{ gwen }

Gwen is a Friesian/TB mare given to me by my mother. She bought her for herself as a 50th birthday present, and it was love at first sight. She had planned on breeding her mare to a fabulous stallion named Galahad Du Lac, out of the Elite/Preferent stallion Aswyn Van De Pluum. Galahad was beauty, brains, and personality all in one package. However, included in that package was an unfortunate medical condition that lead to his unfortunate premature death. My mother was devastated until the breeder informed her there was a yearling filly for sale out of an adorable thoroughbred mare named Maybe Maxine. We ordered a video, and there was this crazy high-headed filly running around a paddock with what looked like more energy than brain power. I told my mom she was too high spirited for her and to keep searching, this horse clearly wasn't anything special. However, like mother like daughter, she didn't take my advice and about a month later she resided in our pasture. 


We got Gwen home, and she was a total sweetheart. Nothing like that air headed super rocket we saw in the video. I never paid much attention to her as I had my own horses to play with, and aside from feeding her or the occasional hello, we didn't have a whole lot of interaction. As time went on, my mother spent less and less time with her. Twenty-seven years ago, she got kicked in the face by a horse and suffered a severe injury. When she went to the hospital, they discovered she was pregnant with my older sister, and keeping that in mind she stayed away from horses for a while. After reconstructive surgery she stayed away from horses and never confronted her new found fear, and she grew increasingly (and understandably) flighty of horses that were anything other than extremely calm and level headed.

Once she started Parelli Natural Horsemanship with Gwen, a clear clash in personality showed itself. When Gwen is learning something, or frustrated, she throws a fit. My mother, not always seeing the signs (this was way before the days of horsenality) would push her through it, and that resulted in Gweny cow-kicking right at her, and I believe she made contact on at least one occasion. Not wanting to relive the past, she did less and less with the mare and eventually she just became a pasture ornament. 

I came back home for a year, and agreed to start Gwen under saddle for her. It quickly became apparent Gwen and I had a special connection, and that her and I were very similar in personality. I could relate to what she did and the reasoning behind it, which made it easy for me to handle her. It honestly felt like I was playing with the equine version of myself. My mother, not wanting to sell Gwen to someone who would put her in traditional training and become someone's problem horse, decided to gift her to me. I am so grateful for the gift she has given me, and look forward to our days together. The one condition she had to me accepting the mare was my mother would like a foal from her one day. I can't wait to see a little baby Gwen running around!

Aswyn Van De Pluum, Gwen's grandsire, still looking handsome at 25 years young

Gwen winter 2011