Sunday, June 22, 2014

Painted Ponies and Movie Trivia

Yesterday my daughter and I went on a little excursion.  We packed only a few necessities like water and camera, and hopped in the truck and drove across highways and byways.  We ended up two hours from home in very pretty countryside far to the west of us on the Niagara Escarpment between Grimsby and Welland, Ontario.  If you've never been in this area, it's very picturesque.  It's also close to the Hamilton Air Museum and we were very fortunate to see their restored heritage World War II Lancaster Bomber ... in flight! 

But we didn't drive all that way just for the scenery or airplanes.  We were looking for a farm.  A horse farm.  And not just any old farm ... one specializing in gorgeous coloured Thoroughbreds and Warmbloods ... and we found it!


The farm is aptly named Blazing Colours Farm and the "blazing colour" is the best part of the visit.  The breeder aims to produce beautifully coloured Thoroughbreds and Warmbloods, beyond the traditional shades of bay, black or dappled grey. 


This farm produces beautiful horses in colours of cremello, smokey black, pinto, buckskin, palomino and sabino (the white markings as in the horse above left).  Yesterday they hosted an open house, and my daughter, who follows them religiously on Facebook, begged me to go with her.  I miss seeing the horses when I used to take her to her riding lessons, and now she goes on her own to lessons in university town, so how could I refuse? 

Pluto & Scooby

Now these two gorgeous Thoroughbred brothers  (above) are a rarity.  They were sired by the stallion Cloud Ten, who was also owned by the farm, but has since been sold.  In 2005 Cloud Ten made headlines as he was the first white Thoroughbred to be foaled in Canada.  Aren't they just the most amazing silvery white?  Their names are Scooby and Pluto, and they're 3-year old stallions.  The owner plans to use them for stud services and also train them for pulling a coach for hiring out for weddings etc.  Wouldn't they look amazing as a pair pulling a wedding coach? 



I just couldn't take enough photos of these beauties, but I'll spare you scrolling through more than just a few ;)  The colour of these Thoroughbreds is cremello sabino, but just know that in the sunshine, they glowed a silvery white ... like unicorns. 


And this brings me to the movie trivia portion of my post.  Their sire Cloud Ten was sold to Disney together with another white gelding named White Pharaoh, and they were used in the recent movie "The Lone Ranger" as the horse Silver.  The horses looked identical, so they were good for doubling each other, and the studio found out about them through a You Tube video.



The temperament of these stallions (and all the horses on the farm) were incredibly calm and friendly.  There were none of the common traits associated with stallions with wild behavior and gnashing of teeth etc.  You could pet them through the fences & in the stables and they were alert, but so gentle.  Really amazing. 


Another stallion out in the field, who was a bit sleepy in the dazzling sunshine, was this beauty (above) an amazing Warmblood named Mirabeau, also cremello but he was a gorgeous golden white. 


I was trying hard to get a photo of his eyes, which were aqua blue, but he was so sleepy I just couldn't capture them properly.


This cremello Thoroughbred (below) is El Dorado, and he was stunning!!



The buckskin colour is another favourite here at the farm. 


It's unusual to see Thoroughbreds in this colour, and below is a buckskin sabino Thoroughbred named Simba Twist.  He was very playful out there in his paddock, and seemed to thoroughly enjoy the attention he was getting.  He looked like he had personality plus!




Simba Twist
 
A well-chewed fence out back.
Inside the stables were many of the farm's brood mares and foals.  The foals were around two and three months old, and the quintessential of cute.


They all had their own personalities.  Some were very curious and noses were poking out of stalls when they heard people pass.  Others were shy and not to sure about so many hands stroking their soft coats.  The mothers were so very gentle, and if they were getting a bit worried by strangers petting their babies, they calmly, but effectively walked between the stall wall and the foals blocking us from their babies.  Only one mare had had quite enough and her head tossed up with teeth flashing when my daughter tried to pet her, so we just moved on without bothering her further.


This little filly (below) was my favourite ... Balou ...


