Monday, November 30, 2009

Cami (aka Shesa Peppy Cami)


This is Cami...most often called Cami-do. Cuz, Cami do everything, and is very pleasant about it. She is my catch all, put pretty much anyone on. Probably one of the smartest if not the smartest horse I've ever owned.

I bought Cami on a mad. I was ticked off. I had just sold my 3rd, training 4th level gelding...because I just had to have the Hann mare. Well, that isn't the only reason I sold him. I sold him because he had broken a coffin bone a few years before, and everytime he fell on the forehand, tripped, seemed uneven I'd panic and think I'd broken him again. So, I didn't use him much, and sure didn't use him like he should have been used. I sold him to a woman as a trail horse...and have regretted it ever since. Have even tried to get him back...no go, no dice. My farrier laughed at me, and said, "You are never getting that horse back. She loves him. I keep expecting him to turn up on Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous." Yeah, Strider has it pretty cushy, with a lady that adores him. It would probably be culture shock to come home.

Well, I was supposed to get this Hann mare, five years old. I told a woman that was going down to this farm if the mare really looked suitable, just to pick her up. I already had a deal with the breeder. Well, the woman picked her up, and when I asked...her price had gone from $5000 to $7,500. The woman bought her. That hauling charge was a just a tad too steep for me. In retrospect, I'm really glad I didn't end up with the mare. Her gaits weren't very good, and she was a worrier.

So, me in a tizzy fit I start searching the horse classifieds. Am I looking for another WB dressage horse? Oh hell no. I decide I'm so bent, I'm over that and those people...screw them. I'm looking at cutters and reiners...going back to my roots so to speak. I find a yearling Camiseta Badger daughter over in Red Bluff...$5000, and chestnut. Allrighty, I like red horses. Well, I watch it for a few days, call the folks...they're willing to sell her for $3500. Sounds good to me...so I make the 3-4 hour drive over to Red Bluff.

I get to these folks' place. Very nice people. Cami is not quite what I was expecting...being a Camiseta Badger x Robs Prescription bred mare. She was kind of scrubby. Her front legs came out the same hole. She's a long yearling, and nobody has ever done anything with her. Oh...PERFECT.

So, me being the diplomat I am...and irritated I say, "There is no way I could see giving you more than $1500 for this filly." The woman should have told me to take my rude butt off her place, she would have been quite justified. It wasn't Cami's or the woman's fault I didn't get the Hann mare (blessing in disguise). The woman says, "Well, okay I think my dad will go for that, but I don't think he'd go any lower." In my little pea brain I'm thinking, 'Well crap, I just bought this dink. Now what am I going to do.'

Cami loaded well, even though she'd only been in a trailer once as a suckling or weanling. I hauled her home to Humboldt in a driving rainstorm. She rode like a trooper. I get her home late in the afternoon. She comes out of the trailer calmly and just looks around. I put her in a pen. She'd spook a bit...but she'd stand still, and drop her head and look. Hmmmm...at least she's thinking.

I didn't start Cami until she was four. She just looked too babyish until then. Her teeth say she is a year younger than her papers say. I'd be really questioning who she is, except that she's DNA'd.

I started giving sporadic lessons on her when she had about 60 days on her. Cami is the bomb. The first time I took her over to Elaine's after I started her Cami was quite the hit with Elaine. After working with her, Elaine reaches over, rubs on her gives her a pat and says, "You're just the little Einstein of the horse world aren't you." Elaine loves Cami...even if she can't move her way out of a paper bag.

19 comments:

CharlesCityCat said...

Gotta love a mare with a great head on her shoulders. Sounds to me like you got a steal on her.

BTW, how many horses do you actually have? I have lost count, but then I am easily confoozled,

CharlesCityCat said...

TEEHEEHEE!

FIRST!!!

GoLightly said...

What a story!

What a mare!
Look at the width betwixt her eyes.
wow.
Genius.

depends on the paper bag, doesn't it?
;)

Sherry Sikstrom said...

Sometimes smart outranks everything else . She looks like a sweetie

horspoor said...

CCC, I've got six. Top and Maisa are the boys. Cat, Divi, Iris and Cami are the girls.

Story, her mind is worth a mint. I know a woman with a very pricey horse. Far more money than my little Cami cost. She was hinting around about trading. Uh...HELL NO! Her horse isn't very pleasant, and has issues. No thanks...I'll keep my little short fat red mare.

