365 Days of Horses | Bald Face Appaloosa | Spicewood, TX

PUMPKIN | 11 YEAR OLD APPALOOSA | SPICEWOOD, TX

Shesa Spittin Image, Pumpkin, is a red dun Appaloosa with a bald face, 4 stockings, and a slight frosted pattern on hips. This 11 year old horse resides and trains at  Adele’s private family ranch in Spicewood, TX where she trains Pumpkin herself.  her owner and part of The Willing Equine program. Pumpkin has impressive Appaloosa bloodlines, including Spittin Image, Ultimate Image, Prince Plaudit, Eternal Sun, and is a 2x great-granddaughter of the famous stallion Mighty Bright.

Pumpkin is trustworthy and steady going, she’s great on the trails and extremely reliable, but she can be very resistant for a demanding or impatient rider. It took Adele a while to tap into Pumpkin’s true hard working potential, and they had to learn to work together through some trial and error. It’s all about motivating her to want to work with the rider, rather than her feeling forced to comply.

Pumpkin originally was intended to be a trail riding mount for Adele’s husband, and while she still frequents the trails she also is in training for western dressage and ranch riding.

This “intelligent” horse loves apple flavored treats.

Pumpkin has been a part of Adele’s family for nearly three years now. Adele first saw her on an online advertisement and was not so sure she cared for her coloring or markings. They went to go visit her a couple days later. When they first drove up and saw her tied to the tree in the front yard the first words that left Adele’s husband’s mouth were “We aren’t buying this one.” She told him not to get ahead of himself, she could turn out to be perfect. In fact, her husband and her got along so well it was a quick decision with no hesitations. She had to go home with them.

Adele started riding at a summer camp when she was eight years old, from there it was a never ending obsession with horses. She started taking lessons at a hunter/jumper barn right down the street from her house for 7 or 8 years. Showing, training, and doing absolutely anything and everything horse related. From there she got into dressage for many years, competing and showing with some of the best. But her true passion was really on working with retraining “problem” horses. She started working with a trainer just out of the city that specialized in rehabilitation cases and difficult horses. She learned so much from her and still continues to do so.

Fast forward many years and she now finds herself venturing into the world of western riding. One day Adele hopes to explore eventing and other disciplines as well, but her focus will primarily be on the mental and physical development of all kinds of horses in all different disciplines and stages of life. Seeking humane and alternative methods of training to better the lives of our equine partners.

Adele shares, “Pumpkin has a very complex character, there is never a dull moment with her. But my favorite memory with Pumpkin would probably be when my husband and I had the horses on a trail ride at a location where cattle were loose. I was fully expecting some sort of reaction from at least one of the horses, as they had never seen cattle before. Instead, they just stopped and watched the cows like it was no big deal. Pumpkin in particular was very calm and had absolutely no problems approaching the cattle to investigate further. Who knows, maybe she has potential to do cow work in the near future!”
To keep up with Pumpkin’s training progress and her daily life you can find more information on www.thewillingequine.com, Adele also has a blog, YouTube channel and so much more.
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