Kentucky Mountain Saddle Horse News

Spotted Mountain Horse Association

Julie, a Spotted Mountain Horse, has arrived in Sweden

Until February of this year I owned two Arabian horses.  Last fall after much thinking I decided to sell both of them. It was not easy because they were both really nice horses but not quite right for me. Since I’m not young anymore – became 60 this year – I felt I wanted a calmer and less spooky horse than the Arabians.

Since my daughter has a quarter horse, I know they are calm. For a while I thought about getting a quarter.  However I´d like to continue my endurance competing - so far I’ve ridden 1400 km - and wanted a lighter horse. Therefore I started to look at different breeds. I discovered the KMSH. I really liked what I read about them; their temperament, their special gait and, of course, their beauty. I went on the Internet looking for more information about the breed and discovered that there were no Kentucky Mountain horses in Europe. Just a few fillies and I wanted a grown horse. At the KMSHA homepage I found several breeders. I started to think about the possibility of going to Kentucky to buy a horse. In the beginning of May, after being in contact with three farms, I went to Kentucky together with my daughter and an old friend.

Then we met Dave Stefanic at Classic Farm. After having tried two geldings which both were very nice Dave showed us his other horses. Suddenly my daughter noticed a horse in a pasture. It was Julie! I went into her pasture and she was so friendly and social. She still had her winter coat on but looked special anyway. Dave told us she had little training and had not been ridden for a while. However she was for sale and they could train her some more for me. He said that we should come back the next day and she would be bathed and his son, Jason would show her for us.

With beautiful movements! Her dark chocolate colored coat, long mane and four stockings white as snow. Jason showed us the most beautiful horse I’ve ever seen. I decided that Julie was the one!

Julie stayed at Classic Farm for six weeks. After almost a week traveling, she arrived to Sweden June 19th. She was tired but in good condition and she ate and drank at once. Julie is still tired and sleeps a lot so I’ve just ridden her briefly a few times. She is very nice and seems to learn easily. She is also very cuddly, likes to be brushed a lot and comes to me in the pasture. I have noticed that she, unlike the Arabians, isn’t afraid of things like garbage cans and hoses. She stands quietly while mounted. I’ve decided to take it slow with her and give her time to become acclimatized. Part of the day Julie now stays out in the pasture with our two other horses and they have already become friends.

Julie has attracted much attention in our little village and many people think she is beautiful. When a lady from a horse magazine heard about Julie she said she wanted to come and do a story about her and the KMSH/SMH.

My plans for me and Julie in the future are to compete in endurance and in Western Riding. We will do a lot of trail riding and I’m looking forward to spending many hours in the saddle. I feel that I found my dream horse at last. I’m sure that we will become good companions. That’s the most important thing for me.

 

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Submitted by:

 

Meg Gyllensten

Johannesberg, Sweden