Road to the Tevis Cup #31: Introducing Fantazia’s pasture mate, Beroni

It’s high time to introduce Fantazia’s pasture mate Beroni. He’s been around since late November, when his breeder and our old friend, Bill Givens, sent him to us from Oklahoma. At first, Fantazia hated Beroni. The first time we took them out together (my son Rodrigo rode Beroni, I rode Fantazia), she danced around like a lunatic the entire time we were saddling up. For two weeks she pinned her ears and gnashed her teeth every time she saw him (I put Beroni across the fence from her). Then her nastiness turned into flirtation, and finally, after about three weeks, I felt good about putting them in together.

Unfortunately, I lost Beroni to colic just four months after I posted this. Read about it here: Saying good-bye to Beroni.

Now they spend every night together. Beroni is dominant, and Fantazia gets a lot more food, so he gets shut in a separate pasture when I feed in the morning (between 6:30 and 8:30, depending). I feed around five in the evening, and at 8pm I let him back in with her. They have not totally bonded (which is for the best), but they definitely hang out together. I figure that if I cannot fix Fantazia’s anxiety problem at rides, I can always bring Beroni to hang out at the trailer and encourage her to eat before long rides.

Beroni’s history

A long time ago (when the grass was green), my family became friends with the Givens family. Shirley and Bill Givens (WSG Morgans) bred and campaigned many talented horses. Many of these were descendants of my mother’s stallion, Carlyle Command. WSG Beroni was one of these. Born in 2005, Beroni was soon shipped off to be trained in the footsteps of his sire: to pull a cart. With big action and a bigger attitude, Beroni was a talented pleasure driving horse, if a bit too small for fashion. (And he is a dark brown, black-looking and therefore unremarkable color.) He spent most of his first eleven years in show stables across the country.

When we met Beroni…

We met Beroni in October, 2016, after Bill had brought him home when he’d failed to sell and was not working out at a stable dedicated to training young riders in equitation. Beroni is a great horse, but he is undeniably hot. (See my post defending hot horses, in which Beroni is mentioned.) He is also a charming personality with excellent ground manners (farriers and vets always love him). My son Rodrigo fell in love with him. He rode him as much as possible when we had him near us, boarding at my friend Melissa’s farm. Rodrigo and I showed him at a small Morgan show in Purcell. He won a class for me, was a bit naughty with Rodrigo.

I tried to sell Beroni for Bill, but had no success. He had a bad reputation in Oklahoma… “too hot;” “uncontrollable;” “dangerous.” Eventually, the pasture where we were keeping Beroni and another gelding became unavailable, so he went home. Rodrigo or I would ride him every time we visited Bill. One of the best things about Beroni is that he’s the same horse even if weeks or months go by between rides… He’s always a bit hot. I like that!

He ended up back at Bill’s, where Rodrigo or I would ride him every time we visited. And yeah, maybe he was hot, but Beroni is exactly the same horse, every time, even if two weeks or two months go by since the last time you rode him.

Coming to California

Bill’s daughter Stephanie and I often speculated on Beroni’s future when we realized he wasn’t going to sell. I said I’d be happy to take him when I moved, if I could. When Bill offered to send him to me once I was established in California, I said of course we wanted him! Then COVID happened, and horse shows didn’t happen–or fewer people attended. I didn’t think we’d see Beroni for some time. Fortunately Bill decided to wander around the 2020 Quarter Horse World Championship show last November, asking people about a potential ride to the West Coast. Even more fortunately, Michael Hoyt (Hoyt Performance Horses) agreed to give Beroni a ride to Moorpark, CA, just a three-hour drive for me. On November 24, my dad and I drove down to pick him up and bring him home.

Beroni in California

Beroni lives in the manure pile… Well, not exactly. He has access to a sheltered pen with a manger. he can also walk through various connecting pastures to the “manure pile” pen, where we dump the carts. It is contiguous with Fantazia’s pen, and I wanted them to meet over the fence at first. Except when he’s eating, he hangs out in the manure pasture so he can be near other horses. At night, of course, he’s with Fantazia.

Beroni’s current job(s)

Learning to be a trail horse

Although he doesn’t get as much work as Fantazia, Beroni does get ridden 2-3 times a week. I am gradually conditioning mentally and physically to riding in our foothills. He spent most of his life as a show horse, and the rest in nice, mostly flat and mostly groomed pasture of Oklahoma. He’s very willing to go out on the trail here, but he’s got a lot to learn. Rocks won’t eat him (so he doesn’t need to go straight up steep banks as if he were a goat). Nor will cattle. Or water–Beroni hates all water that doesn’t come out of a trough or automatic waterer. Even the tiniest stream is a challenge (but he never jumps!) unless he is following another horse.

Beroni is slowly getting fitter. He can do 3-6 miles, with up to 1,200 feet total elevation gain (at a walk) now. By the time Rodrigo comes home for spring break, he might be ready for a long slow ten miles. we’ll see. Ultimately, I will probably do at least limited distance or WDRA rides with Beroni. He can trot just as fast as Fantazia, even now when he is much less fit than she is.

In the two pictures on the right below, Beroni’s first trail ride here. On the right, a more recent ride.

Companion to Fantazia

Besides hanging out with Fantazia in their pastures, Beroni also is a … pony-horse. That is, I pony Fantazia from him. The lack of adjective is because he can be quite naughty. I need spurs to discourage shying and wheeling. But, he’s getting better. Once he knows the trail (up and down the driveway and road in this case), he’s fine. I also use Fantazia to pony Beroni. It’s killing two birds with one stone by exercising them both. Fantazia is better about ponying than Beroni is, as long as he doesn’t try to go faster than she is going.

On the left below, I am ponying Beroni with Fantazia. On the right, I am ponying Fantazia with Beroni.

We all love Beroni, and are very happy to have him! And, just in case I ever end up living on my own, it will be good to have a second horse. Horses are social animals, and do best with a pasture mate.

Unfortunately, we lost Beroni to colic after only a few months, in June 2021.

Saying good-bye to Beroni

And finally, a hilarious video of Rodrigo and Beroni at a clinic in Norman: