Re: WE DID IT! WE DID IT! Subject: WE DID IT! WE DID IT! Hello Pairs List! I have to brag!!!! Due to stringhalt, we had to retire my older gelding from the pair. We replaced him with a 12 year old Morgan Mare. I was very impressed with this mare. A friend owned her. She had been trained at one time, but spent 4 years or so as a broodmare on a 600 acre Wyoming ranch. My friend owned her for a year, but they didn't drive. The first time I drove her, she hadn't been hitched in probably 4-5 years. I ground drove for 5 minutes and then hitched to a jog cart. She was great. The training showed through. Due to family illness, I only got to hitch her with the younger gelding today. "GT" (HCR Governors Twenty) is a bay, 15 year old Morgan gelding. He is close to 3" taller than the mare. But I think he'll measure in under 14.3. I drove him in my first pair, with his sire, Marvelous Firehawk. So he was experienced. We had no clue if the new mare, Jemi, (Redcliff's Jemilee) had been trained in a pair. I kind of figured she had since she was so well trained as a single. So today with the help of Debi Packard at Clay Station Horse Park, we hitched! (Wilton/ Sacramento, CA) They were magnificent! Jemi tended to wobble a bit and kept hitting the pole. GT in return kept his ears back. But she came around very nicely and really started bending with whip cues. We drove for about 45 minutes. She obviously has been hitched as a pair before. They started together very nicely and walked off without a problem. GT, who hadn't been hitched in a pair for over a year, was great! It helps that he and Jemi are pasture buddies. YAHOO!!!!! What a feeling! We're planning on the Trinity CDE in Hayfork, CA as our first CDE. Now I need to work on my driving skills! Working with the new longer pairs whip is a challenge. Hard to practice in the house with multiple cats! What a wonderful day! Just had to brag/share! Happy "belated" Thanksgiving to all! Joyce Williams Dust Off Morgan FArm Greenwood, CA _________________________________________________________ To Unsubscribe, change to Digest or Vacation mode go to: http://www.drivingpairs.com/dpmem.html `````````````````````````````````````````````````````````