail seat with the higher cantle to swap out with the one I have. Oh yeah, the seats are interchangeable! Love it. 

I think for now, I’ll probably keep using my Not-Abetta endurance saddle for any longer rides since I have to figure out how I can rig up saddle bags on the Freeform. It’s an older model so it only has breast collar dee rings and lacks the other dee rings further down the flap where I could tie saddle bags. But all our schooling is going to be in the Freeform, especially since Mitch is a bit plump. I’ll also need to order a crupper, although I didn’t get much slipping around because I had a breastcollar and my girth is a roper style.


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## ChasingDreams (Nov 14, 2017)

He’s gorgeous[emoji3590] One of the first horses I ever rode was a haffie-cross, named Buddy. He was my first “bolt” experience too. I cantered him up a little hill in the pasture, and he kept going and ran, bucking back to the barn. I think I was 10, and I didn’t even try to stop him... just held on. By the time the adults made it to the barn we were both just sitting there in paddock and I was still on his back too scared to move [emoji23]

That horse was packing us around for a long time, though, and was really a saint. I think he was 32 when he passed, and sound. That bolt was the only “bad” experience I can remember having with him.


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## CaliforniaDreaming (May 8, 2011)

So it's been a while since I updated here. I see the last time I posted, I was all gushy-gushy about the FreeForm treeless saddle that Mitch had just gotten, and how much I liked it, although there were things I didn't like (like the lack of rings further down the flap and crazy long billets)


Well, I just sold the saddle today. But that's because I bought another FreeForm saddle and I've only got one butt and one horse to put it on and I just can't have 2. The new one is more of a dressage model (I think it might be the DKR with a classic seat on it) and it has at least one ring lower on the flap on each side in addition to the ones higher up for the breastcollar so I'll be able to fasten some saddle bags to that. Plus, it has panels! I'm so excited. I was thinking about adding panels to my FreeForm Classic, but they were kinda pricey, so it all works out with the new one. It's arriving tomorrow (in town now ... soooo close). The Classic was sold to someone who turns out, we actually have horse world connections (small world., that!) so it'll get mailed off.


Today, Mitch and I participated in a virtual endurance ride. Wild West Endurance had to cancel their actual ride because of COVID-19, so they set up a virtual ride to help offset some of their costs and stuff. Different 'entry' fees for different types of prizes. We did 5 miles because I wasn't sure I could haul out right now, and there's no way I'm gonna get 10 or more miles on a 54 acre ranch without going around the barn trails more than a few times. I had 2 hours to complete the "ride" using my GPS tracker.


I think Mitch and I pulled it off. We never really got fast (maybe when he trotted up the hill in a 2 second clip, but then stopped to a walk when we hit the crest. He probably wasn't too amused that we had to stop at the tack room a few times to reapply fly spray (probably thought "What the heck, thought we were done!") 



It hasn't really been the year I was hoping for. With all that's going on, it's hard to haul out for trail rides because of parking and all that stuff, and there's no way I'm risking our necks riding on the road. So it was pretty fun to be able to participate in a virtual endurance ride.


One of these days, we'll make it to a real live one!










We kinda had to turn around here. This usually leads to a part of the trail that goes up the hill to the back part of the ranch, but the weeds kinda took over. Maybe someone oughta go through with a tractor and flatten them all down. :think:










So we backtracked, and rode elsewhere, but this trail will connect with the one we were trying to access earlier










Riding around to the back of the ranch.










And the ranch owner's grandkids got goats. They were hilarious. Totally baffled by the giant 'goat'. Mitch took it all in stride.










Kind of a gray day. I can see my house from here (not really, just kidding ... there's other houses in the way)










Headed down through the avocado orchards










On the other side of the ranch, there's another hill, and on the other side of that hill there's an arena with a pond next to it, and a trail that borders a creek. It's like a totally different world on that side of the ranch, so lush and green.










I think this was an old farm hand house back when the whole ranch was part of a much larger ranch. Our barn owner turned it into a library, and I've been in there. It's amazing, all those old books.










This was on our ... third loop? Same trail as the previous shot of the avocados, but going in the opposite direction and at the opposite end of that stretch of trail













Our stats for the day. We didn't move very fast.










Our map.


