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Kali is a very special mare, with a very special story.
Over a year ago friend of a friend asked me about PMUs. She was fairly new to
horses, but wanted to help a horse in need. After looking at several websites she
decided on Coleen, a three year old Clydesdale mare in Canada that was halter
broke, from the same farm I got Lady from.
A few weeks later I heard that things were not going so well. Upon arrival she
kicked the hauler and got away from them, running free on their 40 acres dragging
the lead rope behind her. The lady went out a couple days later to take the rope
off, but Coleen spooked and the next thing she knew she was in the hospital. She
healed and decided to let one of her friends try to take the halter off, she spooked
again, the lady didn't let go and Cloeen drug the lady a bit, breaking the lady's leg.
By this point the owners were frustrated to say the least, and honestly afraid of
her, but they decided to give her a shot with a local trainer. Things did not go so
well, she did not react well at all to the round penning and would barely look at the
person, let alone turn to face them. She got so worked up she tried to jump out of
the round pen. She was labeled "dangerous" and it was recommended she be put
down, or at the very least sold to a more experienced person. They contacted me
to see if I had any ideas on who may want her before having to put her down. I
went over two times to meet and watch her. She was wide-eyed and scared, in my
opinion, not dangerous. So, I decided to try her on a temporary basis.
I brought her home and my guys didn't seem to mind her at all, so I turned her out
with them. She quickly got into the routine of coming in to eat at night and being
out on pasture during the day, and got used to me gong out and getting
surrounded by them all to love on them. Within a few days she was calm enough I
took her halter off. She was still shy and jumpy. I decided not to push her too fast,
besides I had the load of 20some RMFR PMU foals at my house to take up my time.
I wanted to re-name her, and Bryan thought Kali would fit her and still had a similar
sound (Kali is the Hindu goddess of death and destruction). He thought it was
fitting to her reputation, but not to her attitude, and he wanted me and her to
prove everyone wrong.
When I decided to buy her I got her transportation papers and learned that when
she entered Nebraska she had a 4 day old filly at her side, there was no filly when
she arrived in Colorado. A nice bit on information, I think I would be terrified and
kick at people and not trust people if I lost a baby somewhere in transit. Her
actions and attitude began to make more sense.
When I decided to enter Clay Harper's Apprenticeship Program it was an easy
decision to use her to go through the program with me~I figured we could both
benefit from it; I knew I would learn a lot from her and hoped that with Clay's help
we could turn her into a happy, useful horse.
The end of January I ran her into the trailer and headed to Salida, hoping I was
making a good decision to use her. When I got there both Clay and Sandy were
concerned, Kali was once again wide-eyed and terrified. She was jumpy and
nervous, and everyone wondered how well she would respond to the training. We
gave her a day to settle in, then Clay did her first round pen session, being very
careful no to push her too far. His baby steps proved effective, and at the end of
his session he had a much calmer horse than he started with, which is always the
goal. She did have major head shy issues and was terrified of ropes and strange
people, especially men. But by the end of our first two week session we were
ground driving her all over, could throw a rope around and onto her, play with her
ears, lead her all over, and even had a saddle on her back~it was wonderful!
She and I made a trip back to Salida in between sessions, at which point I rode
her! We continued to work on things at home in between all the bad weather, and
we were both ready for our second session. The second session was even more
successful and exciting than the first. The first week we sent a lot of time on
ground work and trailer loading (she still harbored some ill feelings towards the
trailer). The second week was in the saddle. She was so calm and responsive
that each apprentice took a turn riding her and we even let one of Sandy's
students rider her. The girl is 11 and probably weighs 50 lbs. She is a twin and
was delivered premature, so is quite small. She was thrilled to be riding a
Clydesdale. I stayed right by her side during the ride, but Kali did great!
Our third session was by far the most exciting so far!! Kali has such a wonderful
disposition and really wants to work with me and please me. She took right to side
passing, pivots and backing through an L. She had some trouble at the lope,
especially on the left lead and we found out she had dislocated a rib on her left
side. A visit from Dr Dave got her all foxed up and ready to run! We have begun
teaching the bow and lay down (not an easy task with such a big girl ;o) but she is
taking it all with her wonderful attitude and is trying so hard to understand what I
want! We also went on a few trail rides, which included waling along the highway
and crossing a bridge over the river. She took all the excitement in stride and
really seemed to enjoy seeing the sights! I continue to be amazed by this
"dangerous horse" I cannot help but think how lucky we are to have found each
other!!
Please check back for updates as the continues to progress!!
Over a year ago friend of a friend asked me about PMUs. She was fairly new to
horses, but wanted to help a horse in need. After looking at several websites she
decided on Coleen, a three year old Clydesdale mare in Canada that was halter
broke, from the same farm I got Lady from.
