Susan Harris' Horse Picture Gallery

 

I've been lucky to have owned, ridden and learned from so many wonderful horses in my lifetime. All our horses are our teachers; here you can meet some of my favorites, past & present.

(Click on the image to see a larger view)

Masquerade (MAX)

 

My horse, Masquerade  ("Max"), is a Clydesdale / Paint cross gelding, 11 years old, 15:3 hands, 1450 lbs of fun/ With his bald face, white markings and  blue eyes,  you can find him in the dark! He's foxhunted, done some training level dressage, shown over fences  and taught lessons, and also goes western and trail riding. Max is really enjoying clicker training; he's working on his horse laugh and bow and will shake hands very politely.  He also pets cats with his nose! Max is a good traveler; he's been to Peggy Brown's farm in Toledo, Ohio and to Vermont. He'll go anywhere as long as the food is good! I'm looking forward to doing  just about everything with him. 

 

Popov

         

 

Popov, a  Hannoverian / Selle Francais wamblood gelding imported from Belgium, was my horse for 5 years. Popov was an escape artist with the heart & mind of a black Labrador (he loves dog biscuits). At 18 hands, the first thing he had to learn was to stand next to all kinds of things for me to get on, or else go down on his knees like an elephant!) We did dressage and trail riding together, &  I learned he understood "Germ-ish" voice commands including, "Achtung!" "Brav," "Nein, dumkopf!" and "Ow, get offen my foot!".  We traveled to Vermont, Ohio, South Carolina, and even rode  the Gettysburg battlefield; pretty good for an imported warmblood who'd never been ridden outside a ring when I first got him. Popov was kind and careful; I really didn't want to hit the ground from 18 hands up, & he refrained from dumping me when he could have done it so easily!  However, Popov didn't really want to be a field hunter, so I sold him to a really nice guy who is 6'9" (he trains Labs, too!); they're enjoying eventing together. 

 

Watercolors       

Colors & me	Appaloosa smooch!

 

Watercolors, my late, great Appaloosa, was the love of my life --that once in a lifetime horse who was more than a horse. I found Colors as a gawky 4 year old; he was hollow backed & ewe necked, and it took a lot of remedial dressage to get him round, in balance and correctly muscled. I bought Colors as a 4 year old the year I discovered Centered Riding, so he became my partner in learning to ride with awareness, and a regular at Centered Riding gatherings. Together Colors and I did Centered Riding,  rode in clinics,  showed in hunters and dressage,  rode the trails,  did some western riding, hunter paces & foxhunted, enjoying his wonderful rolling gallop and bold powerful jump. Colors enjoyed showing off without a bridle (talk about being centered!); he even did his first flying changes bridleless. With a typically droll Appaloosa sense of humor, he loved being the center of attention & would smile, bow, shake hands, give hugs & wet kisses, & mug for the camera. He was the kindest horse I've ever known, with his easy way of going, tolerance and responsiveness, he helped nervous riders regain their confidence.  Most of all, he put his heart in my hands.    

  

Colors takes a bow	Schooling over fences
Flying changes, bridle-less!	Shoulder-in

                                 

 

Summer Song           

Summer Song's pretty head	Showing in Green Working Hunters, Syracuse Coliseum, 1972
Attagirl, first place!	The grand old lady at age 39

                            

Summer Song was my grand old Thoroughbred mare,  pictured at left in her show days, and at right just before she passed away at age 39. I had her from right after I got out of college until 1998; she was a large part of my life & put up with a lot of learning on my part. Summer competed up to A level shows in hunters, jumpers, eventing,  dressage and even western, took my sister through State 4-H competition,  trail rode and  foxhunted, and taught many people to ride. She had a huge jump and that wonderful, generous  Thoroughbred heart and courage. Summer was also a  therapeutic riding horse, broodmare, and most of all, a wonderful teacher with a great heart. She lived to be 39, sound and healthy (if she were human, she'd have been 120 & Willard Scott would have celebrated her birthday on TV!)  My sister Robin's Summer Song Farm in Jacksonville, FL is named for her, a fitting tribute to a great lady. 

 

Colonel

 

 

Colonel was a TB / Clydesdale cross gelding, who evented through Preliminary, and one of the best field hunters I've ever ridden.  Colonel  always knew where the hounds were, he could gallop on and fly his fences up front, or baby-sit hill-toppers in the back of the field, but don't EVER try to tell him where to take off at a fence! Colonel could be a strong ride with a big, bold trot and no fence ever daunted him, but he had a goat phobia -- the sight or sound of a goat could reduce him to a quivering mass of jelly!

