I am sure people think it strange that we place such a store on assigning reasonable names to our horses, but unless a horse has a name registered with a Breed Organization, we try to give our horses a name that is reflective of their background, breed, and personality.

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He was called “Andy” by his previous owner but since he is an Appaloosa, a breed developed by the Nez Perce Indians, we felt Lakota more reflective of his breed and appearance.

 

When he arrived at Linden in March 2029, he was 12, very thin, and all four feet were extremely overgrown, and he had “thrush” in all four. His feet were so uneven that he pivoted both hocks to the outside as he walked. Too long in this condition and he would have had permanent joint issues and early onset arthritis.

 

In addition to giving him a healthy food ration, we pulled all four shoes and began paring those hind feet every two weeks to prevent that hock pivot and swing. Within six months Dr. Kennedy was amazed at his appearance and nice straight stride!

 

Lakota had been a chuck wagon horse on a dude ranch out west. His head is a little high, typical of horses who pull in harness. He probably had some time under Western saddle as a trail horse.

 

We put him in English tack, and he was a very good boy with beginner riders. A little hard to keep on the rail until he understood that was what we wanted. We assigned him a very kind first rider, Lex Farri, who had him walking and trotting very cooperatively. The first time Lex took him over a jump, he stopped and turned his head back to look at the jump as if to say, “What in the world was that?” After a few weeks Lex was riding him over an 18-inch jump course, and we then introduced the canter, and Lakota has continued to grow and develop as a lesson horse.

 

He is a very pretty boy and if you are patient and give him several treats, he will stick out his tongue and lick his upper lip in appreciation.