- Skills / Disciplines
- All Around, Beginner, Draft, Dressage, English Pleasure, Foundation, Husband Safe, Kid Safe, Lesson, Natural Horsemanship Training, Playday, Ridden English, School, Show, Show Experience, Therapy, Trail, Trail Riding, Trained, Youth
Additional Comments
Calling all adult amateurs, senior riders, and kids! Meet SFR Chip Off The Old Horse of Wales, aka “Chippy” a 2012 14.3hh registered Gypsy Vanner gelding off the infamous The Old Horse bloodline sired by Rock Ranch Niall of Tara.
Overview:
Location: Northfield, MN
Going for: $15k
✔️Loads & travels perfectly!
✔️Very good for vet, chiro, farrier & body worker! Stands very nice for bathing and clipping too.... (read more)
✔️LOVES to be groomed, from hoof to mane.
✔️ Dead broke— trail, parade, & commotion safe. Safe for kids, seniors, and inexperienced riders. Couldn’t care less about deer, birds, dogs and farm machinery.
✔️VERY easy to catch.
✔️Very good for needles and eats meds with his food just fine. Even takes the dewormer nice!
➡️Polite on the ground but leads slowly, he’s pretty casual/leisurely in hand.
➡️ Not very partial to ground work, but has never had any blowups. Only behavioral vice.
Health: PPE more than welcome at new home’s expense, and I will happily turn over his entire vet record, diet plan, and every other detail I have on his whole life. He has never had an injury, he’s never even turned up sore much less lame. I’ve been extremely thorough in taking care of him.
✔️GOOD legs!
✔️NO CPL
✔️Good spine!
✔️Perfect blood panel!
✔️5.5 BCS
✔️Heart & lungs WNL
➡️ Has early, mild, dust & round bale triggered heaves. Responds to Dex as-needed and/or 20 pills BID Hydroxisine.
➡️ Has Fecal Water Syndrome— managed with GI supplements & good quality hay (again, no rounds). Ultimately no impact on his quality of life and does not require medication, just a good diet.
I will also turn over all his tack fit information so as to eliminate any guess work!
A letter from me:
First and foremost, it is with a very heavy heart that I write this. This good old boy and I have been everywhere and done it all together. It’s clear, though, that my sweet tinker is happiest being doted on as more of a pet than a performance horse. He has a special affinity for public life, especially with children and the elderly. His perfect home is with a family. He has never tried to kick or bite a person. Everyone who’s ever met him remarks on how funny, docile and sweet he is. He enjoys rough-housing with other geldings in his pasture, but he is ever so careful with people. Every time I’ve ever fallen off (my own fault EVERY time, it’s never even crossed his mind to hurt someone), he’s stopped dead in his tracks to wait for me. During a would-be rotational (again, my fault), I distinctly remember him avoiding stepping on me. From holiday parades to fooling around in strip mall parking lots on road trips to the show ring, Chippy is adept at public settings. He thrives at shows, loves to explore, and is extraordinarily adaptable, taking everything in stride. The few times he has spooked at anything, he’s recovered almost immediately. A big fan of the trail and flatwork, he’s a born lesson horse. CPL free with excellent blood work, great legs and feet, he was just scored at 5.5bcs because of a slight crest. In 5-7 days a week of work on hay, ration balancer and a few supplements…what can I say? He’s the easiest keeper if you don’t mind a little heft.
I’d recommend him for a lesson program, as a therapy horse, as a kid horse, a trail horse, or as a husband horse. I’d even ride him pregnant I’m confident he’s so safe. This horse is one of those magical few who’ll take care of you. We once sank into clay up to his chest in a creek bed like in The Never Ending Story and this sweetheart crawled right up the bank along side me.
He’s just good. Plain as day a good, wise, dead-broke soul.
Showing:
Chippy is proven through the Intro levels in dressage, is working through the training levels, and will be debuting at Level 1 in April 2025 (if I still have him) under the watchful eye of his Gran Prix medalist trainer. I’d be more than happy to share his marks. Chippy’s biggest obstacle was learning how to get off the forehand and not lean into pressure (Gypsies are bred carting horses, this was NOT an attitude thing but rather, a heritage thing). He learns fast and is very interested in connecting with his rider. Is extremely comfortable in the show ring. Showing with him is a blast.
Like I said, I see him with a family pulling a cart, befriending the kiddos, going on trail rides with the grandparents, participating in the local parades, and competing in Intro-Level 1 dressage. He’s had some schooling in baby jumping but just does not excel in it. Crossrails are better left for cross training and just for fun.
While I plan to move up the scales and into the fast-faced world of eventing, I know that this good boy will make someone so happy.
