Several years ago we saw a newspaper ad for a 4-year old half Clydesdale mare. We weren't really in the market for a horse, but we called the seller and indicated that we would like to see her, but since we were more curious than anything, we wanted to come by when it would be "no hassle."

We agreed on a date and time and drove about 50 miles to look at her. To say the least, she was an awesome dark bay with white socks and just a hint of dark chestnut dapples. She stood 16 hands and had a thick barrel, weighing about 1350 Lbs.

We decided to ride her and she was awesome; powerful and forward moving... perhaps a little too forward! Her "other half" was hackney horse and she had some front leg action that was unbelievable! It was a most exhilarating adventure.

When we were finished, the seller turned Havilynn loose in a pasture. In the pasture was an ancient 3-room homestead house with a dirt floor. Several horses were in the house enjoying the shade. Havilynn trotted directly into the house, uttering a loud snort as she passed through the door and immediately a half dozen horses came charging out the back door or jumped out the windows! Havilynn inspected all three rooms snorting and looking out the windows. Wow! What a creature!

We thanked the seller and left. A couple of months later the seller called and asked us if we would consider buying her. She didn't like any of the other prospective buyers. We're not sure why she thought we'd be any better, but we figured that this opportunity was too good to pass up a second time, so we agreed on a price and took Havilynn home.

We soon discovered that Havilynn was a handful. Once she got up to a working trot, it was "Katy bar the door." We'd just steer her away from the trees and hang on. She could cover more ground in a trot than many horses could at a canter. We took her to Pat Parelli who lived nearby and I'll never forget the vision of one of their trainers, Judy, trotting her all over the property for the better part of an afternoon trying to wear her out of her "trot-itis." Forget it!

We were just learning about the importance of proper ground schooling then and after a couple of weekend Parelli clinics, we were able to capture Havilynn's mind, yet leave her spirit undiminished. Since then she's been one of the stable favorites, part of the lead pair in the local drill team, appearing in parades, and becoming a quite capable trail horse.

Havilynn still dominates anything and everything on four hooves, but she's now exceptionally stable and polite with humans and is a most trustworthy mount... and she looks darn good pulling a cart, too!

More recently we've used Havilynn to pony young horses or mustangs who are just being gentled and as a clear headed mount when we are riding inexperienced horses in new areas or over obstacles.

Nina Vladdin (from Leningrad) on Havilynn

Havilynn (with Dan)
in the Brentwood Holiday Parade

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