Sky was born in 1997 with a relatively unknown history. He is a big Percheron Cross standing a beefy 17 hands. Percherons are a draft horse from France and are known for their intelligence and pleasant disposition.

I wanted to be able to ride with Bridgett on occasion, but I’m a heavy guy with zero riding experience. Bridgett started to look around for a husband-proof horse and she looked at a few draft horses. She found a listing for one with a charity organization and asked if he was still available. He was not – but they said they had another older Draft Cross that was about ready to retire.

He had been working as a therapy horse for special needs adults and children. The organization is Horses of Hope located in Salem OR. Sky was getting to the point where he didn’t seem to enjoy the frequency of changing riders. The staff felt that he needed a single rider and a less stressful environment.

We took a look at Sky and found that he was the perfect horse for us. They required me to ride him (first time in the saddle in years) and only asked for a donation of $100. He is a tremendous horse for that small of a donation.

Sky is older – and can get cranky when he has to work, but he is patient and has been good for me. He and I often have a difference in opinion and he does his own thing when riding in a group. I suspect he has the therapy horse mentality still and doesn’t really listen to his rider preferring to follow the horse in front of him.

He does have a bit of a competitiveness with Stanley and two seem to vie for who is in front when we ride. Even then he rarely listens to me – I need to be more assertive.

He is second in the pecking order (sometimes he is first if he really wants to be). We had some issues with Amante when we brought him home and Sky can get pretty grouchy with him on occasion – but it’s more about keeping the youngster inline rather than aggressiveness.