A friend recently asked me which was my favorite horse to ride. Now, keep in mind the fact that Brent and I have several well-trained saddle horses to choose from, and usually have 3 or 4 in training at any given time.

Well, I thought about it for a second or two, just because each horse has a different personality and different skill levels in various areas.

My ultimate choice? Joshua.

If I could only ride one horse for the rest of my life, I would chose Josh. He is bold, loves to work, gets along with every other horse on the property regardless of gender, has a wonderful ground-eating walk, an almost unbelievable go-all-day trot and a nice, smooth canter. Add to this his  phenomenal athleticism and we have a horse whose equal I have never ridden. Plus there is the undeniable aspect that his beauty and presence satisfy my ego - he captures an amazing amount of attention wherever we go.  

But, as much fun as he is to ride, perhaps even more important is the fact that Josh passes on his traits to his foals. We have seven Joshua babies on the ground now, (two born in ‘04; three born in ‘05; and two born in ‘06) and it is absolutely clear that they are just like him. Two (Surfer Dude and Patron) are so exceptional that we consider them stallion prospects and so have not yet gelded them.

Not only do Josh’s sons and daughters have his wide forehead, short distance from the eye to the nostril, and tiny little “typey” ears - they have his personality as well. Although these youngsters are out of five different mares, they also have Josh’s incredible bone, wonderful laid-back shoulder, and big, strong hip.

Josh’s nickname, Beach Bum, is well deserved. He has the gorgeous blond good looks we tend to think of when we consider this term, and he has the laid-back, happy-go-luck personality to go along with the looks. Ask him to work, though - and he is there 110%. He doesn’t care if we are working cattle, riding in the high country on wicked mountain trails, practicing our dressage, or helping me start difficult client colts. He just enjoys doing things.