"The Cutest Pony in the World"

Angeli's draft pony, Blue, is the perfect size to pull the Die Gelbe Rose sleigh.

Round Rock, TX began the holiday season with an annual celebration, Christmas Family Night Friday, Dec. 11th in historic downtown Round Rock. A fellow carriage company, Die Gelbe Rose, provided their sleigh carriage. Angeli Carriages supplied "The Cutest Pony in the World" aka Blue, to pull Santa and his helper in it!

Here are a few more photos of our preparations, and the pony and sleigh.


After grooming, Fiona braids Blue's tail.


Fiona added rhinestones to the ribbon to make his bow really sparkle.


We snapped a few shots of Blue traveling to the festival in the Die Gelbe Rose trailer. He's not used to such an open trailer, so we wonder what he was thinking as he zipped down the highway from Austin. This is a view we've never gotten of any of our horses, as they are always behind our truck!


For those who are wondering, Blue is a Norwegian Fjord, an unusual breed here in Texas, and the only professional DRAFT PONY carriage horse in the Austin region. He looks like such a living doll in his harness, but he is built like a little tank!


Santa prepares to board his sleigh.


Elaine of Die Gelbe Rose drives Santa and his Helper in the sleigh.


Fiona couldn't resist making sparkling antlers for Blue, and putting gold glitter on his toes. Now he looks just like a reindeer, eh?

What is Dappled, Ginormous & Sweet as Summer Watermelon?

Why that'd be Elysian. He's dappled grey, 18.2 hands tall, and 2400 pounds--yes, he honestly weighs over a ton, British or American. For those who are curious, he's a registered Percheron whose been shown in single and as a team in Michigan. This is the guy we searched six months to find, and drove 2700 miles roundtrip through a snowstorm last winter to get. He is not only big and showy, but he's very handsomely built and has a sweet temperament.

THE "OMG, HE'S BIG!" FACTOR
If you aren't regularly around tall horses you don't have a frame of reference for what 18.2 hands tall is. It equals 6' 2" tall ... at the shoulders. Horse's height isn't measured to the top of their heads like people, but to their withers (top of their shoulder blades).

Horse height is measured in "hands". A hand equals 4 inches. We get quite a kick our of horse advertisements that measure a horse as "16.5 hands". This basically means take everything else the ad says with a HUGE grain of salt.

So here are a couple of pics of Elysian from last winter so you can see his height in relation to a person,




... and a closeup of his withers, the point at which he is 6' 2" tall--look right in front of the person on him, that's it.








THIS GUY IS REALLY POWERFUL

Elysian's massive size is impressive in so many ways, for instance in his powerhouse, i.e., rear end.





Maybe you'd like a better view of this remarkable mass of muscle:






















He has a very strong back, too:


HE HAS * STARBURST * DAPPLING!


And for pulling, just look at his chest and forearms. This image also shows some of his beautiful starburst dappling.











"UNDERPINNINGS" TO MATCH THE MUSCLE
Underpinnings is a nickname given to legs in the horse world. Anytime you have a horse with a great deal of mass, whether a draft or a Quarter Horse halter horse, if they are carrying a lot of weight for their size, horsemen/women always want to know if they genetically have enough leg bone or "underpinnings" to carry that weight and remain sound. Here is a pic of his back legs--if you know horses, you can see how substantial his bone is.

We wish you could feel his legs, wow-oh-wow, what strong, clean bone and joints! And we do everything we're supposed to, to keep them that way.


WHAT IS IT ABOUT MEN WITH LONG RINGLETTED HAIR???
And finally, his curls. Yep, his leg feathering curls into ringlets. We keep the fronts of his legs clipped so he looks elegant and polished for special events, but we can't bring ourselves to clip the hair that grows on the backs of his legs because it curls into ringlets!




So, to sum up, Elysian is HUGE, has starburst dappling, an almost white mane and tail to go with his pewter grey color, and has ringlets in his feathers. Yum, yum, he's a pretty boy, even when he's unbathed and at play.

Even Big Guys Need Mani-Pedis

Horses need mani-pedis just like humans. As you can imagine, the process is slightly different. Plus, even as horses go, draft horses have very big feet. Not all farriers (professionals who trim hooves and put shoes on horses) are up to the challenge of dealing with 2000 pound horses with their 7-8 inch diameter feet.


