Vintage RB

[Michelle Clarke]

Have been scanning in old pictures and thought I would share...fun to look back and remember!

Charro:



Charro and Eric..first/second ride. Charro had stitches under his jaw and could not wear the halter normally, so he got started under saddle with it just around his neck.







Madonnas' first foal, Ora...



Ora taking a swim in the river as a three year old:



Madonna and her second foal, Rev:



Madonna and Desi as a foal:



Chilli:



Chillis' first foal, Loba as a yearling:



Chilli and her second foal, Chach:



Rev as a yearling:



My first Kiger, Zorro (aka Midnight):





Zorro and I playing with cows:



My first foal I raised, Blizzard, purebred Arabian:

[sbutter]

Love it! Funny you should post pictures of Charro. We were flying home yesterday and landed in Texas for about 40 minutes. I couldn't help but think of Calista's daddy being so close Love those big expressive eyes ;D

[beauba]

Very nice photo's !
I love that first picture of Charro .

[stormyranch]

Michelle, do you still have midnight? Pretty horses, all!

[fantasykiger]

I could stare at your horses all day beautiful photos and fabulous horses. Charro is so handsome and Chilli is one hot red head. I love Madonna and all her kids ;D

[Michelle Clarke]

Thanks for all the nice comments...I sure enjoy having the horses and being able to watch them grow into fine, usable adult animals. They are a treasure I try not to take for granted.

Midnight, no...boy, was he quite the project! Six years old and mean when I got him; he especially went after men in baseball caps - open mouth right at their face. Even my husband said he would not help me with him and did not; said I was going to get killed and he wanted no part of it. Zorro (Midnight) was very introverted and it was hard to break through that shell.

I finally found a trainer from the east coast that worked with a lot of mustangs and helped me out. His biggest problem was that he would bolt as I was mounting. I would stand in the stirrup, make eye contact out of the right eye, pet his neck and rump on the right, then as soon as I would lean forward to bring my other leg over, he would bolt. I was dragged too many times to count.; either by my foot, the rein or even getting my arm caught on the saddle horn as he took off.

He used to run at me to attack when I first got him, so I made it a game and taught him to draw to me. He would do it at a full gallop and stop with his head right in my chest. I used to use him for liberty demos at some of the big horse fairs and the audience would gasp at he came at me full tilt. He was one of the best liberty trained horses ever.

That clinician helped me tons with Zorro in the riding department and he got me to a place where I could ride Zorro bridleless with a flag and even work colts off him. My only issue was every time I put my foot in that stirrup, my heart went into my throat; I never got past that. At one open house, I did a liberty demo with him, got on him bridleless with the flag, did lead changes, half passes and even spanish walk. I got off him and that was the last time I rode him.

At the time I had him, we were doing a lot of promotion and it was difficult to do much trail riding, which he greatly enjoyed. He hated arena work and up in Chicago, that is mainly what we had. I had a client that was retired and just loved trail riding. She fell in love with Zorro and they were a good match, so she bought him. He was the type of horse you could leave off for a month, get on and he was better than the last time.

She began taking him to schools and doing an awareness program for the wild horses with the kids. Zorro would go right through the front doors of the schools and into the class rooms - even once went into an elevator! Last I heard, she moved to Colorado right by the mountains so she and Zorro could have many more adventures. In the end, he has a great life and I am so happy for the both of them.

Even though it was a hard road, I learned so much from that experience, that I owe a lot of my training methods to him. He was a great teacher, that's for sure!

[sbutter]

I read the story of Midnight out loud to my family during lunch time and it actually made my mom cry. Love hearing those positive changes

[DianneC]

Rio looks so much like Charro in those early pictures! You certainly can be proud of the horses you've produced Michelle, you and Eric have been a great team.

[stlkigers]

What a cool look back at the horses Michelle.....

I think you have superb horses....I loved Madonna.......it's good to see pics of her again....she may be gone but definately NOT forgotten by alot of Kiger people....

Angela