All of these horses belong to Gypsy Gems Farm
Aine
Born: May 3, 2004
Horsenality: Left Brain Introvert
Breed: Gypsy Vanner
Aine (ANN-yuh) is a very practical and matter-of-fact mare. No fluff, no muss, I’m a horse – I get it.
When Aine came to live with us in 2007, she had major trust issues with humans, not letting Beth get close to her and would even kick out with both feet to keep people away. We have no idea what happened to her before she came to live with us, but we do know that she was in England in a sale yard with her 4-week old baby. They were put on a truck, then on a plane, and flew into New York. Then on a truck to Kentucky, and into quarantine, where they pulled a lot of blood and no telling what else. In all this chaos and confusion, she was trying to protect and nurse her baby. After passing quarantine, they were loaded back onto a truck to Colorado, and had been unloaded for about an hour, when Beth comes along and chooses her and her filly out of the 200 mares on that farm. A few days later, they were both back on a truck and arrived a couple days later at Gypsy Gems Farm in central Florida.
Through patience and time, love and understanding, Aine learned that people are not that bad. If she voluntarily comes to you, then you are doing something right with your intention and inner energy.
Aine prefers to stand at the edge of a group observing and reading the situation for a while and may or may not choose to join in. (Anyone you know like this?)
She is one of the most beautiful horses ever, if you like that curvaceously muscled, feathered, thick mane down past her shoulders draft type of horse. We have plans for her for riding as well as driving in the future.
Aine is Mom to Darby and Reilly, and one filly who passed away.
“Aine” is Gaelic for “joy, radiance.” She brings us a great deal of joy every day.
Beauty
Born: April 16, 2005
Horsenality: Left Brain Extrovert
Breed: Quarter Horse Paint
This is our ADHD child! She came to our farm when she was eight months old and was dominant, nippy, pushy, and she scared me a lot so I would not want to play with her. The more I would avoid her, the worse she got.
I went looking for answers because it got so bad, that ONE of us was leaving the farm, and that’s when I found Natural Horsemanship (that Horse Whisperer stuff). I discovered that Beauty is playful, wicked smart and loves to be the center of attention, gets bored easily and can get obnoxious when not engaged. (Does this sound like anyone you know?)
Beauty is a lot of fun and a bit mischievous, once running away with my husband’s shovel when he was trying to remove a stump from the paddock.
Her nickname is “Mrs. Kravitz” – a reference to the nosey neighbor on the original Bewitched television show because if anything new is going on in the neighborhood, Beauty is right there hanging over the fence to investigate!
Once I learned to understand what Beauty needed from me as the leader, I began to communicate clearly in a way that is satisfying to both of us and keeps her engaged. We love her dearly and appreciate her for the gifts she brings as a wonderful and playful partner.
Darby Seanna
Horsenality: Left Brain Introvert
Born: June 15, 2007
Breed: Gypsy Vanner
Ah, Darby. Used to be “Queen of the Dirty Looks” but that’s no more. Truly the toughest horse I have in my herd to connect with. She insists on being treated with respect and politeness. Darby will comply with what you ask once you have proven that you are a worthy leader and that you understand her needs.
This little mare does better at Liberty (playing with no halter or rope on) than Online (with halter and rope). She HATES to be tethered and has some creative ways to try to get the halter off.
If Darby connects with you, even for a couple of minutes, you need to know that this is the ultimate compliment!
Big sister to Reilly. “Darby Seanna” is Gaelic for “free” and “God’s grace.”
Keavy Ranait
Horsenality: A beautiful blend of Left Brain Extrovert and Right Brain Introvert
Born: July 1, 2006
Breed: Gypsy Vanner
Keavy is the most wonderfully curious, confident, playful, and willing partner. Always eager to please,
Keavy is quite involved and expressive with people and loves to hug. She enjoys tickling people on their neck or stomach with her top lip.
Keavy is the horse I take to events, especially if there are children involved. She is cute as a button, sweet, kind, gentle, but still requires a strong leader with a good heart and good intentions.
I believe a Higher Power was involved when I chose to buy Keavy. I bought her online, sight unseen, and she wasn’t even in the group of horses I was looking at originally. The original horse I tried to purchase had been sold, but the information hadn’t been updated. I remember being so disappointed, even slightly angry that I had my heart set on one and couldn’t have her. But, if I had bought that original horse, I would have totally missed out on this lovely little girl. Karma works in ways we may not understand at the moment.
