This page is dedicated to my, “Monster baby,” horse, named Caru. She was born June 17, 2016. At the time of writing this, she is only a couple months shy of her second birthday. This year I will get her started under saddle, but only lightly, and next year we will truly begin her riding career.
She is already a very advanced liberty horse and I often play with her and the two TWH, (Tennessee Walking Horses), she lives with. I feel quite lucky to still be at this private little facility where she was born, and in exchange for some of her board and care, I keep the owner’s two TWH geldings exercised in both mind and body.
I am a retired c**t starter and I specialize in natural horse development and training. I come from a dressage and jumping background along with some endurance riding and a butt-load of trail riding. I also ran a carriage company for a few years and drove 18.2hh Belgian draft horses. My entire life has been dedicated to horses and furthering my understanding of these magnificent creatures.
We bought Caru’s mom in Southern California and within a week of me deciding she was the one, we traveled the 14 hours down, spent the night, and hauled back a VERY pregnant mare. She wasn’t supposed to foal until August, and if I'd know she was going to deliver in the middle of the night only three weeks after arriving home, I wouldn’t have put her through that arduous trailer ride. She obviously survived it all just fine and Caru was obviously full term and healthy as could be. When the owner found her at 7AM feeding, she was already up and dry and trying to see over the stall door.
Caru’s momma is an American Spotted Draft mare which is a Paint/draft cross/hybrid. She herself was a big mare, but not tall, standing only 15.2hh, although stout and strong and wide with excellent bone. She’d been bred to an Andalusian, which is why I wanted the baby she was carrying. I’ve had other Andalusian and half-Iberian type horses, and I love them! Caru is no exception. She has an incredible, trainable disposition and although she is an opinionated filly, she’s also a very good girl!
Mamma Maya is a black and white mare, and all her previous foals had been black and white or some variation on that theme, but always black. I don’t know much about the stallion, so I don’t have a clue if they were telling the truth when they said he was a black Andalusian, (kinda rare!). I bought her thinking I’d end up with a black horse, and if it had four white legs like Maya, then yay, I think that’s quite stunning. Caru is actually a tri-colored tobiano and mostly dark blood bay. She has a ton of white on her and four all white legs, (called “high white” because the white travels well above her knees on all 4.) She has very little black because she’s a bay and most of her places where there should be black, it’s white. She’s freakin stunning though! Not black, and not a c**t like I’d also hoped, but oh well, I adore her to no end and I think she’s going to be a phenomenal horse.
I’ve played with her since that first day, and she’s as easy to work around and deal with as any adult well-trained horse. In many respects, she’s already more advanced in her ground skills and liberty work than most horses will ever achieve. I’ve already sat on her numerous times and one day at the end of last summer we walked around the arena with me on her ba****ck in a halter. She was fine. I suspect the transition to being ridden won’t even phase her.
We call her “Monster baby” because of how fast she grew and how tall she already is. She stands at a bit over 15.2hh and has the longest, most elegant legs. I’m glad she didn’t take after Maya in that department because for all her attributes, Maya has short, rather stumpy legs. Caru also has stellar, uphill, lofty movement and seems to effortlessly float when she goes into motion. Again, not like her very grounded mother. I suspect Caru will end up well over 16hh, which is fine because I’m tall and I’ve always had very tall horses. I would like it on record however that I am 51 years old and bought Maya thinking it was time for me to get something a bit smaller. Where Caru stands now, is plenty tall enough, and oh so much closer to the ground than where she will eventually end up. I can only sigh and shrug and soldier on. It is why I started getting on her when she was only 15hh. It’s sort of like the frog in boiling water scenario.
I would have loved to keep Maya. Even though she’d only been a broodmare most of her life, I thoroughly enjoyed riding her and teaching her that some humans do try and understand the prey animal mind, and some humans are worth getting to know. She was the sweetest mare I've ever known and I don’t think she ever pinned her ears at me. She was extremely food motivated which helps in teaching new things, and her desire to please was off the charts. She was one of the most trainable older horses I've ever worked with, and I've worked with a lot of horses. I’m at a time in my life where I can only afford one horse, both financially and time-wise. I don’t earn my living with them anymore and I can’t spend 14 hours at the barn anymore, and so, I found Maya a fantastic home.
Having just one horse is a total novelty for me, and I am enjoying every second of raising a baby from scratch. I love starting with a blank slate and inputting the communication I understand. Horses are amazing animals with massive brains and they can carry some major baggage. The gift of starting new is the biggest blessing I could ask for, and Caru is one of the most unique individuals I could have never dreamt up. Sometimes I call her my unicorn, mostly because she is one of a kind, and I didn’t think I’d ever have the opportunity to have my own horse again, let alone start with a foal. She is the quality of animal I couldn’t have afforded if she’d been a trained adult, and I am loving every second of our journey together.
This is her page. Caru (the monster baby unicorn horse!) :p
