Meet the Horses
At Western Ways Horsemanship & Stud we have a team of 7 horses, ranging in experience. Some get used as school horses to help us train riders in Western Riding, and others are used within the stud or as Derek’s competition horses!
Boysie
Meet Boysie, our American Paint Horse Stallion. He’s 16 years old, and Derek has had him since he was 6 months old. He does a bit of everything, when it comes to Western riding, from reining to barrels to roping, and has even been known to do a bit of jumping too! Boysie often gets used to teach more experienced riders how to ride Western. Boysie also loves going hacking, and is available at stud.
Ella
Ella is our 9-year-old German-bred Quarter Horse mare. She’s an experienced reining horse, and has her spins and sliding stops down to a fine art. We’ll hopefully be getting her out to a few western riding competitions, and also have plans to put her to Harry and breed from her.
Witch
Witch is our 17-year-old purebred Appaloosa. She was one of the original five horses Derek purchased when he started the business. She’s since turned out to be a fantastic child’s horse, as she competed often with Derek’s son, and has taught many young people to ride western. She definitely doesn’t live up to her name, and is a firm favourite with many of our clients!
Bucky
Derek backed Bucky last year for a good friend. Unfortunately, when Bucky went home his owner (through no fault of Bucky’s) injured his shoulder to the point that he was unable to ride anymore. His owner decided that it would be such a waste for Bucky not to do anything, so he came back to us. We’re now working to get him trained up and will hopefully start competing him in a variety of western disciplines over the next year or so!
Harry
Harry is our other stallion, and is an 8-year-old Quarter horse who was born in Germany and brought over to the UK as a foal with his mother. Derek has done a bit of showing with him but then COVID hit, and those plans got put on hold. Due to COVID, he hasn’t been out competing as much as Derek might have hoped, but this will hopefully soon change! Derek plans to train and compete him in a variety of western riding disciplines, and he is also available at stud.
Chunky
Chunky is our 9-year-old Dutch bred Quarter Horse. Originally owned by one of Derek’s clients, when she moved to Canada to work at the Calgary Veterinary College she very kindly trusted us to keep and care for Chunky.
He is used for both hacking, and school work, and is loved by many, especially Kate!
Razor
Razor is a 16-year-old Appaloosa X Arab, whom Derek got as a “BOGOF” deal when buying some horses to start the business. When purchased, Derek was looking at four other horses, and got told if he got them, he could have Razor for free. So you can guess what he chose to do!
Razor is used to teach our clients Western riding, and we often joke that you’ll see smoke coming out of his ears when he’s trying to figure out what is being asked of him as he is that eager to please his rider!