Thursday, January 21, 2010

Northstar Ladybug


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"The Bug" came to me from her breeders at Northstar Appaloosas  in Minnesota and she's been a wonderful addition to my herd. Bug is not nearly as big as Topper making her a MY size horse. She is my primary riding horse at the moment and just a wonderful ride. 
The biggest problem with the Bug is her color and keeping her clean.  She roaned out quite fast from the large blanket pattern she had as a baby to a leopard pattern as an adult.


under a year above yearling year below. 





In fact she roaned so fast and lost so much color that at one point I was afraid she would go completely white and loose all the color.
two year old year




But finally she stablilized into a white with spots leopard pattern,  and the spots even got bigger again.  Owning an appaloosa is quite an adventure because they can change year to year in really strange ways.

5 year old year


The Bug is an awesome trail horse and smart as a whip.  Her gentle manner and easy going nature make her one of my favorite horses to ride. Her pedigree is majority foundation appaloosa breeding, but she's missing one line that makes her not eligible to be registered with the ApHC, but she is a registered Colorado Ranger horse. She has been in training to become my mounted shooting competition horse and doing very well. I hope to be competitive in mounted shooting events in the near future. Plus she looks really awesome in my new mounted shooting saddle. 



4 comments:

  1. They are hard to judge for color,some seem to almost become another horse entirely. She is a good looking girl!

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  2. I love her coloring!
    That is a neat saddle with such a high cantle. WHat kind is it?

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  3. Thanks FernValley

    Fantastyk, The saddle is a custom made saddle that is a reproduction type saddle from earlier years. For Mounted Shooting with SASS (Single Actions Shooters Society) We try and stay as "historically" correct as possible so I needed a saddle that fits the "period" as in late 1800's to early 1900's style.
    This saddle maker:
    http://theliterider.webs.com/
    made the saddle and he's also making Keith one right now.

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  4. She is gorgeous! And I love her leopard spots. She could be a fancy parade horse. She's so flashy!

    And I'm loving the saddle, too. I bet it is very secure. I'll have to look up that website, but I bet having one made is way out of my budget.

    Have you ever done any SASS events at the ranch up here in Edgewood? I attended one this past summer and was very impressed. We only live less than 10 minues from the SASS ranch.

    It might be cool to meet up sometime if you are planning on doing a SASS event.


    ~Lisa

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