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Born May 22, 2003
to Koning-Friesian x FWF Cadence-Saddlebred |
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Prince Alerion (LARRY) turned 10 years old today. We have had 8 exciting years together and have ridden in over 13 states. I remember him carrying me across Death Valley and the Mojave Desert as a 7 year old and now we are busy exploring the east coast and all the riding it has to offer.
Thank you again for my wonderful horse.
Happy trails, Elizabeth H |
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Sent: Tuesday, May 31,
2011
Subject: Re: ALERION
This is Larry and I riding a few
weeks ago in Philadelphia's Wissahickon
park. His birthday was last Saturday, I can't believe I've only had
him for 6 years, it seems as if we've already lived a lifetime
together.
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Larry & Lizzy about 50
miles into the 130 mile, 5 day Death Valley Ride in California |
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Larry on
a tie line camped at Trona Pinnacles in Death Valley, CA |
Larry and I at our first
show
as a three year old in
hand. |
Seconds after dismount at
the
finish line after our 130
mile ride. |
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From: "Elizabeth Hardt"
Sent: Saturday, May 22, 2010
Subject: Prince Alerion
Hello,
Thank you for the beautiful horse head sculpture that arrived a few
weeks ago! I decided to email you back today since it is Larry's
7th birthday to date!
We recently did another century+ ride (about 130 miles) in the Mojave
desert (April 10-16). We rode from Barstow across the boarder to
Laughlin, Nevada. He was even better on this ride than the last one.
I let him race against a quarter horse and a mustang for about a
quarter mile and he was superb, a very balanced gallup and no
stumbles even in rocks and sand, about 95 miles into our ride! I have
been building him up very slowly and this is the first year I've ever
let him run all about because I think he just stopped growing. He is
very agile going up and down hills and has crossed obstacles and
climbed rock faces that many of our riding companions won't take
their sturdy quarter horses over. What I love about him the most is
his curiosity and willingness to try new things
A few weeks after that we completed a 70+ mile 4-day strictly women's
ride in our local area. We had an absolutely fabulous time and he was
the hit of the ride. He is always the tallest horse on the tie line,
especially when he is standing tall if he is watching me move around
camp.
He stands at 17.2 hands now and his body is filling out nicely this
year. Now that we've spent 2 years strengthening all that beautiful
bone he has I think we are ready to start jumping and cross country.
I'm really looking forward to pursuing dressage with him and
also taking jumping lessons.
We are moving to Philadelphia in a month becuase my fiance is
stationed in New York, and I am going back to school in Philadelphia
to get my veterinary technicians license. I am still planning
our route across the country, so we make our stops at fun bed and
breakfasts with trail access and in historic areas. It should be a
very exciting trip for Larry though I am sure he would much rather be
riding across the country than being driven. But I am going to
buy him a patch from every state we have ridden in and sew them on
his saddlebags. So far we have California, Arizona and Nevada.
After this summer we can add New Mexico, Texas, Oklahoma, Missouri,
Arkansas, and many more depending on our route...
Best, Lizzy Hardt |
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Sent: Tuesday,
January 12, 2010
Subject: Prince Alerion
Hello,
I bought Larry as a
present to myself after I had finished 9 months of chemotherapy for
stage 4 Hodgkins Lymphoma. I sent in my
deposit check exactly one month after my last treatment and it was
the best decision I ever made! I would never
buy a horse sight
unseen but I very strongly felt that somehow this horse was supposed
to be mine and I really needed him. I decided to send a blurb about
Larry back to his home because just a few weeks ago was my 5 year
cancer free anniversary, and Larry is now a beautiful and very
accomplished and well traveled 6 year old.
I have been meaning to write for years about Prince Alerion but
we've been having too much fun! I call him Larry because he is so
playful, he reminds me of the Three Stooges. His other nicknames are
Moose and Giraffe because he stands at 17.1 hands now. We have shown
walk trot classes hunters and dressage in local schooling shows, but
our favorite thing to do is go on long trail rides and adventures.
He went barefoot till he was five but now he has full shoes because
we do a lot of distance riding over very rocky terrain.
He gets a lot of attention on rides
because he is 17.1 hands, flashy, and dolled up western, and he is
always looking at something! We have been competing in ETI trail
trials where over the course of 2-5 hour ride you are judged at how
you maneuver through designated natural and man made obstacles. They
could be anything from opening and closing a gate without letting
go, crossing a river, walking over a bridge or tarps, backing down a
hill, or even pulling a very heavy tire.
Our latest accomplishment however was completing a
130 mile, 5-day ride through Death Valley National Park. It was the
first time we have done an overnight trip together. There were about
65 horses on the ride together, mostly quarter horses, arabs and
mules, and all had to tied to a tie line at night. Which I am sure
you can imagine could be very dramatic with all those horses
attached to one line! One of the cowboys joked that it would always
be easy to spot Larry on the tie line because all you had to do was
look for the dark spot in the sky. They also asked if I had a ladder
in my saddlebags...
The horses have to endure intense heat during the day
with temperature sometimes dropping 30 degrees at night. We could
spend 10 miles crossing a plain with heavy sand and brush and then
have to conquer a 6 hour rocky climb to get over a ridge and down
the other side to the next plain. We trained for about 6 months
climbing hills and marching up fire roads in the San Gabriel
Mountains of Los Angeles. And I am very proud to say we had no
fitness, dehydration, lameness or soreness issues. At the closing
ceremony when I was presented with a belt buckle I was told that no
horse of his breeding (Friesian X) has ever survived the trip. I am
glad they did not tell me that before the ride!
Larry is truly an amazing horse and my best buddy! I
really enjoy having a horse that I can do anything with. He is
capable of anything I decide to train him for. I cant wait to take
dressage lessons on him and do some serious showing, but first we
are going to do another 100 mile ride in April (from the Mojave
Desert in CA across the boarder to Nevada). And however he is
dressed, English or Western and covered in sweat and trail burrs and
trail dust he is always nice to look at. This weekend we are going
to Arlington Arizona to camp out and ride through some historic
landmarks. So we got our coggins test today and are headed back into
the wilderness!
Cheers,
Lizzy and Larry
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