Meet my zoo!

I'll add more pics in a bit, but here's Rambo, Ruger & Ammo. And a little about them!

Rambo- my beloved American Paint horse gelding. Born in 2009, bought him as a 2 year old stud colt and broke him myself. Smart, gentle, and willing. If you took all the good things from the horses I've had in the past and put them together into one horse, that's Rambo and then some. I love all my animals but horses are my true love.

Ruger- The tri color (red headed calico) pup. He will be a year old in February. I researched for many months before deciding on his breeder. He's a large standard Rat Terrier (sometimes called "giant rat terrier", "Decker giant", or "Decker terrier") He is between 18 & 19 inches tall and weighs 32 pounds. I drove 10 hours round trip to get him. He, like Rambo, was love at first sight. He consistently learns new things within 3 repetitions and doesn't forget. This sometimes is frustrating though lol. He is my "heart" dog. He's goofy, fun, and laid back. I couldn't ask for a better dog.

Ammo- If you didn't catch it, Ruger is a brand name of guns. Ammo is short for Ammunition she's a pistol (sorry, couldn't help myself!) She will be a year December 27th. She is also a standard Rat Terrier but not as big as Ruger. She's a red sable and white piebald; 16 inches tall and 20 pounds. She too comes from Rugers breeder, just different bloodlines. Tons of prey drive in this girl. She's no couch potato like my boy is, haha.

I'm hoping to teach them both to hunt. Ammo's a couple of steps ahead of Ruger but she's also older.

awww, they are all so nice looking!...love your horse btw!!

Thank you, Crimson!

As soon as I figure out how to add more pics (I'm at my limit with thumbnail attachments) I'll post the rest of my zoo

I love paints, such a beautiful horse!

I'm so disappointed. I *finally* got my picture album going but I can't copy and paste the pics on here!! :-(
I guess you will have to go to my profile... :-(

I LOVE your zoo!!!

I'm also quite fond of Rambo. What a gorgeous Paint!! I just rode one yesterday afternoon, and had a REALLY good time.

Do you ride English or Western?

Wow, such gorgeous animals!! You're so lucky to be able to have a "zoo"

Aww they arw so cute i love your horse hes gorgeous!!!

Highlight the image, right click, and press "copy image" in the pop up screen. That's a very simple way to post a photo already online(in your album).

You can also right click the image, click "view image" which will take you to a new screen showing only the image. Copy the URL and food the little yellow square with mountains and sun where it asks for image URL.

Beautiful babies you've got there!!!! I have love for horses too since I was a little child....

Thank you, antoinette. I have a very small family (2 uncles and one great aunt) and none of them even live in the same state as me. All of us live in different states. So my animals are kinda like family for me. I always thought I'd be married and have a family by now but it just never happened. I've always loved animals.

JerseyWendy, horses are amazing creatures. It's very relaxing to spend time with them be it riding or just brushing them. I ride Western. I've also begun his training in driving but I'm at a stand still until I can get a cart and harness that fit him. I talked to an Amish gentleman about how to harness him and teach him to pull a cart (drive). The Amish fellow told me what to do and said it'll take about 3 months before he's ready for a cart. I went home and immediately started Rambo's training. He didn't bat an eye or question what I asked of him, he just took right to it (same as all his training) and went right to work. The next day I called the Amish gentleman back and said, "I've been working with him and I think he's ready!". He told me bring him on out and we'll hook him up! So back out to the Amish families farm.. we hooked him up to the cart and on down the road we went. The first half mile Rambo had his head up and was trying to look around; he'd never had blinders on. After that first half mile, he put his head down level and forward and trotted on like a seasoned pro. He's so much fun!

Thank you everyone! More pics of Rambo in my album!

They say in life you only get one good dog and one good horse. Well I've had several good horses (and a bad one haha) but Rambo is that "one in a million" horse. I feel so incredibly blessed to have him in my life. Everyone who meets him, be it long time horse owners, farriers, or trainers all tell me "Don't sell him; he's a good one. Hang on to him!" And I plan on it

