Queen Mave

Mave is the land lords first try and breeding horses and well, his baby.  No matter what she does, he adores her.  Mave is out of an OTTB mare called Dolly and a stallion from Ireland called Chippason. (Not sure if I spelled it correctly.)

I have no idea what Dolly did before I met her, but she was definately a horse who was torminted.  I moved out to the farm about 3 months before Dolly foaled and it took me the entire time before foaling to get her to trust me enough to brush her.  She would act as though I was either going to kill her, or she was going to kill me.  Once we got past the trust issues, we got along pretty well.  I did find that she was a horse that could not be tied up under any circumstances.  When she realized you had tied her she would test the line with a small head jerk, then take a step or two back, give another head jerk, and then take yet another step back followed by yet another head jerk.  Once she was sure that she was at the end of her slack, she would set back eyes rolled into the back of her head and whip and jerk her  entire body around until either the rope or the halter would give.  It was absolutely the scariest thing I had seen a horse do to itself with such calculation.  It took only once for me to choak back the involuntary vomit crawling up my throat as she tumbled to the ground 11 months pregnant to know that this mare was dangerous to herself and everyone around her if she felt threatened or uncomfortable.  I have to add that the land lord had not told me that mare was anyting but sweet...um yeah.

Besides being violent when tied, Dolly also cribbed like the earth would stop turning if she didn't.  She would do it in the stall, in the horse trailer, out in the pasture, and with the cribbing collar on.  I had no experience with a cribber before meeting her and had to have the neighbor show me how tight the collar needed to be to be effective...but she would still try over and over again.  It was awful to watch.
When Dolly foaled it took no time to find out she wasn't really cut out to be a mother.  She was fine to be around if she trusted you, so I had no problems with that, but she milked like a gold fish.  Mave was skinny and ended up getting pneumonia at about 2 months old...in August...when it was REALLY hot!  So I got to be Maves nurse mommy....we spent a lot of time together...mostly me nursing her along.  So she and I have a complex relationship 7 years later.

Due to her favorite child status, the land lord has let her become a 17hh brat, but 10 minutes of me reminding her I am not him and we move along fine...on the ground any ways.  Just about anyone who has any presence on the ground can get her in line...she stands well for grooming and some clipping.  He is pretty spurratic with it and I am not always around when he does this stuff...but anytime I have seen him do the briddle path, she is good.  He doesn't do around her eyes, ears, or muzzle...nor her legs...she did however come back from a trianer body clipped once, and she said that the mare did really well with it. 
I am happy to say that this mare doesn't crib even though she was with her dam for 6 months who like I said cribbed constantly....she also tieds well....thank God!!  She really has a calm nature...and as long as things are going her way, quite loving.  She may be one of those mares that gives mares a bad name now that I think about it...hehehe!!

The land lord does know that he is not the man to start his young horses so he has sent Mave to a few different trainers.  (Let me go on the record as saying that of the three trainers that I have met, only one would I let have any of my horses and I also feel that the more training and riding styles your horse is taught the harder its going to be for you to ride it...especially when you are not being schooled along with the horse... I am not so sure that that many different "trainers" and styles hasn't helped lead to her being basically soured.) When she is under saddle, nothing about her is "straight".  She moves arced one way or another...I have seen people ride her other than the land lord and they have to work really hard to straighten her out, and then she just pops out again. She just doesn't seem to be happy under saddle although when she gets to jump, her attitude seems lighter than when he is trying to school her or just out hacking.  (I don't ride her, don't want to.)  She has been to the chiropracter...three different ones actually...and they say shes fine.  I think she doesn't want to work or have a job and she is just going to work on letting everyone around her know!  She will also duck out from under you if she feels like she can...and she bucks.

I don't really know a lot about her daddy, but the land lord says he is a great performing stallion (maybe I will google him...that would be a good idea...) and Mave is the only get he has on American soil.  She is super handy and fun to watch when she is playing, but under saddle, she is a different beast. 
Oh, and she is the alfa mare...some days with a vengance.  I feel bad for my girls when they feel her wrath...but what can you do when you have to live by someone elses rules?  None of my mares are really interested in being alfa, so thats good...and if she tells the donkeys something they don't like, they basically tell her to drop dead.  There is nothing funnier than a mini donkey kicking a large horse in the chest between its front legs and the horse backing off...so proud of my boys!!  ( :  Oh, and did I mention she maybe one other those mares that gives mares a bad name?  ( :

I like Mave...she's my adopted kid...Rumor has it that the land lord is going to breed her this year...to who I don't know.  I will keep you posted!