And not all farriers keep such giant "toes" as pretty as Marty Johnson, our farrier does. Horse feet are similar to human fingernails. They grow out and most should be trimmed regularly, especially when they wear shoes. Angeli's horses see Marty every six weeks to keep their hooves in tip top condition. I'm proud to showcase Marty's talented handiwork in this blog.


Our horses also wear special shoes, Smooth Walkers, that offer them better traction on all surfaces, plus cushion our horses' feet and joints. Many equine law enforcement units and others use these great shoes. An added bonus is that they leave no marks on clients' driveways like steel shoes will.


Here are some photos of the process of removing the old shoes, trimming the hooves and placing new shoes on one of our horses. It doesn't hurt, as the portion of the hoof that is trimmed or that the shoe nails go into is like the white part of your fingernail that is not living tissue.


Marty is a trained pro, so makes this look easy, but it requires anatomical and psychological horse knowledge. Skill is acquired over years and the work itself is hard on a person's back, as you can imagine.


I respect the care he puts into each horse. Marty makes sure the angles of each hoof are correct and the hoof "balanced". He proactively checks for signs of any problems, and places an emphasis on natural, healthy movement. There is an old saying, "no foot, no horse". Whether wearing shoes or barefoot, well-tended, sound feet are fundamental to a healthy, happy horse.


Here our white Percheron shows off the results of his mani-pedi.



You can reach Marty Johnson at 512-484-2586 for professional farrier and horse training services.

You may learn more about Smooth Walkers at http://www.smoothwalker.com. They make shoes to fit all sizes of horses. I encourage you to call Kepha there if you have any questions about what size you need. He was very nice in guiding us through the process, and his customer service is outstanding.

Becoming a Georgia Peach

This is my fond farewell to our sweet Thibodaux. His new owner has renamed him Austin (and you can imagine that we love that name, too. Anyway, after a year working with us, we had decided to offer him for sale. He is a great carriage horse, but we knew that a larger horse would be more comfortable on the new larger carriage we purchased.

Just before we decided to place an ad for this talented boy, we received an inquiry about another horse from a lady in Georgia. This other horse didn't seem quite right, but with every email exchange, Thibi seemed more and more suited for her as an equine companion.

Nanci drove 1000 miles to meet and spend time with him. We were taken with both her horse philosophy, and the way this sometimes shy boy responded to her. After her three day stay she knew, as we did, that Thibs, now to be Austin, was the horse for her, and she an ideal person for him.

She had already found the most incredible stable (for both humans and horses) and bought him lovely new tack in the most flattering of colors. All that remained was to transport him to her. She allowed us to be the ones to drive him to Georgia so that we all felt 100% comfortable that he would arrive in tip top shape.

I snapped a few shots of his enviable new digs the evening we arrived.

Austin was more than happy to eat his first meal in his lovely new stall.

The barn owners and other boarders were all excited to meet Austin, and he has some very handsome stall-mates. He seemed right at home immediately.

I know Austin will be absolutely spoiled with his new "human" who has an endless supply of snuggles and affection for him. He's living the life of Riley now.

Austin will have daily turnout in beautiful pastures and will make many new horsy friends.

We could not have asked for a better place for him. As we left, Austin heard the familiar sound of our truck and poked his head out of his stall window to say "goodbye". He looked curious, but not sad.

I love you little guy, and I am so happy for you. Make me proud, Sweet Boy.

These Are a Few of My Favorite Things ...

This time of year brings many of my most cherished moments. I love the music, the hot cocoa, the lights and the warm feelings of good cheer that permiate the season.

My Moma jokes that I'm part crow because of my attraction to shinny objects so you know I go all out with any opportunity to decorate. My husband and I take pride in our holiday lights display at home.

I take no less joy in illuminating the Angeli Carriages. This year was even more exciting with the Cinderella Carriage (sometimes called the pumpkin top carriage).

Its design does create some decorating challenges, but also great creative opportunities.

My inspiration was a holiday favorite, the candy cane. So I wrapped red tulle around the white carriage stays of the pumpkin top, added green garland, large red bows, and covered the whole thing with white lights.

It looks like a giant glowing orb rolling down the street and think it is quite the eye catcher.

A City Worth Seeing

So I often tell people that I never really SAW downtown Austin until I began training to drive carriages. For nearly two years, I worked at a restaurant on 6th Street where carriages frequently parked.


Having fallen in love with one of the horses, I began to train as a Coachwoman. It was during this time that I first began to SEE the city of Austin.


