Kentucky Burbon+

Kentucky Burbon, whose barn name was Chris, was a Half-Arabian gelding shown in Western, Ladies Side Saddle and Trail. I have to say, Chris was one of our most difficult horses to get started under saddle. As a young horse, his groundwork was fantastic. He had soft smooth gaits and a beautiful round frame. Unfortunately, when it came time to get on him, he became a different horse. It took two of us to finally get on him. Once my right foot was in the stirrup, he dropped his head and went to bucking. This would go on for several minutes, then he would move into a relaxed mode and worked well. This continued for the first several years that he went under saddle. Eventually, he settled down and learned to trust that nothing bad was going to happen, and we got to skip the bucking part. After that, he became nearly unbeatable in local and class A shows. Some of his accomplishments include: Canadian National Top Ten Half-Arabian Western Pleasure Amateur Owner to Ride, Top Ten Ladies Side Saddle Western, Region V Champion Half-Arabian Western Pleasure Amateur Owner to Ride, Region V Reserve Champion Ladies Side Saddle, Multiple Top Five Awards in Half-Arabian Western Pleasure Open, AOTR, and Ladies Side Saddle. Chris also had multiple championships in Half-Arabian Western Pleasure Open, AOTR, and Ladies Side Saddle.

Chris was a very sweet guy who was easy to work with. He had a lazy, smooth gait which made him a wonderful horse to ride. He was terrible on the trail, but loved to work in the arena. Chris had a long successful show career, then retired here at home. Throughout his life he fought with laminitis, but always had the expertise of his farrier, Tom Selberg and vet Cherise Neu, to keep him sound and he was happy here at the place until he was nearly thirty years old. As with all of our departed friends, he is much missed.