The Spanish Norman

  
     Malachi  
   Spanish Norman (Andalusian x Percheron)
   Bay based gray
   15.2 hands
   7 years
   1300 to 1500 pounds

     Malachi is pretty green. He knows up to about first level dressage, and can perform the movements with enough encouragement on a good day. Two of the things that happen to hold him back are his troublesome background and his annoying laziness. He is not the typical lazy horse - he is way too smart for that. So during our rides he tries tricks and subtle ways to use his weight and strength against me. He isn't defiant or eager enough to throw bucks like punches or spook like a wildman, but he sure does have his habits down and mastered.

     When I bought him it was from my trainer's old instructor, Dee. She took a fall from him on a trail and broke her leg. I think he was too much for her in terms of athleticism and greenness. She described in his ad that he needed to go to an ambitious teen, and well, there's where I fit in. She was looking for a trail horse, and that is definitely not what she got. Malachi needs more lateral training before he's fit for the trails. But I can totally understand why she did buy him. He's extremely personable, sweet, and relaxed on the ground. You can do anything you want with him bareback (within reason) and he's a perfect companion horse.

     Before Dee, he was bought to a high class hunter stable as a future lesson horse at a young age. I guess they thought that he was big and healthy enough to pack on some beginner adults, and could haul them over some crossrails for equitation. Well, there's another mistake. Poor guy. So after some rides with beginner adults he earned himself some tricks and techniques to get out of work he hated. That explains his trouble with Dee and the reasons why Malachi is not a lesson horse or a horse for any beginner. He was in the worst place he could be. I still try to comprehend what those hunter people were thinking when they bought him. This horse is the complete opposite of a stiff, long legged Thoroughbred. So why? The world may never know.

     I don't know any history beyond that. I would really like to see his baby pictures. I imagine him as a bright blood bay with super dark legs, a big white star and a sandy colored mane and tail. I would love to get him gene tested so I could see if he carries the silver gene. His tail is pure white, and his mane roughly is half black and half white. But there aren't any black strands in his tail, and I'm wondering gulastra plume.

     I heard he had some papers, but I'm completely lost on how to register him. I believe the hunter people who owned him thought there was no value in his papers and simply tossed them. Even so, it would be great to go out and gene test to see if there's a match for any registered parent. I think it would be the coolest thing to find that he's pure Spanish Norman, or at least to find what might be in his blood. It's definitely some sort of Andalusian, Lipizzaner, or Lusitano and Percheron. I know for sure the Percheron because there doesn't seem to be another draft match that could produce his color and build.

     All I can say is that he was the perfect horse in the perfect price range. He's worth a ton more than we bought him for, and I'm so happy I to get a chance to own and ride a horse like this. I'll have him through college and some of my life after school, so it's a given that we'll learn a lot from each other. I'm excited to see how far he can take me in the long run.