Mocha
Well-Known Member
In early April of 1993, after 348 days of anticipation, including a very uncomfortable (pre-camera!) stint in the barn during the (March in New England!) Blizzard of 93, an incredible chestnut colt was born to an elegant black tovero mare. We called him Cherokee War Dance to honor the Native American names in his pedigree – his mom NFC’s Cherokee Maiden, and especially his paternal grandfather Flying W Farms Wardance. Mom Cherrie was my very first mini, and this was her very first foal. (She has since raised 11 more, and is pregnant with #13.) This colt was also the first foal of my then young stallion Gingerbread Farms Jiminy Cricket, the Wardance son hand picked to cross with Cherokee Maiden. And this bright orange bundle of legs with the huge blaze and soft brown eyes was the 2nd foal I ever delivered (out of eighty something at last count), and part of my first foal ‘crop’ of three that year. A memorable night for me. My notes from Cherrie’s foaling diary tell me that he was 24 lbs, and my last words from that night, on the yellow legal pad page still bearing stains from various equine body fluids, are “He definitely has his Daddy’s disposition, a little pussycat. Beautiful head”. Beautiful head was underlined.
First impressions. How true, how telling.
I showed the colt we called ‘Dancer’ as a weanling on what used to be a very full New England AMHA show circuit that summer. We had mostly one day shows then, and he would stand obediently in the trailer with his mom til time for his classes. We pulled grands and reserves that year to much bigger yearling and two year old stallions, and everywhere we went, photographers approached me to ask if they could take his picture for their portfolios – that gorgeous head again. And mostly, he was a very well-behaved little guy. I laugh at my naiveté and energy back then – I don’t think I have shown too many babies since, especially boys!
One of his first fans was Bonnie Fogg, who met him at about 3 months of age when we shared an aisle at the Springfield (MA) show, and for years she told me she kept his picture on her desk. Dancer made friends everywhere, and during his yearling show season, he also caught the eye of Judy Smith, and Judy finally persuaded me to let him begin his grown up life with her and husband Larry at their TIZ A Miniature Horse Farm in Loudon, NH. She promised him a forever home and remained true to her promise. Although I have not ‘owned’ Dancer for 13 years, you may be able to tell that this special boy has always owned me.
Judy did amazing things with Dancer. He learned to do everything one ever does with a mini and then some, and did them all well, always anxious to please. He and Judy were a totally bonded team, and Dancer a perfect ambassador for the Miniature Horse. Dancer was well known and hugely popular in New England, and then a few years ago was given the opportunity to shine his light even further when he began making early spring trips to Maryland to Bob and Pam Walsh’s Rockinghorse Acres (RHA). I believe James even showed him successfully ‘right out of the pasture’ one year at age 10! Some incredible show horses were the result of those annual excursions to Maryland, and Pam captured the beauty of this stallion, and that ‘beautiful head’ in her gorgeous photographs.
Dancer consistently passed along his best traits to his 47 registered offspring. Whether they had illustrious show ring careers, or filled up hearts as beloved pets, or had wonderful babies of their own – he stamped his kids with his loving, intelligent nature, and often “the head”, and on more than one occasion, surprisingly spectacular color and blue eyes, thanks to Mom Cherokee Maiden. An outstanding example of this is RHA’s Lil Beginnings banner featuring Dancer’s son RHA Wardances Wild Tango.
A week ago Monday, Dancer began a battle with colic that he just could not win despite the best of veterinary care at the New England Equine Medical and Surgical Center. In Judy’s words, “he was the greatest horse I ever owned”. She told me that he was very, very tired, and she said goodbye to him on Thursday afternoon. I am so glad that Dancer and Judy had each other for all these years, and I know that she would not trade those years, despite the huge empty place he has left in her heart.
But Dancer also left a legacy that everyone who ever had a place in his life can be proud of. For me, he remains one of the finest horses ever to bear the Mocha prefix. I cherish his sire and dam, and his four siblings who will never leave here, and I cherish my memories of the little orange colt with the big blaze and that ‘beautiful head’. We’ll always love you, Dance Man.
Mocha’s Cherokee War Dance April 3, 1993 - October 25, 2007
Cindy Moses
Mocha Miniatures
First impressions. How true, how telling.
I showed the colt we called ‘Dancer’ as a weanling on what used to be a very full New England AMHA show circuit that summer. We had mostly one day shows then, and he would stand obediently in the trailer with his mom til time for his classes. We pulled grands and reserves that year to much bigger yearling and two year old stallions, and everywhere we went, photographers approached me to ask if they could take his picture for their portfolios – that gorgeous head again. And mostly, he was a very well-behaved little guy. I laugh at my naiveté and energy back then – I don’t think I have shown too many babies since, especially boys!
One of his first fans was Bonnie Fogg, who met him at about 3 months of age when we shared an aisle at the Springfield (MA) show, and for years she told me she kept his picture on her desk. Dancer made friends everywhere, and during his yearling show season, he also caught the eye of Judy Smith, and Judy finally persuaded me to let him begin his grown up life with her and husband Larry at their TIZ A Miniature Horse Farm in Loudon, NH. She promised him a forever home and remained true to her promise. Although I have not ‘owned’ Dancer for 13 years, you may be able to tell that this special boy has always owned me.
Judy did amazing things with Dancer. He learned to do everything one ever does with a mini and then some, and did them all well, always anxious to please. He and Judy were a totally bonded team, and Dancer a perfect ambassador for the Miniature Horse. Dancer was well known and hugely popular in New England, and then a few years ago was given the opportunity to shine his light even further when he began making early spring trips to Maryland to Bob and Pam Walsh’s Rockinghorse Acres (RHA). I believe James even showed him successfully ‘right out of the pasture’ one year at age 10! Some incredible show horses were the result of those annual excursions to Maryland, and Pam captured the beauty of this stallion, and that ‘beautiful head’ in her gorgeous photographs.
Dancer consistently passed along his best traits to his 47 registered offspring. Whether they had illustrious show ring careers, or filled up hearts as beloved pets, or had wonderful babies of their own – he stamped his kids with his loving, intelligent nature, and often “the head”, and on more than one occasion, surprisingly spectacular color and blue eyes, thanks to Mom Cherokee Maiden. An outstanding example of this is RHA’s Lil Beginnings banner featuring Dancer’s son RHA Wardances Wild Tango.
A week ago Monday, Dancer began a battle with colic that he just could not win despite the best of veterinary care at the New England Equine Medical and Surgical Center. In Judy’s words, “he was the greatest horse I ever owned”. She told me that he was very, very tired, and she said goodbye to him on Thursday afternoon. I am so glad that Dancer and Judy had each other for all these years, and I know that she would not trade those years, despite the huge empty place he has left in her heart.
But Dancer also left a legacy that everyone who ever had a place in his life can be proud of. For me, he remains one of the finest horses ever to bear the Mocha prefix. I cherish his sire and dam, and his four siblings who will never leave here, and I cherish my memories of the little orange colt with the big blaze and that ‘beautiful head’. We’ll always love you, Dance Man.
Mocha’s Cherokee War Dance April 3, 1993 - October 25, 2007
Cindy Moses
Mocha Miniatures