And no, this isn't some magic fairy tale Haha. Rambo is just about as kind, gentle, and willing as they come but we've had our accidents. Before I gelded (castrated) him, he would rear up when I held him back. To be fair, he had just been started under saddle. Another time we were rounding up cattle.. Rambo leapt and my saddle rolled. I fell off, my foot got caught in the stirrup, I hit my head on the ground and was knocked unconscious while he drug me 10-15 feet. I had a mild concussion and I was sore but I got right back on and we finished rounding up the cattle. When he was 2 1/2 I was working him under saddle since he was still green and I didn't want him to sit all winter without being ridden. It was December and the ground was frozen solid. He was acting up, raising his head really high and mouthing the bit. I noticed his breath smelled horrid when he was mouthing the bit, and all this was very strange for him. He never rode with his head up and he always, always kept a quiet mouth. Well pretty soon he went to bucking.. I cannot ride a bucking bronc. Provided the saddle is secure, I can stay seated on a horse that spooks, bolts, jumps, falls down, or rears. But broncs? Umm no. I went flying. The frozen ground was like landing on concrete.I tried to get up but couldn't. I was in terrible pain and I had the wind knocked out of me. Thank God someone saw me. They came and helped me up. I went and got Rambo and they told me they would unsaddle him and put him back in his pasture. I was very thankful for that too because there's no way I could have unsaddled him with the amount of pain I was in. I never was mad at him. I asked him what the matter was, lol. Off to the Emergency Room I went. Severe bruising and a bloodied kidney. I suspected his mouth was hurting so I took him to the vet that week and come to find out he had shed a baby tooth (loose cap) and Iit didn't shed properly. Instead it held on by a thread and when Rambo was eating he bit down on the cap and drove it into his gums where it got stuck and infected. He was in terrible pain.. he tried to tell me but I didn't understand until it was too late. Lesson learned!

QuakerMom said:

JerseyWendy, horses are amazing creatures. It's very relaxing to spend time with them be it riding or just brushing them. I ride Western. I've also begun his training in driving but I'm at a stand still until I can get a cart and harness that fit him. I talked to an Amish gentleman about how to harness him and teach him to pull a cart (drive). The Amish fellow told me what to do and said it'll take about 3 months before he's ready for a cart. I went home and immediately started Rambo's training. He didn't bat an eye or question what I asked of him, he just took right to it (same as all his training) and went right to work. The next day I called the Amish gentleman back and said, "I've been working with him and I think he's ready!". He told me bring him on out and we'll hook him up! So back out to the Amish families farm.. we hooked him up to the cart and on down the road we went. The first half mile Rambo had his head up and was trying to look around; he'd never had blinders on. After that first half mile, he put his head down level and forward and trotted on like a seasoned pro. He's so much fun!

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Absolutely remarkable!!! Especially for such a young horse.

You must have quite the bond with Rambo, and he obviously trusts you "blindfolded".

Thanks JerseyWendy. He is something! At 2 1/2 he was giving pony rides to my friend's small children. At 3 1/2 a confident but inexperienced 8 year old child could ride him. Supervised, of course. My friends who do not ride much and/or who love horses but are scared to ride, I put them on Rambo and I know he will take care of them. I hope some day when he's a bit older he can be a therapy horse. This year he's got the spunk and endurance for some serious riding where he was actually quite lazy before. I'd love to do some team penning on him. Oh how he loves chasing cattle! I think he'd be a great roping horse too but I can't throw a rope yet haha.

Wendy, have you ever experienced a sliding stop?? Rambo used to do them all the time as a 2 year old but I discouraged him from it since it's so hard on a young horses hocks. Now that he's older I've been asking for more sliding stops. And my goodness! When he gives me that perfectly executed sliding stop, I tell you it's cloud nine! For me, it's the creme de la creme of all things atop a horse

QuakerMom said:

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Wendy, have you ever experienced a sliding stop?? Rambo used to do them all the time as a 2 year old but I discouraged him from it since it's so hard on a young horses hocks. Now that he's older I've been asking for more sliding stops. And my goodness! When he gives me that perfectly executed sliding stop, I tell you it's cloud nine! For me, it's the creme de la creme of all things atop a horse

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I had to look "sliding stop" up because I ride English.

I can see how those can be hard on a young horse's hocks, but boy it looks like SO much fun.

For those who don't know what we're talking about...here is a video.

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ulf1xQJsgVA]Sliding Stops on a Reining Horse - YouTube[/ame]

Wendy, thanks So much for posting the video! Stops like that feel incredible! You NEVER feel like you're going to go flying over the horses head; the horse sits down on his hindquarters and you just sink down into the saddle while you come to a very smooth and graceful quick stop. Amazing!!!

http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=7wLikusmCEA&desktop_uri=/watch?v=7wLikusmCEA

Here is another truly amazing video of a horse and rider. Stacy Westfall, renowned horsewoman and professional trainer riding her gem of a horse bareback AND bridleless. They perform reining maneuvers freestyle. This kind of relationship and horsemanship is what I strive for. It won't post the video directly for me but there's the link

Copperarabian, I've tried copying and pasting with both the link and the mountain thingy and neither one pulls up the pic. It just shows a link..??