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## CaliforniaDreaming (May 8, 2011)

Mitch was a lucky pony last week! I follow[URL="https://www.thehaypillow.com/”]The Hay Pillow[/URL] on Facebook. The hay pillow is a slow feed hay bag made out of cordura nylon with a mesh net on one side. They’re meant fed on the ground in a way that mimics grazing, so the horse needs to be barefoot, which Mitch is. They’re not inexpensive haybags, so even though I have been interested in them for year, I wasn’t sure about spending that much money for one (on the other hand, I did buy a porta-grazer and those are even more). Long story short, there was a contest last week for a hay pillow and Mitch and I were the lucky winners (mainly because I campaigned heavily for it... in it to win it says I). We got the hay pillow yesterday. 

I love it! It’s a nice solid material, I picked the 1” mesh because Mitch has no problem eating from his slow feed hay net that has 1” holes, but they do slow him down considerably. I like being able to stuff the hay into the bag and zip it up to keep it from opening. No gaps or holes for cheating ponies, thank you! I used it this morning, and put about half of his morning feed into it, and half into his porta-grazer without using his other slow feed haynet. He knew just what to do! And then he ran back to the back of the paddock for the porta grazer and switched between the two for a while. 

When I got there this afternoon around 3:30, he still had hay in the hay pillow so I pulled out what was left and put it into his hay ball feeder toy that he won from Riding Warehouse (he’s a pretty lucky pony) back in February so he could kick that around for a while and stuffed most of his dinner into the hay pillow for later and put the rest into his porta grazer. I don’t know if it’ll last all night, but I’ll find out in the morning.


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## carshon (Apr 7, 2015)

I have a hay pillow and like it. but I live in the land of mud so I can't use it often


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## CaliforniaDreaming (May 8, 2011)

carshon said:


> I have a hay pillow and like it. but I live in the land of mud so I can't use it often


Yeah, it’s plenty dry here most of the time (seeing as this is where the hay pillow’s origins began, give or take 4 hours drive). I think before winter comes, I’m going to invest in getting a hanging hay pillow to hang from the rafters in his shelter. I have a 1” hole haynet that I was using to do that, but with him swinging it around, it got hay everywhere, and the hanging hay pillow looks more contained. He only has an 8x8 shelter (which existed before I moved to that place) so I don’t want any big tubs or anything in there to take up space.

But until then, the hay pillow is out in the paddock.


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## CaliforniaDreaming (May 8, 2011)

And 9 months later … 

Looks like the one storm we had at the end of January might be the only real rain we get all year, _unless_ we get one of those March Miracles, and Mitchell is starting to shed so I guess it’s time to start getting back to work for spring and summer body. Don’t get me wrong, he got out almost every day this past winter, but I chose not to clip this go around, so walking was about the fastest thing he did and he’s not exactly Speedy Gonzalez at that gait. There’s a reason why his winter girth is referred to as his fat girth. 😂










We had a nice afternoon of a 10 minute warmup at the walk on a nice loose rein, about 30 minutes of W/T/C and a 20 minute cool down walk on the buckle (or what would be a buckle if those particular reins had one). in mid January, we switched from a FreeForm treeless to a Ghost Quevis and gave been very happy with the switch. Mitch moves beautifully in it, and I notice he doesn’t drama queen his downhill walk in the treeless. He acts like a total martyr in his Abetta western endurance (which we kept because I only paid $150 for that thing and I’ll keep it till it falls apart at that price, and I dare hope it fits any future horses I might have) as I suspect it’s a tick too long and interferes a wee bit with his shoulders. So he grunts and groans about it, but same hill, different day (and in the Quevis) and he’s totally silent. And that’s why we mainly ride in said treeless.










Sometimes Jet joins us on our meanderings. I try to avoid hills when she’s with us, but she can be strong during handwalking, so Mitch comes in handy to keep her exercised. She might be retired from riding, but she’s still got go. Joke is she’s gonna live forever because she’s got no quit and I’m going to have to plan a trust fund because she’ll probably outlive me.

