FRANKIE | 16 YEAR OLD QUARTER HORSE MARE | DRIPPING SPRINGS,TX

Frankie, is a Quarter Horse Mare. She is not registered but they were told that she has Peppy San Badger in her bloodlines. She has the same size and type, and is very quick on her feet.

Amy, is the semiretired performance horse of Ashley Shaw of Ashley Shaw Dressage. Ashley trained her growing up as a 4-H project with the help of her Mom Jennifer Jarvis.

Frankie is a character. She pretty much does what she wants now, and Ashley let her because she loves her so much. She’s also really small and gets along well with the other horses so Ashley says it’s not hard to be so lax with her. Ashley shares “Her favorite thing to do has always been to trot down to the end of the arena where the best grass is and eat. She’s done it her entire life and has always let me catch her, and you can’t get after them too much after the fact for letting you catch them! She also has a wicked sense of humor and does not like to be taken away from her pasture mates. She’s fine if you ride her but won’t stand still by herself in the barn. But she is so gentle. I’ve put so many beginners on her and not a one of them has had a hard time. I’ve even ridden her with a two year old in my lap.”

Frankie has done a bit of everything in her lifetime. She can go to dressage shows, go on a trail ride, or even go into a western pleasure class or speed event. She always performs with her whole heart. They mostly go on trail rides these days, but Frankie is still Ashley’s absolute favorite and heart horse.

Ashley first met Frankie when her mom first opened their facility, a woman came in to board her two horses. “One was filly, named Daisy at the time, who she had gotten on a bad trade for her Thoroughbred hunter. The people told the woman that the filly was two and ready to start but she was a weanling. When they came to board at our barn and figured everything out, they offered to sell her to us for the cost of a small vet bill- $135!! Little did we know she would spend the next six months getting sutures everywhere. It was the bad rain we had in fall of 2002 and she kept getting scared and going through fences or climbing the stall. My mom told me I should start her as a project for 4-H. They have futurity classes at the state show in Abilene. We lost that show but did very well as time went on in everything from halter and showmanship to pleasure and western riding, and hunter under saddle. I started doing dressage and didn’t continue doing 4-H once my friends stopped showing. Frankie isn’t registered so I can’t do AQHA shows, but now there are some at our local arena and I’d like to compete her again for fun.”

Ashley considers Frankie her Golden horse. She eats everything but her favorite treat is probably Fuji apples or watermelon.

The pair has competed once at the state 4-H show, twice at the District 4-H show, won two belt buckles, has been named champion at halter at shows as a young mare, and was reserve champion in our club for the equine events. They have also competed at training level dressage and earned scores in the high sixties.

Ashley says she has been horse crazy her entire life. She contributes finding her Mom’s Breyers horses as part of the reason she got into riding horses. However she thinks even if it wasn’t for her mom riding, she would have somehow one day found horses in her life. Her favorite part about owning horses is that the work never ends, there is always something to do around the barn or something to fix.

Ashley shares her secret for the perfect tail, “Right now I really like the Equifuse products. I’ll leave a small amount of the conditioner in the horse’s tails, and the hair drinks it right up. Eventually it gets rinsed out by virtue of hosing the horse off but it’s a little more permanent than the detangler for moisturizing the hair.”

Ashley’s favorite memory of Frankie is when Frankie won second in a western pleasure class behind this very nice pair- a boy named Cody and his horse Stanley, who she really admired. They beat some very nice horses, too. Coming in second out of a field of 15, when some of the kids were going to the breed shows and were very competitive, made me so proud of my little horse. Especially considering Ashley trained Frankie completely by herself with the help of her mom.

Karinda K Equine Photography is a San Antonio equine photographer located in Montgomery, TX. Karinda creates timeless portraits of you with your beloved horses, and other farm animals. Serving locally Houston, Dallas, San Antonio, and Austin, Texas communities. KEP also serves Wellington and Ocala, Florida, Lexington and Louisville, Kentucky, Aiken, South Carolina, Tryon, North Carolina, and Norco and Woodside, California and their surrounding communities.