Keavy was the perfect one. Karma knew that. It just took me some time to recognize it.
“Keavy Ranait” is Gaelic for “gentleness, beauty, grace.”
Mica
Horsenality: Right Brain Extrovert
Born: May 24, 2008
Breed: 3/4 Percheron with 1/4 Paint
Mica is huge! And stunning. Possessing a sweet personality, Mica will stand for hours to be groomed and scratched. She loves attention and interaction with people, and is just like a big ol’ teddy bear with hooves.
Mica loves to go on the trailer; so much so she self-loads and waits to go somewhere. On occasion, we’ve had to shoo her off the trailer and put her in a different paddock so we could load a different horse! She has a lot of external energy and is the complete opposite of Darby and River.
Mica has a huge streak of curiosity and likes to put her feet on things to test them out. Once when huge round bales of hay were delivered, she decided to hop up onto the empty narrow trailer to investigate, which came as quite a surprise to the hay people!
Horsenality: Left Brain Introvert
Born: May 24, 1994
Breed: a big beefy Quarter Horse
This guy has been a great first horse, allowing me to learn things with him, screw things up, learning to saddle and missing, and he’s still right there with me, even if he is rolling his eyes!
River is stoic and serious and is quite motivated by treats. He has a strong “What’s in it for me?” attitude and isn’t interested in anything where he doesn’t see the immediate benefit for himself. (Does this remind you of anyone you know?) But, once he sees the benefit, will do what you ask, even if it’s grudgingly.
You can look at River and just imagine he’s grumbling under his breath. The expressions on his face make us giggle as he is just a dear old grumpy soul. He is “pasture boss” to everyone but Aine, who decided early on she didn’t have to listen to him.
River has an interesting history. Before he found his forever home with us, he was a trail horse, flag horse at the rodeo, a barrel racer and even won halter shows. He is so handsome and can strike a “come hither” pose that’ll melt your heart.
Rochelle
Horsenality: Right Brain Introvert
Born: September 29, 2003 (estimated)
Breed: Appendix (cross between Thoroughbred and Quarter Horse)
Sweet Rochelle is our rescue adoption. Her former owner starved her down to half her body weight. At feeding time, she practically “sings” a musical scale she appreciates food that much.
Rochelle came with a lot of emotional baggage. We have no idea what happened to her before she came to us, but she is sensitive to the extreme and is the best horse to use in gauging the output of one’s inner energy level.
You will be amazed at just how low you need to drop your energy to connect with Rochelle. Is your energy negative, positive or neutral? Learn to internally adjust the levels of the energy you push outward to confidently affect those around you, and let Rochelle be your guide.
Sean Reilly (“Reilly”)
Horsenality: Left Brain Introvert
Born: April 20, 2010
Breed: Gypsy Vanner
Reilly is world-famous and has a fan club, due to his early health challenges being chronicled on FaceBook. Reilly almost died in my arms four days after he was born. Emergency intestinal surgery fixed the immediate problem, but we weren’t out of the woods for the other medical issues. Reilly should have died three times in the following two weeks, but has the heart of a champion and pushed through.
During his medical struggles, he was named Sean Reilly, which is Celtic for “courageous” and “valiant” which is quite fitting for this young man who overcame all odds. Once his internal medical issues were finally fixed, he and his mom, Aine, were preparing to come home.
That is, until he mysteriously developed a fracture in his right hind leg, which resulted in surgery to place two long screws into his bones, and a cast for weeks and complete stall confinement. Then more surgery to remove the screws, a special titanium splint and more stall rest.
This little colt didn’t have the sun on his face or the grass under his feet until he was almost five months old! Due to his popularity with anybody who met him and the thousands of people around the world who followed his story and updates, Reilly has entertained visitors at his home from south Florida all the way up to New York state.
He’s doing great now and is healthy as … well, a horse, and likes to be treated as the king he thinks he is!
We are so thankful that he is still with us. Reilly is a true inspiration of courage, strength and perseverance.
Reilly had a professional photographer come take beautiful pictures of him as well as blog about him when he was only 36 hours old. Enjoy the short story of how this photographer found his way to our farm – Baby Gypsy Vanner Horse