 

 

Fly-By-Night

 

Fly-By-Night, showing classic form over fences at the Syracuse PHA show and over an outside course.		Showing off his natural passage in the pasture

Fly-By-Night was a Thoroughbred / Standardbred cross,  the best jumper I've ever had, with a heart as big as his jump. He jumped with a classic bascule and could put you right at any fence. Flyboy  was a wonderful schoolmaster who competed successfully in hunters,jumpers, eventing, Third Level dressage,  but  in his heart he knew he was born to foxhunt. If they would only parade hounds down the center line of the dressage arena, he would have made it to Grand Prix dressage! Known as "the big black Cadillac" because of his smooth,powerful jumping and impeccable manners, he introduced many riders to the sport of foxhunting. My sister Robin showed him at the Syracuse Coliseum, and we later sent in their photo to the George Morris jumping column in Practical Horseman magazine. At right, Flyboy is showing off his natural passage as he plans to roll in the pond (he was 28 at the time). Flyboy lived to 33years of age and is buried in the Genesee Valley Hunt country. I wouldn't be surprised if he still leads the hunt field, in spirit anyway!

Depth Sun                                             Showing in a Jumper class, New York State Fair Coliseum. Sunny & me with Linda Sweeney & Copper Sky, winning the Hunter Pairs class at LCH Hunter Trials Depth Sun was a palomino Quarter Horse hunter/jumper I rode in the 1970's. He won the Quarter Horse Working Hunter class at the NY State Fair3 times,  also Open Jumper classes, & the Master’s Cup for best field hunter at  Limestone Creek Hunt's Hunter Trials. Sunny would hunt on the buckle in a rubber snaffle; he was also a kind and easy-going lesson horse, a joy to foxhunt, and a pretty fair reiner. No Kidding (Kid)

;
Kid attends a Halloween party as Superhorse	No Kidding, a great teacher

 

No Kidding was a remarkable horse. He came to 5-H Acres as a rescue case (150 lbs underweight and infested with lice) and went on to become a wonderful schoolmaster and teacher. Because he'd been abused, Kid had developed a self-protective "hard shell" and learned to tune out ordinary leg aids. Kid was lazy enough to make strong men cry! If a rider leaned forward,  kicked him in the ribs, hit him with the reins or otherwise offended him, Kid would humiliate them by "babysitting" them at a slow, sticky walk. But when you sat up properly & rode with your seat, Kid could canter from a halt, do flying changes or shoulder-in with precision, or carry you over big fences, & save you from falling off. Kid carried everyone from beginners to college riders in lessons; his specialty was giving nervous riders confidence and teaching them how to have fun on horseback. Kid also competed in hunters, western, eventing, and foxhunted with the best,  served as a therapy mount, taught troubled children to laugh and be patient, and did tricks for potato chips. (He's pictured above showing off his Superhorse costume, in the riders' lounge!) Most of all, he taught people to ride and teachers to teach. Kid lived to be 41 years old- - maybe he conserved so much energy during what should have been his working years that he lasted forever!                       

 

Sabre

 

Wildcat's Golden Sabre  was my 4-H project, a registered Palomino gelding and the first colt I ever trained. I got him as an unbroken  2 year old; luckily he had the mind of a kind, steady & sensible 20 year old! I got most of my training ideas from books; when I'd stop in the middle of training to look something up, Sabre would read over my shoulder to make sure I was doing it right. My sister, Robin, rode him all over town with me when both she and Sabre were only 2 years old; maybe that's why she grew up to be an instructor and trainer! Sabre won 2 classes at the 4-H Horse Show at the County Fair when he'd only been under saddle a couple of months and we went on the the NY State Fair Horse Show. Though only 14:3 hands, he could jump 4' from a trot! 

 

Latigo

 

 

Latigo was my 4-H horse after I outgrew Tony the Pony, a kind and honest, if somewhat poky pinto mare. I rode her all over and tried everything from jumping to barrel racing on her, all in slow motion! 

 

Tony the Pony

Tony jumping (Robin is 4 years old)	Tony with the cutter; too much snow to go to school!
Tony in the lake	Tony & all the cousins at a family picnic

    

Tony the Pony was the pony from hell, but I loved him anyway! A coal black Shetland survivor of the pony rides, he was shared by 12 cousins. Tony thinned out the horse lovers in the family --if you still loved horses after learning to ride on Tony the Pony, you really  love horses! Tony did everything from 4-H horse shows, parades,  trail rides, jumping,  bareback, pulling a cart and sleigh rides, to Halloween trick or treating  and midnight escapes onto the golf course. He went to family picnics, ate watermelon, popcorn and potato salad, and was sometimes hidden in the house during games of hide & seek (sorry, Mom!). Once when we tried to make him give pony rides at a church fair, Tony laid down & refused to get up all afternoon, but he could be really fast when he was headed for  home or you were trying to catch him. Tough as he was, I wouldn't trade anything for all I learned and all the fun we had growing up with Tony the Pony!                                                          

 

 

Willy

Willy, my first horse, was the one who started it all for me.  I was only 4 years old when I got him back in 1950, and riding or just being around my horse was pure heaven.   I still feel the same way about horses!