Post by enna on Jun 10, 2012 19:05:36 GMT -6
.Under The Influence.
Show Name: Under The Influence
Barn Name: Bailey
Age: 10
Gender: Gelding
Color: Buckskin
Breed: Connemara
Breed Registry: CPBS, ACPS
Height: 14.2hh
Personality: The most important thing to know about Bailey is that he is a pony through and through. While being an absolute sweetheart under saddle (for an experienced rider that is), he can be a terror on the ground. If someone he doesn't know tries to catch him he will charge them with his ears pinned. All you have to do is stand your ground and growl and he settles down, but it can be intimidating. He can be quite pushy and it isn't unusual for him to drag whoever is leading him to hay, grass, or any food buckets that are within his reach. This behavior can be controlled with a chain over his nose, but only to a point.
One of his other little quirks is that he loves to crash out in his stall. He will lie flat out, if the there are enough shavings, and it often scares people who don't know him because he looks sick or injured. Bailey loves food of any kind; apples, carrots, potato chips, pretzels, you name he loves it. Cheetos are his favorite though. You also can't leave him unattended in the cross ties because he will break them if he gets bored and go off to explore. His intelligence isn't all bad though; he learns very quickly, and he already knows a couple tricks. He can bow, kneel, smile, and retrieve objects on command. He does like to retrieve hats a little too much though, and will grab them off the heads of passersby. All in all he's a good boy, just a little quirky.
History: Bailey was born at a Connemara stud farm located in the outskirts of Dublin. From the very start it was clear that he was a jumper. Within days of his birth the little colt was easily clearing logs and ditches in his pasture, and with lovely form. The breeders were thrilled with him. They sold him as a weanling to an event rider who had national dreams for him. She let him grow out until he was three and then trained him with care, never pushing him beyond what he was ready for. His progress was rapid though, despite her caution, and he was ready to compete at entry level by the time he was five. For one amazing year Bailey wowed both the judges and the spectators at every event he competed in. Despite his diminutive stature the pony could jump.
The event rider who owned him was also competing her older horse at the upper levels, and unfortunately she suffered a fall during the cross country phase of one of her competitions. It was bad enough that she was unable to ride for six months and when she got back on after she healed she had lost her nerve for jumping. She went on to compete in dressage and was very successful, but she felt it was unfair to hold Bailey back to dressage work when he so obviously loved to jump. So she sold him to a young girl who was just starting to event.
Enna Moore and Under The Influence made quite the pair. He wasn't her only pony, he wasn't even her most successful pony, but he was obviously her favorite. The two evented for a couple years, and then took a year off to do jumpers, and at the end of the show season Enna's parents told her they were moving to the states. The girl consented to selling all of her ponies except Bailey. The pony was flown across the Atlantic to do another year of jumpers with Enna, and finally he has been shipped to Kentucky to accompany her to the academy.
Discipline: Eventing and Jumpers
Owner/Rider: Enna Moore