Plane View Farm

October 2007

Atlantis is an "extra special" guy who is getting a 2nd (or 3rd) chance.  Atlantis is a unique case who actually shipped from the slaughter pens to the slaughter house in Mexico.... The truckload of horses was rejected at the port and sent back to Colorado to the slaughter pen because the paperwork was not in order for a couple of the horses that were on the truck.  The day after he re-arrived at the pens... we visited.  As we drove by the side of the pens, this big gray horse with a proud look towered over the rest. I walked through hundreds of horses that day before I got to his pen.  I kept looking over at him and he was watching me the entire time.  It was as if he knew that I was his last chance.  I finally made it to his pen and he met me at the gate (and I mean with his face in mine!).  He then proceeded to follow me through his entire pen, which had about 50 other horses in it.  He would not leave my side.  His eye was very soft and kind... with a wise look to it.  He had a substantial build, and stood at a little over 16 hands (large for a QH type).  Anyone who knows me knows that I'm a very logical, realistic, left-brain thinker... but I did something at that point that was illogical (and maybe downright stupid).  I got on him bareback in the pen with no halter... no bridle... no rope around his neck... no nothing.  Something about this horse just told me it was o.k..  I proceeded to ride him around the pen using just leg pressure.  He listened to every command, weaving in and out of the other horses as I asked, and stopping nicely with just a little shift of weight back and seat pressure.  That's when I decided we better take him home and try him in the program!  

Atlantis is an exception from what we usually bring home, because he is trained, in his mid-teens, and will need some management through his farrier-work to keep him sound (shock pads and a square toe). We would consider selling him to the right home, but he is only sound for light riding.

September 2007


Charlie Brown was rejected from a dude string, and deemed as unruly and un-rideable.  When we initially purchased him, he would throw himself down at the hitching rail while tied, buck when first mounted, throw his head profusely to avoid the bit, and bolt under saddle to evade the rider.  Other than that, he was a stout, sound, nice-looking paint gelding who was easy to catch and very sweet (when you weren't asking anything of him). We figured him to be about 8 years old.

Charlie took about 60 days of training to fully come around into being a wonderful, willing, obedient, sensitive guy.  From what we could tell, he had likely been started in reining training, which teaches a horse to be sensitive... he quickly picked up on such cues as a quiet balanced stop, nice haunch turns (that could flatten out into a semi-spin), soft roll-backs, and a nice soft lope and jog trot.  He wouldn't have picked up on those as quickly without having previous training.  As near as we can figure...  when he went to a dude string (however he ended up there), his training and sensitivity was a curse.

Charlie Brown went to a fantastic ranch family who appreciates his sensitive and sweet nature.  

September 2007

Gray Boy had mysteriously shown up in a huge herd of dude string horses as a young 2-yr-old gelding.  Nobody knew where he came from and nobody ended up working with him.  He was halter-broke but very un-trusting and wanted nothing to do with humans when we bought him as a 4-yr-old.  After about 3 months of training, he became a very loyal, respectful, brave, hard-working, easy-to-catch young gelding.  He would go anywhere in the mountains or on any trail, didn't have a spook in him, was very level-headed, and just turned into a sheer pleasure to have around.  Grey Boy is now in his new home in southern Colorado.

August 2007

Hank is a 7 yr old registered 15.1H Quarter Horse who was purchased by us in the parking lot of a sale. His owner just wanted to dump him.  He had some behavioral problems (raring and spinning and just generally avoiding work in any way that he could). Basically, he was spoiled and had learned to intimidate his humans.

What was Hank's turning point?  He rolled down a mountain. Hank was on a trail that was very narrow... straight up on one side and nearly straight down on the other.  He decided to pull his rare-spin act and didn't have enough room to make his spin. He tumbled down the mountain (Tim grabbed a tree at the top as Hank fell out from under him)... landing upside down in a creek at the bottom.  That was in July... it's now October and he hasn't made a wrong move since.  He is smooth, handsome, trusting, and obedient.   He will go anywhere on the trail (through water, over bridges, straight up, etc.) and will do so with the utmost carefulness.  This was one who taught himself the lesson!

Lauren has fallen in love with Hank and decided to keep him as her personal trail horse!

October 2007

Sally is a lovely 7 yr-old Molly Mule who was very green when we purchased her.  She has blossomed into a very nice mountain mule who has the sweetest disposition!  You can ride her anywhere, and she is gun broke!  Sally went to her new home at the end of October.  She is so sweet that she is also being introduced into a petting zoo!

January 2008

Tank was by far the largest buckskin I have ever seen! He is massive and looked ALL quarter horse... he just didn't have papers.  Tank was very smart, easy to train, and loved to work. He was a 5-yr-old who had some experience working in a feedlot.  When he got too big to work in the feedlot, he ended up at our place to learn a new career in the English world.  Tank took to jumping fences easily and was calm and quiet about everything we introduced him to.   Tank recently sold and went on to learn his new profession as a 3-Day Eventer in Golden, CO!

February 2008
Siss was an 8-yr-old grade mare who was an absolute sweetheart.  Siss came to us as a trained, but untrusting mare.  She was very sweet and very sensitive.  Her lack of trust did not stem from abuse... it stemmed from being highly sensitive and having a variety of riders/handlers.  She would try her heart out to please, but with various people in her life, had a hard time figuring them out and it just rattled her sweet little brain.  Siss really excelled on the trail, had a considerable amount of formal arena training, and just needed someone to be "her human".  Siss went to a wonderful home in Pueblo, CO.  Her new human understands Siss's need for lots of TLC and trust-building.  A very happy ending for Siss... who is now named "Gypsy"!