The Team

Introducing the chief member of the Second Time Around team...... Tokaj! Tokaj is a lovely Hungarian warmblood mare who I recently purchased in Nebraska. Tokaj is 8yrs old, and such a sweet tempered horse. She was lovingly cared for and trained inthe past several years by the Berryman family in Lincoln, NE. She is a former hunter and definitely loves to jump. I thank the Berrymans for allowing me the opportunity to own such a promising and fun horse.

Tokaj and I will be working on our understanding of dressage training and principles as well as some cross country jumping. Tokaj seems to have the arena style jumping down pretty good from what I could see. I have been letting her settle in since bringing her home, but did ride her for a short time this morning. She seems to have a nice work ethic, and although there was a big spook at a cross country log that we were riding near... I am sure she is going to love to gallop and jump once she realizes what those logs are for! :)

And introducing the back up team:

The two characters above are Bailey (left) and Savannah (right). They are full sibling registered Paint horses. I jokingly say they are 1/2 triple crown winner (Spectacular Bid... yes I know he did not win all three races) and 1/2 champion reining/gaming horse (Apache Thunderbird)! With all that athletic ability, there has to be an eventer in there somewhere! ;) Bailey and Savannah were bred by my dear friends Tawni and David Limesand in Idaho. I worked in Idaho for several years and became friends with Tawni and David. They were breeding very athletic Paint horses for western sport, and found that their stallion Apache could throw a jumper as well.

Bailey is a four year old gelding. He is a pretty, fluid mover, is sensitive, and likes to jump. He has not been jumped under saddle yet. I started Bailey myself and have not been as consistent with him as I would have liked with all of the moving I have done. Bailey is working on rhythm and regularity in his paces, balance in his transitions, and becoming more straight. He is doing well and will be ready for work over cavaletti soon in anticipation of our first jump.

Savannah is a 2 year old mare. She is quiet, quiet, quiet, and a bit headstrong at times. Nothing spooks or scares her... or really gets her respect.... including me unless I really demand it. :) Growing is Savannah's main job still. She does it with a vengeance and eats a lot and often tries to eat everyone else's meals too. I look forward to some ground work and lunge training in the near future with Miss Savannah.

I have been perusing the event calendars with an eye out for Tokaj and I's debut, and there is actually a lot out there. I am excited, but know that I want to get us off on the right foot... so, before I decide to do any competing with Tokaj this Fall, I will work with her some more and make sure we have a stronger partnership and understanding of eachother.

P~