Featured help with silver earring mark

Great horse trials competition there.

 

And now you finally know how to pronounce it.
Our part of the world is horse country. And Gypsy country, the two often go together.

 

I may have said this before, but BFF has a Knabstrupper, which is a Friesian horse.

 

Knabstruppers are rather nice. Often mistaken for Appaloosas as they are both spotty but Knabstruppers are more quality. My best horse was a KWPN which is a Dutch warmblood sports horse. I'll dig out a photo of him

 

Beautiful, and yes, a very close relative of the Dutch Frisian horses. Baroque horses are my favourite horses.
Dutch Frisians are now all black, but they use to have different colours, including the spotted look that is now asscoiated with Knabstruppers.

 

She's HUGE. The horse, I mean. Over 16 hands. A very outdoor girl, not one of those dainty Arabs, loves getting mucky, but a real looker. They're noted for dressage, which is what she and the BFF do.

 

Awww, c'mon - why'd you have to malign Appaloosas?!? Knabstruppers only showed up here in the US a couple of decades ago, and they appear to be fine horses, but should be noted that when reviving the Knabstrupper breed in Denmark 50 years ago, they brought in Appaloosa studs to add fresh blood.

Please forgive the defense of my favorite horse breed, but I just love them. Appaloosas are a diverse breed, due in part to their open breed registry, there might be Arabian, Thoroughbred, or Quarter Horse in their bloodlines, and they're a multipurpose horse. The horse of my heart, Eagle, was a 15.3 blood bay snowflake App, thick-necked and deep-chested, he was smart as a whip, filled with personality, could run like wind, and we competed in gymkhana; a friend had an elegant 17.2 leopard App, Hondo, who was a champion hunter jumper; another friend worked for Burt Reynolds when he was raising racing Appaloosas (they're fast, my Eagle never lost our informal races, he hated the sight of other horse's butts). They also make excellent working stock horses, requiring intelligence, skill and stamina; I had the pleasure of meeting an amazing trick horse named Chief Bear Paw several times - and then some, like my little 14.2 leopard App, Lucky Buttons, were just truly game critters. She came to me at three, abused and starving, and had already lost a foal, the Vet estimated her at about 400 pounds and offered to put her down, but she was strong of will (and appetite), so recovered, and was just always such a sweet, bright little girl...

~Cheryl

 

We probably don't get the quality of Appys in the UK as you do in the US!.

 

Eh, there are cwappy Appies ( a rhyme!) here too, just like other breeds, grade horses too for that matter, but overall, Apps are smart, good natured, hard working, easy to train horses, most are curious and funny, and enjoy human company, though they can be mischievous, and will test you if you let them.

~Cheryl