A few weeks later I heard that things were not going so well. Upon arrival she
kicked the hauler and got away from them, running free on their 40 acres dragging
the lead rope behind her. The lady went out a couple days later to take the rope
off, but Coleen spooked and the next thing she knew she was in the hospital. She
healed and decided to let one of her friends try to take the halter off, she spooked
again, the lady didn't let go and Cloeen drug the lady a bit, breaking the lady's leg.
By this point the owners were frustrated to say the least, and honestly afraid of
her, but they decided to give her a shot with a local trainer. Things did not go so
well, she did not react well at all to the round penning and would barely look at the
person, let alone turn to face them. She got so worked up she tried to jump out of
the round pen. She was labeled "dangerous" and it was recommended she be put
down, or at the very least sold to a more experienced person. They contacted me
to see if I had any ideas on who may want her before having to put her down. I
went over two times to meet and watch her. She was wide-eyed and scared, in my
opinion, not dangerous. So, I decided to try her on a temporary basis.
I brought her home and my guys didn't seem to mind her at all, so I turned her out
with them. She quickly got into the routine of coming in to eat at night and being
out on pasture during the day, and got used to me gong out and getting
surrounded by them all to love on them. Within a few days she was calm enough I
took her halter off. She was still shy and jumpy. I decided not to push her too fast,
besides I had the load of 20some RMFR PMU foals at my house to take up my time.
I wanted to re-name her, and Bryan thought Kali would fit her and still had a similar
sound (Kali is the Hindu goddess of death and destruction). He thought it was
fitting to her reputation, but not to her attitude, and he wanted me and her to
prove everyone wrong.
When I decided to buy her I got her transportation papers and learned that when
she entered Nebraska she had a 4 day old filly at her side, there was no filly when
she arrived in Colorado. A nice bit on information, I think I would be terrified and
kick at people and not trust people if I lost a baby somewhere in transit. Her
actions and attitude began to make more sense.
When I decided to enter Clay Harper's Apprenticeship Program it was an easy
decision to use her to go through the program with me~I figured we could both
benefit from it; I knew I would learn a lot from her and hoped that with Clay's help
we could turn her into a happy, useful horse.
The end of January I ran her into the trailer and headed to Salida, hoping I was
making a good decision to use her. When I got there both Clay and Sandy were
concerned, Kali was once again wide-eyed and terrified. She was jumpy and
nervous, and everyone wondered how well she would respond to the training. We
gave her a day to settle in, then Clay did her first round pen session, being very
careful no to push her too far. His baby steps proved effective, and at the end of
his session he had a much calmer horse than he started with, which is always the
goal. She did have major head shy issues and was terrified of ropes and strange
people, especially men. But by the end of our first two week session we were
ground driving her all over, could throw a rope around and onto her, play with her
ears, lead her all over, and even had a saddle on her back~it was wonderful!
She and I made a trip back to Salida in between sessions, at which point I rode
her! We continued to work on things at home in between all the bad weather, and
we were both ready for our second session. The second session was even more
successful and exciting than the first. The first week we sent a lot of time on
ground work and trailer loading (she still harbored some ill feelings towards the
trailer). The second week was in the saddle. She was so calm and responsive
that each apprentice took a turn riding her and we even let one of Sandy's
students rider her. The girl is 11 and probably weighs 50 lbs. She is a twin and
was delivered premature, so is quite small. She was thrilled to be riding a
Clydesdale. I stayed right by her side during the ride, but Kali did great!
Our third session was by far the most exciting so far!! Kali has such a wonderful
disposition and really wants to work with me and please me. She took right to side
passing, pivots and backing through an L. She had some trouble at the lope,
especially on the left lead and we found out she had dislocated a rib on her left
side. A visit from Dr Dave got her all foxed up and ready to run! We have begun
teaching the bow and lay down (not an easy task with such a big girl ;o) but she is
taking it all with her wonderful attitude and is trying so hard to understand what I
want! We also went on a few trail rides, which included waling along the highway
and crossing a bridge over the river. She took all the excitement in stride and
really seemed to enjoy seeing the sights! I continue to be amazed by this
"dangerous horse" I cannot help but think how lucky we are to have found each
other!!
Please check back for updates as the continues to progress!!
| Kali January 2005, doesn't she have a sweet face?? |
Achilles, Vel and Zeus stand guard
while Kitana and Kali take a nap...
while Kitana and Kali take a nap...
Riding Kali, May 2, 2005. It was
cool and windy, but she did great!!
cool and windy, but she did great!!
Conner's Drafts and Mules, LLC
Bryan, Michelle and Zachary Conner
719-651-3662
Bryan, Michelle and Zachary Conner
719-651-3662