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WILL TELL - SOLD
6 yr old, Bright Bay 15.3 gelding   William, unlike the other horses we offer for sale, will not win a beauty contest. Standing still he looks like a ranch horse, a little funky, nothing special. Except, of course, his bright coat, his obviously kind eyes, and his excellent manners and temperament. And one may have doubts about his abilities.....until you pick up the reins and ask him to move off. And then, in the immortal and unforgettable words of my beginner/intermediate daughter when she asked him the first time to trot- "Mom, oh my gosh--he's-he's LIFTING UP!! No, he's--he's-he's UPLIFTING!" Yes, William is uplifting. If you love the feeling of talent, he puts a smile on your face the moment you step off at a trot, and a bigger one when he steps into his lovely canter. William is working at 1st Level dressage right now, with the unlikely talent for 3rd Level or 4th Level or frankly any Level you want to take him to. 
William has numerous trail miles, mountain rides, beach rides: he ties, trailers, crossties, clips, has really lovely ground manners and all that. But WHY WE LOVE WILL - and we truly do - is because he really is SPECIAL.
He can step into a ring and put warmbloods to shame with the spring in his trot, his extension, his natural ability for 'up', and his expression and articulation, even with little formal training. He has been to only one show, last summer at five. He behaved like a star, scored in the mid-sixties in the first dressage tests (Training 1 and 2) of his life (with a non-dressage rider), with 8's on gaits, and then went back to his all-around life of mountains, beaches, trails and a little ring work.  Will is uncomplicated and FUN. He is the horse you want to ride at the end of the day, when the other horses have been goons, because he will never be. He never gives you a hard time. He has no horrific ego, no need for a psychiatrist, no awful glitches that make a rider go 'Oh NO!!!, I pushed the wrong button!!! No turning back now!' William is always just his own wonderful self, as sweet as the day is long, steady in the bridle, a bit of a push to ride (he has an engine but doesn't quite know it yet), willing, and willing, and then more willing. And even if there comes a moment when there is something he REALLY doesn't want to do, like go past the awful monster wolfhounds on the way to the General Store or whatnot, he always gives you a sort of Winnie-The-Pooh feeling, even at his worst. You say to him, You really must! And he says, Oh well then, oh bother!, I guess I do, and he does.  Will was born on a Quarter Horse/Thbd breeding ranch in the high deserts of Eastern Oregon. When the ranch closed, Will, yearling-age, was purchased by an equine chiropractor, who raised him as a pet, took him for lead-walks in the mountains, played games on him and taught him his handling manners. As a two year old he he was kicked by another horse at feeding time which left a permanent dent off to one side of the bridge of his nose, one of the reasons he won't win a beauty contest. At four, one of his owner's close friends, a local trainer, saw him move and brought him home to start under saddle. WIll's exact parentage is not known (oh sorrow! Because if we knew, and could, we would take a dozen more of him.)   Will cantered his first offical cross-rail on Tuesday - and cantered his first teensy weensy course on Wednesday - an exact indication of his lovely temperament. That's William. But we do hope that he jumps (or events, or whatever he does) as an addition to his dressage training, because he does have wonderful talent, and we would love to see him make the most of it. |