Since ponying in a treeless is probably bad juju, I tend to use my western endurance for it, I think I tried in my dressage saddle, but kinda preferred having a swell so I could rest my hand holding Mitch’s reins on it. Alas that it’s a particular model that doesn’t have the slot or ring for a rear cinch, so I stalked eBay and FB Marketplace for a while and bagged a Wintec western for $150 with reasonable shipping. I only plan to use it for ponying because I’m not crazy about going out like William the Conqueror (high pommel jab to the gut that went septic, nasty death, tru faxs) but in the future, when I finally get a younger horse, and Mitch has the high honor of toting around less skilled equestrian friends, that’ll be a good saddle to use.

For a horse with four saddles, an equal number of saddle pads and three bridles, I think I can ascertain that Mitch is a clothes horse. 😂

That was a terrible joke. I’ll see myself out. 😅


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## AbbySmith (Nov 15, 2020)

Love this! Following....Mitch is adorable by the way! So cute!


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## CaliforniaDreaming (May 8, 2011)

AbbySmith said:


> Love this! Following....Mitch is adorable by the way! So cute!


Thanks. He's been my monster, my angel and everything in between for a good number of years now. Can't imagine that he's turning 22 in just a few days after his crazy antics yesterday. ("But Mooooooooom, that big horse in the arena is running around. I wanna run too, and if you don't, I'll ... I'll turn into a Lipizzaner and try 'airs above the ground')

Gotta love him though. Can't imagine life without him.


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## AbbySmith (Nov 15, 2020)

Lol!  


CaliforniaDreaming said:


> Gotta love him though. Can't imagine life without him.


Totally true though!


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## CaliforniaDreaming (May 8, 2011)

And today Mitch The Mighty of MRH; the Lord Of The Long Corral, the Tosser of Hay Pillows, the Master of the Porta-Grazer, and Best of Haflingers turned 22. 

I made him a cake, gave him a birthday hat and sang him a song.


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## AbbySmith (Nov 15, 2020)

🎶Happy birthday to Mitch. Happy birthday to you!🎶
Happy birthday Mr. Mitchy! You look so cute in that little birthday hat! I did the same thing for my donkey lol! I hope you get to spend many more birthday's with him!


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## CaliforniaDreaming (May 8, 2011)

Thought it was time to dust off this journal now that Mitch is my one and only (thanks for hitting me in the feels today, Facebook with those videos of my dear mare).

But let’s face it, Mitch is the 🌟 of the show in my 🌎 and I want to keep this journal more up to date with his adventures this year. Of which I hope are many. 

… just as soon as this rain 🌧 stops.

So yesterday, I did a little road work with him. It wasn’t much. Just plodding around the ranch roads because it’s too muddy to go out in the ranch trails. The west coast, and particularly this state, has been getting hammered with the “atmospheric river”. They recorded 13 inches of rain on Monday at the top of the pass that’s the short cut to getting to the other side of the mountains and the inland from the coastal city I live in. It’s been a deluge of nearly mythological proportions! I’m not sure how much more the ground can take.

On the plus side, maybe that means we won’t have a drought this summer. Assuming we all don’t get washed out to sea with all this rain.









Here we go, clip-clipping down the road.









I remembered to turn Equilab on for this one! We got a whole mile.​
So the rains begin again tomorrow and I got the whole “severe weather alert! ⚠ 🚨 🚨 “ text and phone call from the county emergency system tonight. They’re not taking chances, not since there was a catastrophic mudslide 5 years ago that took the lives of 23 people and closed our freeway for a week. I didn’t ride today, but spent the time at the ranch getting my area prepped so I can get around without sinking into the mud. I’m might not have had an engineering education, but I built like 10 houses in the Sims 4 from the ground up so I guess that makes me qualified to make a board walk system out of planks and wood and stuff to be able to get into my hay shed and hopefully not end up in the mud.

I went through a mid-saddle crisis again recently where I decided that the saddles which were working perfectly well for me weren’t going to work after all (and maybe I needed some “retail therapy” in light of our recent bereavements) so I sold my Ghost treeless saddle and my Big Horn haflinger saddle and bought a Colorado Springs Denver treeless western saddle. It looks very much like a more traditional western saddle compared to my Barefoot Arizona. It’s been slowly (I swear actually tracking a package is watching paint dry, srsly!) making its way this way and I hope to get it tomorrow before the big rain storm comes on Saturday. The rain should stop by Tuesday, so hopefully I’ll be able to use it after next weekend when the sun ☀ finally has the gall to show itself again.

That’s all for now, but stay turned for more …


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