Some early photos of Zeuss 14 years ago before I got him and early days when I did have him.

There used to be a guy who would supply several horses for people to ride on organised trailrides - Morpeth medicine ride etc. He used to deal in horses..lovely bloke but some of the horses were dodgy! Zeuss was one of them.Here is one of him as he was when I used to turn up for a trailride and he was provided for me.There were 800 horses and by the end I was cantering among them and jumping logs..( not a bad feat for a nervous rider - a credit to Zeuss's temperament.

The gear was dodgy too- you were lucky if the saddle and bridle  held together!

Zeuss was one of the good horses.He did stumble badly though..right to his knees! The next year I decided I wanted a horse so I looked at 36 advertised in the paper over a period of months. With number 36 I was bucked off and knocked unconscious and decied I wouldn't look any more as it was too dodgy!
 Luckily for me the lady who owned Zeuss and used to let him be used for the trailrides reluctantly decided to sell him.She had a bad back and she fell off when he stumbled and she realised she couldn't risk her back riding any more.She offered him to me for a trail as she wanted him to go to a good home and knew I liked him.At the time I thought he was too ugly , quiet and stumbled too badly - all wrong! I didn't even know he had a start and snip as his forelock covered them ..you can see what he looked like when I rode him.
He turned out to be cute , very intelligent , trainable , comfortable , lovely nature , not as quiet as I expected. Mind you  maybe the 25acres of clover and only being ridden every 3 weeks had something to do with it!
I got him vet checked to see if he was a wobbler ( a condition that makes horses stumble). He didn't lunge at that time so I was running around leading him and fell head over heels.. The vet said " the horse isn't a wobbler but the rider is! ".
 His stumbling was partley due to bad shoeing , partly lack of fitness and inattention..He's good these days.
He only knew walk then canter as his trot was horribly uncomfortabel so everyone avoided it and he was hard mouthed ( never been broken in properly and didn't understand).I rode him in a parelli rope halter for a few years as a result and he went brilliantly. I could still use it now if I wanted..When he was going he used to look like a stick insect with his neck stuck out and spread out..I had a good photo to show it but I can't find it now. Here are some early ones of us.

 I used to ride in a big comfy stocksaddle.