Rosemarkie Pilgrim
News from Karen & Rosemarkie Pilgrim
This beautiful dun gelding arrived on a cool August night courtesy of Qld Interstate Horse Transport (thanks John) from Sue at Rosemarkie Stud in QLD to his new home in the town of Grenfell, in central west NSW. Nearby towns are Young, Cowra and Forbes. Grenfell's main claim to fame is the town's links with the famous Australian poet Henry Lawson to which the town holds a festival every June long weekend. Grenfell can now also claim to have a Highland pony in it's midst!
After two days and nights en route, Pilgrim came off the truck as cool as a cucumber and settled in very quickly. A run in with the electric fence developed a healthy respect for the white tape that stands to this day!
I was instantly in love! This golden furry pony with his oh so soft coat was just adorable and so willing to please. I learnt very quickly that Pilgrim has an amazing personality and can communicate very well with his many expressions! A very trusting pony, there was very little that upset him and over the coming weeks I did all sorts of things even saddling him up! (although it will be some time yet before Pilgrim can be trained to saddle).
Pilgrim has attended a few shows since I have owned him, his first being just a week and a half after his arrival. I was so impressed with his behaviour that I was singing the praises of the highland ponies all day! Although not many new what he was and there were some interesting guesses, one judge even thought he was a Norwegian Fjord! Pilgrim has even accompanied me on my evening walks around town, much to the interest of the neighbours!
Pilgrim LOVES to be groomed and for several weeks after he arrived you would have swore I owned a Persian cat with the amount of hair everywhere! I cannot say he was as thrilled about his first bath, although once used to the hose he was picking up brushes and shampoo bottles and investigating the soapy water! The end results though were fantastic, Pilgrim's summer coat in simply stunning and I have had many comments on his beautiful colour.
Pilgrim shares him home with our other pets, "Buckwheat" a section C welsh pony, "Asia" our shar pei (rolly dog) and Wally our six month old kitten. Pilgrim likes to spend most of his day in the shade of his paddock shelter and also has a special spot where he lays down. My husband claimed he picked this spot as it is on slope and all Pilgrim has to do to get up is roll slightly over!
In all, Pilgrim is an absolute credit to the highland pony breed, he characterizes everything I was looking for and his temperament is fabulous, whether it be his kindness and gentleness when being handled by my nearly 4 year old son Riley, or his calmness and steady nature when out and about. I am looking forward to many years of wonderful times with this pony.
We had another wonderful day out with Pilgrim on Monday at the Young Agricultural show. There was only an open coloured class that Pilgrim was eligible to enter but as it was paints, pintos, palominos, buckskins and appaloosas all together, Pilgrim didn't get much of a look in. In saying this, he walked out, stood up, trotted out for the judge and stood quietly and calmly in the line up for the entire class, he was such a good boy!
Pilgrim actually did a far better job of keeping my 3 year old son Riley amused, I have attached some photos of them together for you. At one stage Riley insisted that Pilgrim was cold and needed to wear his vest as a hat! This pony is such a superstar and a credit to Sue at Rosemarkie Stud and the highland breed. Yesterday Rosemarkie Pilgrim and I attended the local Grenfell show. I have only had Pilgrim for a week and a half, since the show was virtually just around the corner from home I took him along to have a look. This sensational little ambassador for the highland breed was an absolute gem! We walked up and down the lane between the rings sharing company with everything from huge show jumpers to miniature ponies and donkeys! Pilgrim took everything in his stride and was so quiet and sensible. We entered his buckskin and APSB classes and he was very well behaved, walking out and standing up for the judge. Unfortunately one judge barely looked at him beside the others that were clipped and plaited to the nines with their flashy bling bling browbands! And the other claimed that he was not her cup of tea. Throughout the day I was asked if he was a Haflinger, Fjord, Welsh Cob, Clydie cross and even a Mule!! I proudly corrected these people stating that he was a purebred highland pony!
The highlight of my day though was having a beautiful well behaved pony (even if he did bite the top off my program and try to eat the bunting!!) that several people came over to pat and comment on. I am looking forward to him maturing and filling out and then he will be sure to knock their socks off!
The trust that this little pony has put in me in such a short space of time is extraordinary, his temperament is amazing and he has also proven that the Highland pony was definitely the right choice for me
Karen Gray
