VT Ivy wasn’t the sweetest mare on the planet. The old saying certainly applied to her that you tell a gelding, ask a mare, but discuss it with a stallion is oh so true, having had all three. If Ivy didn’t feel like me riding her, oh let’s say, when she got up in the morning, she would pin her ears back and swish her tail. If I tried to cajole her, it just made her more irritated, and occasionally I would land on the ground. It was “literally” her way or the highway. Ivy was a gorgeous red chestnut, tracing her background all the way back to War Admiral. Her sire’s name was Admiral’s Gin. Her mom was a Hanoverian, named Eventide. I registered Ivy as an American Warmblood.
I purchased Ivy at the Virginia Tech Warmblood sale in 2000, as a 2 year old. Ivy had another side of her though. She loved foals, and was a great mom to two foals until she moved on to her forever home. Anyway, I loved her and her independent thinking. I always thought I could keep her forever until I developed health issues that forced me into making a decision I didn’t want to make.