365 Days of Horses | Chablis | 31 Year Old Welsh Quarter Horse Cross

CHABLIS | 31 YEAR OLD WELSH QUARTER HORSE | BRYAN, TX

Jill, Chablis is a 31 year old Palomino Welsh Quarter Horse Cross. Jill was originally bred in New Jersey and is now living at Steep Hollow Farm in Bryan,TX enjoying her retired life.

Jill’s story is a pretty unique one. Jill was Kari’s hunter pony over 25 years ago. Keri’s family originally bought her with another family when she was a kid. They had a unique co-ownership of Jill. Eventually they sold Jill when Keri was around 14 years old. In 2004 Keri’s mom and Fiancé tracked her down as a wedding gift and Keri’s Fiancé was going to take her on a surprise trip to see her. (Did you just get chills? I know I did when I read this story…seriously, how amazing is this?!) Jill was in Colorado Springs and it turns out they has practically driven past the barn the prior year when they were camping. They went to visit Jill and found out she had just been sold to a family in St. Louis. Keri kept up with Jill and eventually in 2013 they contacted Keri to let her know they were going to retire Jill and to see if she would be interesting in taking her back.

Jill still does some occasional trot lessons and even went to a show in 2015. Jill is now a leadline pony for Keri’s 2 year old. Keri hopes that Jill will be around long enough to take her kiddo to their first show.

Keri has been riding since she was 6. Her parents got her into riding because she loved animals and always wanted a dog but her mother was allergic. They joked later that they should have just gotten her a dog!

Keri shares, “she’s always been spunky and she loves to squeal when she’s feeling frisky.” Jill is very food motivated and loves any type of food. Kari shares that, when the pair rides in the fields Jill would come to an abrupt stop from the Canter to eat grass and Keri would go flying over her head. “She was a lot of fun to ride and taught me so much!”

This spunky mare loves carrots. Back in the day Jill won many end of the year awards in the New Jersey circuits and even went to pony finals.

Keri’s favorite memory is when she went to see Jill in Colorado in 2004 and couldn’t believe it was really her after all those years.