Her colouring will be "smokey black" when the baby coat sheds.  You can see the darker, smoother coat coming in around her eyes and muzzle.  She was just so friendly and sweet and loved being fussed over by all the visitors.  It was hard to tear myself away from her.  Her little muzzle was so tiny, it could fit in the palm of your hand, and her head and neck reminded me of a tiny sea horse.

 
You can see the wonderful markings on this handsome stallion Sato (below).  Sato is a palomino sabino Thoroughbred stallion.  My daughter told me Sato is the original stallion the owner of the farm started with.
 

 
Sato (above & below) had beautiful golden eyes, and he was enjoying peeking round the corner of his stall at the other horses in the fields.
 

 This guy was really hamming it up for the camera ... I'm sure he knew how good looking he was ... this is Golden Time, a palomino sabino Thoroughbred stallion (below).
 
 
We nick-named him "The Tongue".  He was worse than my dog for wanting to lick you!
 

 
 
Are you still with me?  I know there are a lot of photos (175 taken in 4 hours!!), but I was just so thrilled with these beautiful beasts, I can't help but want to share them with you.  Just a few more ;)
 
My daughter's absolute favourite horse at this stable is Arts Aero, a black pinto Oldenburg Warmblood stallion (below).  After everyone had had a chance to tour the stables and the fields and kiss all the noses of the sweet little colts & fillies, we were given a demonstration in this lovely arena by the stable owner and her companions.  They had a few fun jumping competitions against each other with lots of laughs and comments with the group of visitors.
 

We've seen Arts Aero and the horse (below), who I'm pretty sure is named Mocha Twist at the Royal Winter Fair for the last couple of years.  He's a beautiful example of a pinto colouring.  Notice the owner is riding Arts Aero bareback in these photos.  They train horses and riders here as well as their breeding program, and it's just a wonderful clean, bright and spacious facility indoors and out.
 
 
 

Arts Aero is another calm and cool stallion.  Just look at him with all these kids crowding him.  He didn't move an inch!  Only his head moved around ... those feet stayed planted, which was a good thing because some of these kids were in sandals and flip flops.
 

 
And so ended our day at Blazing Colours.  I'm sure my daughter could've spent a week her entire life at these stables and been quite happy.  I truly hope she can one day realize her dream of having her own horse farm, or at the very least own her own horse.
 
 
 
Thanks for stopping by today!
 
Wendy
 
what?!  you want to see a couple more photos?!  you're worse than me ;)
 


 
 
the end!
 

27 comments:

  1. What beautiful photographs of stunning horses. Looks like you and your lovely daughter had a fabulous day. Thank you also for your kind comments on my recent post, very much appreciated. XX

    ReplyDelete
  2. Wonderful photos of all the horses, they are beautiful! Your daughter very pretty too. A great dayfor you and your daughter! Happy Sunday!

    ReplyDelete
  3. You seem like a very knowledgeable horsewoman. I love the look of the white coats on them. This was a lovely day for you and your daughter. Thanks for sharing.

    ReplyDelete
  4. That was lovely, I really enjoyed seeing them. When I was a teenager I knew somone who had a cremella Arab X Welsh pony, which she put to an Arab stallion and got palominos, but those TBs are gorgeous. I've always fancied a piebald 3/4 or 7/8 TB.

    ReplyDelete
  5. What lovely horses Wendy, it looks like you both had a great day out. :)

    ReplyDelete
  6. It looks like you had a lovely day, wonderful photos.

    ReplyDelete
  7. Absolutely gorgeous and majestic creatures. The coloring are the likes of which I've never seen. Perhaps you have more photos to share? Giggle.

    ReplyDelete
  8. Oh Wendy I was definitely there with you and shall be returning to these gorgeous pics! What a fabulous day. I have loved horses all my life after my father who worked with heavy horses in NE Scotland in the 1930s. Your photos are fantastic and hope your lovely daughter will follow her dreams and have her own horse farm one day. Many thanks for sharing, Alison xx

    ReplyDelete
  9. I'm not at all surprised that your daughter could spend her entire life at these gorgeous stables. So, so many beautiful horses....what an amazing place. I must say that I have always been in love with 'painted' horses. Isn't Arts Aero a beauty......though each and every horse stands alone in their unique beautyl. Love, love, love this post, Wendy...every photo is sublime!!

