Here is my best friend and I enjoying the ocean She just can't get enough. As soon as her hooves hit the sand she trots straight to the water!! She goes anywhere with me! I forget she's 3!

Great pics! Thanks for sharing, Diamond Star. That's wonderful that yor mare has taken so well to the ocean. I live up in Northern California and am looking to adopt a horse (looking at a yearling filly right now) that, if all goes well, will be a good beach riding companion for me in a the years to come. Our water's a fair amount colder than Hawaii, though... Might be a bit tougher sell

So, when you adopted your girl, was she 2 or 3? Did you have any challenges getting her used to being handled and all that good stuff? I haven't heard much from people who've adopted horses that are in the "teenager/young adult" phase, so I'm interested in hearing about your experience. My concern about adopting an older horse is that I might inherit too many issues and fears that were built up over the years, so I'm thinking that a yearling/two year old might be a happy medium since at that age, they're still young enough to be easily moldable yet fairly close to being old enough to ride.

Cheers,

Kristin

Hi Kristin...
How weird, I used to live in Arcata. I lived there for about a year in 04-05 with some friends that were going to Humboldt. I liked it there. Such a BEAUTIFUL place to keep horses!!! I have a pic of the McKinleyville sign some where. "McKinleyville, where horses have the right away."
I got Klein a week before she turned 3. She had NEVER been started on anything. She didn't even know how to be brushed or take a bath. She was barely halter broke, but she would follow me. Within two weeks I was on her back in the round pen. I am sure every horse is different but IMMEDIATELY she would get jealous of seeing me ride by on another horse. She'd follow us along the fence and stand in the corner and snort at us. She was ready to go!! I ponied her on the trails a few times and she went right along with no problem. I think she wanted to prove to me that I didn't need to ride any other horses, hehe... I got her May 30th and by the 2nd week of July we were out on the trails. She has accepted EVERYTHING I have asked of her. She will go anywhere and try anything. Sometimes she has to see me do it first, like getting in the water. As far as training everything has seemed to "click" with her. It takes a few mins and then it's like "Ohhhhhh I get it mom!" I have not had one single problem with her. She is the perfect angel horse

What I did when she first got here is I first put her in the roundpen for a while to let her roll around and kinda check out her surroundings. I then had her in a stall for about a week to let her understand who mom is. I was there and had her out every single day of that week she was in a stall. I took her out and hand grazed her or just walked her all over the ranch and sometimes I'd take her for a walk on the trails like I was walking a dog and just talk to her. I didn't want to turn her out immediately and have her run off and then have to chase her all over.

The place I got Klein from is in Santa Maria, CA and they just posted a TON of new horses! You should DEFINTELY look through their site. They are www.theanimalifarm.com <---very wonderful people!

Good luck!!!!!!!

Aloha from Hilo!
I love your Pics! You must live out on the windward side. We used to live in Kaaawa. We have a QH and participate in local events both Eng/Western. I have been seeing many PMU rescue horses brought here recently. The big draft types are very popular. A friend rode her beautiful young Percheron mix in our dressage show and it was so cool to see this majestic horse and rider do their stuff. Another friend just got her little colt rescue today and had him at the stables- I was wondering about costs involved in shipping and if you would have any advice as to what to avoid what you have learned from this experience. Enjoy your horse! Mahalo, Pamela M.

You two ladies are beautiful in the ocean! I didn't realize organizations can send the horses by plane - did you have to put Klein in a holding place (as they usually do for cats and dogs going to islands)? Let me know - good luck to both of you!