More than just your best friend, Flash is basically an 1,100-pound Labrador. He’s goofy, playful, curious, eager to please, and almost always the first one to meet you at the gate.

Flash is a 4-year-old homebred gelding who was started at 3 and ridden lightly on trails while we gave his leggy self plenty of time to grow. This year he stepped into a regular job in our guided trail ride business and has become a consistent trail leader and a really fun all-around horse. He’ll confidently lead, follow, or bring up the rear and has seen plenty of real-world trail miles.

He lives outside in a herd and falls somewhere in the middle of the pecking order. He comes from late-maturing stock, and I fully expect him to continue filling out and maturing physically through his 5- and 6-year-old years.

Flash has been started and ridden Western. He goes in either a snaffle or bosal and is coming along nicely with his neck reining. He’s generally a pretty chill dude, but he is still four, so he is not a beginner horse. Every once in a while the baby brain makes an appearance and something ridiculous—like his own tail blowing against his legs—can suddenly become very suspicious. 😂 He’s never mean about it; he’s just still a young horse who occasionally needs someone capable of reminding him that life is, in fact, okay.

He has also had a taste of a little bit of everything around the ranch. He ponies colts and can be ponied. He has moved, sorted, and gathered cattle, although I wouldn’t call him particularly “cowy.” He’s dragged a sled and roping dummy, been ground-driven in a farm harness, and I think he would take very naturally to driving—I just don’t have anything to hook him to.

Although we’ve only ridden him Western, I actually think Flash could make a really fun English horse as well. We have a little log course in the pasture that we jump for fun, and he genuinely seems to enjoy it. He’s athletic, willing, and has the kind of personality that makes me think he could go in a lot of different directions with the right person.

He's only been barefoot in his short life but he's always been good for the farrier (sometimes a little playful). He hops right in the step-up stock trailer but he does make some noise if he has to travel alone.

Most importantly, Flash is our first homebred horse, so this is not an easy one for us to sell. He’s been part of the family since the day he was born, and we know him inside and out. But we also recognize that his potential is being under-utilized here. Our horses primarily need to be dependable trail and ranch horses, and Flash has more ability and enthusiasm than his current job really asks of him.

We’d love to see him land with someone who appreciates his goofy personality, continues his education, and gives him the opportunity to become everything we think he can be.

He’s a genuinely good young horse with a great foundation—and one we’ll be very sad to watch leave.