From Quarter Horse to Mountain Pleasure Horse

I had owned and raised AQH for over 34 years.

In 2000, I lost my favorite horse, a three year old AQH palomino stud, to a brain aneurism. I thought I’d never want to be around horses again. My wife had bought a Rocky Mountain Horse mare in 1989 and suggested I ride her. I finally gave in. After riding her, I knew that if I got another horse, it would have to be gaited. I have a bad back and legs-a result of war injuries. It got to the point where I couldn’t be in a saddle for more than three hours at a time with a trotting horse because it was so painful. The gaited horse was therapeutic for me and I found that I could be in the saddle for hours with no pain.

Our search took almost six months. We got leads from friends and acquaintances, from magazines and the Internet. We looked at RMH, TWH, MFT, PP, and PF. On a trip to Ohio to visit relatives, I had an appointment to stop on my way back

home to check out a horse in VA. I got a call from my wife on the cell phone. “You may want to wait to see that horse. I think I found one for you on the

Internet. She is in KY and she’s a Mountain Pleasure Horse.” We had never heard of this breed, so we were intrigued. On our way to the RMHA International Show, we stopped to see her.“Goldie” followed me around like a puppy dog. She let me pick up all of her feet though she had never had her feet picked up before. There was an immediate connection. Within 30 minutes she was mine. My wife’s philosophy is that animals choose us; not the other way around. I think she’s got something there. She also says that she’s sure glad this blonde doesn’t have two legs, ‘cause she’d be in big trouble if she did.

With our vet’s approval, I began training her at 14 months and had her under saddle at 18 months. Out of all the many horses I have owned and trained, she, by far, has been the easiest horse for me to train. She is highly intelligent, retains everything she has learned, intuitive, and loves to please. I have taught her to Rumba, bow, and open and close gates. She can sidestep from here

to China. She follows verbal commands. I suppose I could hire her out as a masseuse and make some money, as she gives the best back massages. I can’t claim credit for teaching her to do that, though. One day I bent over to check her feet and told her to be good as my back hurt. Next thing I knew, she was massaging my spine with her lips. She’s the first to stick her head over her stall door to kiss me in the morning and the first one to kiss me in the evening when I put her up for the night. She’s quite the prankster, too. She’ll go at great lengths to get my attention, like holding her leg up pretending it’s

caught in the fence (which isn’t possible-we’ve got wood and no climb fence) and whinnying for me to “rescue” her. She’ll do that three times and then figures she’s aggravated me enough and stops. I’ve taken her with me while I do chores around the property and she’ll stay by my side like one of our dogs. My young relatives and the kids in the neighborhood all love Goldie. She’s the one they

want to see and ride. They’ll crawl underneath her belly, grab her tail, hang on her neck, and she’ll stand as still as a statue. She will not move with one of them on her back unless I tell her it’s OK and then she’ll move like she’s on eggshells.

 I show Goldie, but to be honest, I think going around in circles bores her. I can feel her heart really isn’t in it. She loves hitting the trails and gets excited and impatient when she knows we’re going somewhere. We are fortunate to have riding trails among the hundreds of acres of farmland all around us where we live. Another favorite place for us to trail ride is the Moss Foundation in Southern Pines, NC, which has over 3000 acres of trails.

We have five horses, four of which are registered RMH/KMSH. All have that “in your pocket” personality the Mountain Horse is known for. They are naturally curious, sensitive, and people-loving. My Mountain Pleasure Horse, “Goldie,” however, exemplifies the best of the best of the Mountain Horse breeds.

 - By Jim Kelly

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