Our Herd
T-BONE
1996-2024 Rest in peace, sweet T-Bone! We will miss you always!
Meet the horse who started it all: T-BONE TEJON, (tejon is Spanish for badger). This1996 offspring of Peppy San Badger. In his younger days T-Bone was a barrel and pole bending horse. He has been part of our family since 2017, and is the quintessential family horse. He is loved by all who meet him, and has taught lots of kids the ropes. We are honored to know his former owners, including his breeder and his former "kid" who is now an adult.
His breeder bought him back eventually, and brought him home to California. She was unable to use him as she intended, so she listed him for sale. My son, Evan, had previously taken English riding lessons, and decided he didn't enjoy it. When Evan started taking western lessons on T-Bone, the breeder saw the way T-Bone took special care of him. Evan has Autism, and T was incredibly intuitive and gentle with him. He is more than a horse to us, as he changed the trajectory of Evan's life.
It is my privilege to take care of T-Bone for the rest of his life, as he has taken such good care of my children.
PAGE ME TOO
Now enjoying his backyard retirement, PAGE ME TOO, AKA Zeus, is the 2000 born offspring of Page Me First and She Robbed Me Blind. He makes me laugh regularly as he likes to pretend he is big and mean. He is big and beautiful... but he's not mean despite his pinned ears. He is the protector of his herd and his rider, and I've watched while he paced back and forth between one of his herd mates and a horse he saw as a potential threat. He worked very hard to contain his companions and keep them safe.
He came to us in 2019, and was previously a teenage girl's gymkhana horse. He has the smoothest canter and gallop I've seen. Zeus was retired from gaming and I bought him to ride trails with Evan. He truly did not care for me. In fact, after our second outing, he refused to get back into the trailer for a couple of months. He finally did - just in time, as we relocated out of state. By the time he was delivered by the transport company he was so excited to see someone he knew that he decided I wasn't so bad after all.
Zeus is truly a pocket pony, but he doesn't want you to know that, as he is far too cool. He thinks he's fooling me when he sneaks up behind me and follows me. If I stand still long enough he will sniff my hair - just like Joe Biden.
When Evan graduated from T-Bone, he partnered with Zeus for Western Dressage and he worked with clients in our therapy program. These days Zeus is solely a therapy horse, and is no longer ridden. At 25, he has earned a cushy life.
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CALYPSO
Calypso joined our family in December of 2024. We had a rough year, losing Tbone and a draft horse, and we searched for a tender-hearted "old soul" to add to the herd for therapy and trails. We came across Calypso, a gaited Gypsy Vanner cross. Calypso has a heart of gold and not a mean bone in her body, but she is a little stand-offish in the herd. She isn't interested in hanging with the geldings, so she does her own thing, and they all seem happy that way.
While she does take a minute to warm up to a new person or situation, she is a squish, and I'm very happy to get to know her better as we work and play for years to come!
BUCK
You know the adage about NOT naming a horse after a behavior you don't want to see from them? My mother will tell you I don't listen, and she's not wrong. Also, I like to live dangerously. So our newest horse is a gelding named Buck. He is a sorrel guy who is a grade quarterhorse. He was bred by the 7 Bar W Ranch in Montana to work cattle. He wasn't up to that challenge, so is our new trail horse. Buck gets sore in his stifel when he plays hard, so he lives a life of leisure. He's absolutely perfect for our family... built like a tank, and happy having a part-time job. Buck and I haven't had many adventures yet because we have had a ton of rain this year... AND summer. I am not a fan of summer. Summer is hot and sucky. I don't work, and neither do my horses. But we're taking him to the reservoir tomorrow and will hopefully get more photos!