The older I get the more I value these nice horses. It only took 40some years for me to understand, 'pretty is as pretty does.' lol

At 25 I would probably have traded...brilliant huh? You know, had to have the tough horse, the one that was difficult etc... I guess I thought I had something to prove back then. Really really over that now. lol

Not saying that I don't still like a horse with a little sting, mind you.

Okay GL...you gotta point. Her movement isn't horrid. It probably isn't fair that she is pastured with Maisa.

And yes FV Cami is a sweety...but don't be unfair and don't laugh at her. There are consequences. I'll post about that another time.

Sherry Sikstrom said...

Sounds like Sunshine , not the prettiest mare in the world , but if you played it straight she would give you all she had and then some. Hired man rode her once , spured and whoa(you know the type ) so she bucked , second time he spured she bucked again ,I was headed over before it got really western (kinda had my money on Shiner)He hooked her again and she snapped her head back and smacked him in the nose . When the blood dried , he apologised and she climed a mountain for him . Became his favorite horse he always said "she don't like horses ,and I don't like people" Course I also took him aside and had a "come to Jesus" meeting with him ,If I ever saw him handle a horse of mine or any other that way in my presense I would make sure the bleeding wouldn't stop!

nccatnip said...

Well, hell we just found a trailer mate for Top on his trip to NC.

My Dog, she is beautiful. I love a fat, red mare.

CharlesCityCat said...

Thanks for the clarification HP on who are actually yours. You and BH talk about many horses, so I lost track.

Cami sure looks, ah, um, well fed. Kinda like Fern's Apps.

horspoor said...

Hmmm...you think she looks fat? Let me see if I can find another picture of her. I have a tendency to get her a tad heavy. She's flatter muscled, and light boned...so I keep throwing food at her. Then I'll really look at her and see she has fat pads over the dock of her tail, and behind her shoulders.

No matter how much I feed her, she'll not be built like Cat or Iris or Divi. lol

horspoor said...

Okay, so maybe she is a tad tubby. Pretty grubby winter pic, huh?

Cut-N-Jump said...

HP- so that's the one by the full brother to the sire of our two? Does that make sense?

Our pali filly is already as tall as momma and going to be four with the new year. The colt- just as tanky as momma, but refined as was hoped for. Moves like nobody's business.

Things happen for a reason. Apparently you were not meant to have the Hann mare for a reason and it all worked out for the better. Sometimes that's just how it is meant to be. Who are we to question it?

horspoor said...

Camiseta Badger was a Peppy San Badger son, out of a mare named Camiseta who was by Otoe Chico.

Is that same sire and dam as your horses sire?

I really like her. I should get some decent pictures of her. She really isn't as sad looking as she in the pics. lol

horspoor said...

I think Cami is just about 15.2h. I have no clue where the height came from. Now her grandsire on the bottom was Robs Prescription...who was by Docs Prescription out of a Hobby Horse mare. Was Hobby Horse taller?

kestrel said...

Seems that most breed descriptions have a standard for brains...which are immediately ignored by too many breeders. Cami is the epitome of QH's that I grew up on. I have no idea where some of the modern ones came from! A smart kind horse is priceless.

Cut-N-Jump said...

Camiseta Badger- 1990 version.

Little Camiseta was the 1992 version.

Full brothers.

Not sure of the height on ours yet. Have to measure them someday. But good minds tend to run in their family.

horspoor said...

Oh very cool Cut. I'm pretty pleased with the brain on mine.

We just has good taste. lol

blueheron said...

I adore Cami. She could have come to Idaho with me, no problem. lol.
What amazes me about her is how she'll get used for a while, make good progress, then she gets put to pasture for a while, and when you bring her back in, it's like she's been mulling it all over in her mind. She's dang smart. And very personable.
Just don't laugh at her, especially if she's doing her "best" to be a "bad" horse. LOL.

horspoor said...

And don't laugh at her if she's trying really hard to do it good/big...like trotting. Hurts her feelings and she quits you.

Yes, I was the one that laughed and patted her neck when she tried bucking. She went home and thought on it for awhile. Bucked my happy ass off the next time.

kestrel said...

Oh HP, snorked coffee...! Now that is funny!