Cob Jockey

Just before I left on a business trip, Mary came down to see Eva for the first time. She was already obsessed with her after meeting her on previous visits to Lisa's, but after handling her?

This is Mary absolutely melting when Eva struck a pose to whinny at someone getting off a trailer, and saying "She is SO. BEAUTIFUL!"

That day, we ended up starting with lunging. She had never so much as walked over a ground pole before, but it was a total non-issue.

She clearly enjoyed it, because a few minutes later I turned Connor and Eva loose in the indoor so Mary could see her canter, and unfortunately I don't have a video of this, but she voluntarily changed course in order to jump the pole again.

Connor is, well. Let's just say this free lunging session convinced me that I don't think we're going back to full herd turnout as long as Eva is here.

"GET OUT OF MY WAY, I'M A MAN!"

He was possessively herding her and biting her neck and just acting very studdish. I have seen him take possession of a mare once before in mixed turnout and run another gelding nearly off his feet, so that's on my mind too. Eva's clearly helped him find some testosterone reserves he didn't know he had, which is funny, because he was never like this with Aeres, nor with Missy, who he has successfully lived in a mixed herd with for over a year.

But back to Eva.

Watching her move, there is so much to like about this horse. Her trot, for one. It's unmistakably a Welsh Cob trot, but there's suspension, there's more shoulder freedom than most Cobs (although I always want more in this breed), and most importantly, even when her head is straight up in the air, she never uses her underneck as a security blanket the way Connor does, which should make her a lot easier to train.

But of all things, the gallop caught my eye that day.

I have never in my life looked at a Welsh Cob galloping and thought "Wow, I love that gallop," in a sport way until Eva. Welsh Cobs often look like a cartoon pony of both long hair and limbs flying inefficiently in every direction at the gallop, and the gallop doesn't undulate through the horse's entire body. It's like their legs are galloping but their bodies are just floating above the legs, at least to my eye. You can kind of see what I mean in the GIF of Connor above.

He is...not the most graceful galloper. And he didn't need to be 💗

Now, don't think I'm knocking them over this: they were not bred to gallop, they were bred to trot as big as a horse in order to pull heavy wagons quickly while eating as little as a pony, and they do that well. A sporty eventing-style gallop is not something they were ever supposed to do well. So that made it all the more incredible to see the way Eva gallops.

She is beauty, she is grace. No really, she's actually balanced.

It's efficient, it's powerful, it's graceful, it's effortless. It's ground-covering (for a 14hh pony), it's purposeful. It's something I want to ride. And combined with just having seen her boldly change direction in order to take a "jump" a few minutes earlier after we had just introduced her to that game that day, it has the wheels turning far too early in my head. IF she wants to event, she has the pieces to go pretty far. Again, for a 14hh pony.

But best of all? After all that chaos, she came to me. Politely and respectfully. "Hey person, I'm done with this, can I come love you?"

Swoon 💗