The first European settlers moved to the area in 1831. By the 1860's, the little metropolis had become the capital of Texas. One decade later the railroad brought on a boom in construction that is still evident today.

Many of those grand old buildings have been preserved and stand proudly amid the modern skyscrapers and contemporary condos of downtown Austin. The juxtaposition of these combined structures still intrigues me.


The attention to detail in the unique facades of the older edifices is beautiful next to the clean reflective lines of new buildings.

I also love driving the carriage down the street and knowing that in some ways things are still just as they were a hundred years ago. Austin is both bustling and romantic, a charming must see combination.

Tips from Thibs: Tip #1 - Improvise to Accessorize

Even though the distance from country Horse Home to our downtown Carriage House is short, we always provide a little hay for ride. Now most ponies think that hay nets are for eating from, but our Thibs has devised another use for his.





When we arrived downtown Saturday afternoon, we opened the trailer door to find Thibs had finished his hay. And there he was, peering calmly over at us, hay net draped jauntily over one ear. And he does look good in red!









He almost dozed off as we scrambled to get the camera to capture these shots. Note, Thibs doesn't recommend this accoutrement for all ponies!

Riding a giant

I rode Cormier for the first time. I have to say that I can’t wait to do it again! The view from that high off of the ground is exceptional. I would prefer to have a saddle for the simple reason that if he even tripped I would have a six foot drop to the ground. Should he do something slightly more exciting to remove my presence from his back side, I could only wave to him on my way to the ground. Thank goodness Cormier is a gentle giant!

He is great for cuddles too, although we have noticed that when we hug him this way in the paddock he is prone to forget that you are there and may amble on, inadvertently going over you. When you remind him that you are there he looks down at you, all sweetness and surprise, and sniffs at you again. I call him a big lug and go back to sharin’ the love.

I am special ordering a bridle and riding pad for him. Because of his enormous size, local tack shops don’t have equipment that fits him. In our first ride, he was a good boy, although we had to turn in several circles near the tack room before he realized that I really did mean to go somewhere other than backwards.

When we got out of sight of the other horses he called to them. Feeling his whole body quake from his call made me burst into laughter. He also did a pretty little prance on the way back to the barn.

So what is it like to ride the white whale? It is amazing. I’d like to do some trail riding although I'm not sure I’ll be taking Cormier on trail rides. Not unless I want to trim the trees with my head, anyway!

Rain plus Dirt plus Thibodaux equals…

So people have asked if we have to bathe the horses and if so then how long does it take? The answer to the first part of the question is yes, the horses must be bathed nearly every day they work. The second part of the question is not so simple. It takes anywhere from thirty minutes to two and a half hours. Why such a range?


Exhibit One today will be Thibodaux. The first photo shows Mr. Mud Pie happily eating dinner, but you don’t get the full effect at this distance.

Check out the close up … yes, that is hay stuck in the dried mud on his hind leg. On this day he decided that maybe pigs had something to that whole wallowing in the mud thing and quite possibly he had been born into the wrong species. There is a small run off pond in his paddock that fills during any substantial rain. When the sun comes out it begins to dry up. Thibi and his sister, Evangeline, loved it best in its muddiest phase.


Evangeline getting ready to roll in the “mud hole”.

So the cleaning process begins.

First, we pick out the feet. This removes any dirt or tiny stones that might have gotten stuck under their hooves. I will be posting a whole blog about this soon. Exciting, I know. Try to restrain your anticipation. No, I jest. It will actually be really cute.

So we start bath time with a rinse. You can see a small white spot where the spray from the hose has started?

And the water continues to work its magic.




Boy, was he dirty!

After the water comes shampoo and conditioner for his mane and tail. A full body scrub with very sudsy water paying extra attention to his legs and feathers (the long hair near the base of his legs.)

This is followed by more rinsing. Then comes the fun part. Braiding. This is where the greatest amount of your time can be spent. A simple braid in the mane and tail will take about 15- 20 minutes depending upon dexterity. More ornate braids or hair-dos can take up to an hour especially if you add in flowers or ribbons.

And then Presto! You have a beautiful, clean Thibodaux; all shiny and ready for his harness. Man, I love that “new-pony” smell. I can’t even count the number of times that people have come up to sniff our horses. It makes all the hard work worth it when you run your hands over their soft warm bodies and know the difference between the before and after. As I get them I will post more photos of our handy work on our life sized My-Little-Ponies.