    ReplyDelete
  10. Wendy, what a fun day. And you got some seriously gorgeous photos of those beautiful horses.

    ReplyDelete
  11. Oh my what a wonderful collection. Thanks for sharing...:)

    ReplyDelete
  12. Have I died and gone to heaven?
    Jane x

    ReplyDelete
  13. Beautiful photos of beautiful horses! I absolutely love horses and really loved this post!
    Thanks so much for sharing :-)
    Sarah x

    ReplyDelete
  14. The horses are beautiful aren't they Wendy!!!!!!! Really, stunning. You and your daughter must have had an amazing visit, it certainly looks as though you did. It is so great to get to do things like this from time to time isn't it. Great that you got to see the Lancaster flying too! They are an amazing sight as well aren't they, and the sound is quite something too! Glad that you had a good weekend! xx

    ReplyDelete
  15. Beautiful pictures and a wonderful post...
    happy sunny Monday... - Gaia

    ReplyDelete
  16. I enjoyed this visit with the horses through the lens of your camera. The two white stallions really are stunning.

    ReplyDelete
  17. Ah what a treat - each one stunning in its own right and so wonderful that you and your lovely daughter could go off and do this together. I too hope that one day her dream will be realised Wendy! xoJoy

    ReplyDelete
  18. They are gorgeous! The prettiest horses that I have ever seen! And those shots of the little ones just warmed my heart! I swear animals are just like us...protecting our babies and loving them! SO glad you were able to take your daughter here! She looks like she is heaven! Wishing you a wonderful week! Oh and that last shot really got me! Just beautiful! Nicole xo

    ReplyDelete
  19. A great post, thank you so much for linking up to my critter party.. Have a happy day!

    ReplyDelete
  20. Great post Wendy and such amazing photos. It sounds like you had a lovely day with your daughter.
    Marianne x

    ReplyDelete
  21. What a fantastic place, I've never seen such stunning horses. As a child all I wanted was my own pony, sadly it never happened and with hindsight I realise we didn't have the space or the knowhow! I hope your daughter realises her dream.

    ReplyDelete
  22. What gorgeous creatures. A great day out.

    ReplyDelete
  23. aww, what a fun trip. i love all the white ones. here in VA we don't see white horses much. usually shades of brown & black. that is usually the norm. i wonder why? are white ones more pricy?? makes you scratch your head. ( :

    have a great week. take care.

    ReplyDelete
  24. Oh Wendy. How could you pull yourselves away from there. The majesty of those amazing creatures! I'm sure they talk to each other when the people have gone. My favorite photo is fourth from the end, with the horse looking out toward the paddock. All of these are great photos. How wonderful to share this time with your daughter.

    ReplyDelete
  25. Beautiful beautiful horses. I love horses. I had my own for a very long time. 21 years in fact. she died at the ripe old age of 41. I didn't think she would ever die. When she did it was sudden, she was never sick. I really miss her. It would be a dream having a farm. Those horses are beauties and you got some lovely pictures. Love the one of the mare and foal looking under her chin.
    Janice

    ReplyDelete
  26. Wow; to tell the truth, I've never seen house with my own eyes(^^;) How BEAUTIFUL they are, especially white horse is my dream animal to touch ;-) Have a WONDERFUL weekend, Wendy♡♡♡
    Sending you Lots of Love and Hugs from Japan, xoxo Miyako*

    ReplyDelete
  27. I recently discovered Blazing Colours Farm and am totally obsessed with their horses! It is so amazing to see the pictures you have of the horses just "hanging out" :) I collect Breyer model horses and have known about Sato for a long time. I hope to be able to visit BCF someday. We live in Wisconsin, however, so I don't know how realistic that goal is! lol But it was so nice of you to share your outing with us on the World Wide Web LOL! Take care and have a blessed day ~ Emily @SpiritHorseTraining

    ReplyDelete

Thanks so much for leaving a comment, it's nice to know when you've stopped by! :)

Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...
Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...