Flying W Farms Prince Alerion

Born May 22, 2003 to Koning-Friesian x FWF Cadence-Saddlebred

Prince Alerion (LARRY) turned 10 years old today. We have had 8 exciting years together and have ridden in over 13 states. I remember him carrying me across Death Valley and the Mojave Desert as a 7 year old and now we are busy exploring the east coast and all the riding it has to offer.

Thank you again for my wonderful horse.

Happy trails, Elizabeth H

Person in equestrian attire sits on a horse with a blue ribbon, smiling at the camera. A house and another person are visible in the background.

A person wearing a hat rides a black horse on a rocky terrain under a clear sky.

Person sitting on a black horse in a forested area, with another person standing near bicycles in the background.

Person riding a black horse in a forested area; another person stands nearby with a bicycle.

From: Elizabeth
Sent: Tuesday, May 31, 2011
Subject: Re: ALERION
This is Larry and I riding a few weeks ago in Philadelphia's Wissahickon park. His birthday was last Saturday, I can't believe I've only had him for 6 years, it seems as if we've already lived a lifetime together.

From: "Elizabeth Hardt"
Sent: Saturday, May 22, 2010
Subject: Prince Alerion
Hello,
Thank you for the beautiful horse head sculpture that arrived a few weeks ago! I decided to email you back today since it is Larry's 7th birthday to date!

We recently did another century+ ride (about 130 miles) in the Mojave desert (April 10-16). We rode from Barstow across the boarder to Laughlin, Nevada. He was even better on this ride than the last one.

I let him race against a quarter horse and a mustang for about a quarter mile and he was superb, a very balanced gallup and no stumbles even in rocks and sand, about 95 miles into our ride! I have been building him up very slowly and this is the first year I've ever let him run all about because I think he just stopped growing. He is very agile going up and down hills and has crossed obstacles and climbed rock faces that many of our riding companions won't take their sturdy quarter horses over. What I love about him the most is his curiosity and willingness to try new things

A few weeks after that we completed a 70+ mile 4-day strictly women's ride in our local area. We had an absolutely fabulous time and he was the hit of the ride. He is always the tallest horse on the tie line, especially when he is standing tall if he is watching me move around camp.

He stands at 17.2 hands now and his body is filling out nicely this year. Now that we've spent 2 years strengthening all that beautiful bone he has I think we are ready to start jumping and cross country. I'm really looking forward to pursuing dressage with him and also taking jumping lessons.

We are moving to Philadelphia in a month becuase my fiance is stationed in New York, and I am going back to school in Philadelphia to get my veterinary technicians license. I am still planning our route across the country, so we make our stops at fun bed and breakfasts with trail access and in historic areas. It should be a very exciting trip for Larry though I am sure he would much rather be riding across the country than being driven. But I am going to buy him a patch from every state we have ridden in and sew them on his saddlebags. So far we have California, Arizona and Nevada. After this summer we can add New Mexico, Texas, Oklahoma, Missouri, Arkansas, and many more depending on our route...
Best, Lizzy Hardt

A person in a green shirt and red cap sits on rocky ground beside a black horse with a saddle and blue reins in a desert landscape under a clear blue sky.

Larry & Lizzy about 50 miles into the 130 mile, 5 day Death Valley Ride in California

A group of horses and mules tied to a hitching post stand on a dry, flat landscape with a mountain range in the background at sunset.

Larry on a tie line camped at Trona Pinnacles in Death Valley, CA

A person wearing equestrian attire stands next to a horse adorned with a red ribbon, holding its reins at an outdoor event.

Larry and I at our first show
as a three year old in hand.

A black horse with a blue feathered decoration and saddle, wearing a bridle, is standing beside palm trees. A red truck is parked in the background.

Seconds after dismount at the
finish line after our 130 mile ride.

Sent: Tuesday, January 12, 2010
Subject: Prince Alerion
Hello,

I bought Larry as a present to myself after I had finished 9 months of chemotherapy for stage 4 Hodgkins Lymphoma. I sent in my deposit check exactly one month after my last treatment and it was the best decision I ever made! I would never buy a horse sight unseen but I very strongly felt that somehow this horse was supposed to be mine and I really needed him. I decided to send a blurb about Larry back to his home because just a few weeks ago was my 5 year cancer free anniversary, and Larry is now a beautiful and very accomplished and well traveled 6 year old.

I have been meaning to write for years about Prince Alerion but we've been having too much fun! I call him Larry because he is so playful, he reminds me of the Three Stooges. His other nicknames are Moose and Giraffe because he stands at 17.1 hands now. We have shown walk trot classes hunters and dressage in local schooling shows, but our favorite thing to do is go on long trail rides and adventures. He went barefoot till he was five but now he has full shoes because we do a lot of distance riding over very rocky terrain.

He gets a lot of attention on rides because he is 17.1 hands, flashy, and dolled up western, and he is always looking at something! We have been competing in ETI trail trials where over the course of 2-5 hour ride you are judged at how you maneuver through designated natural and man made obstacles. They could be anything from opening and closing a gate without letting go, crossing a river, walking over a bridge or tarps, backing down a hill, or even pulling a very heavy tire.

Our latest accomplishment however was completing a 130 mile, 5-day ride through Death Valley National Park. It was the first time we have done an overnight trip together. There were about 65 horses on the ride together, mostly quarter horses, arabs and mules, and all had to tied to a tie line at night. Which I am sure you can imagine could be very dramatic with all those horses attached to one line! One of the cowboys joked that it would always be easy to spot Larry on the tie line because all you had to do was look for the dark spot in the sky. They also asked if I had a ladder in my saddlebags...

The horses have to endure intense heat during the day with temperature sometimes dropping 30 degrees at night. We could spend 10 miles crossing a plain with heavy sand and brush and then have to conquer a 6 hour rocky climb to get over a ridge and down the other side to the next plain. We trained for about 6 months climbing hills and marching up fire roads in the San Gabriel Mountains of Los Angeles. And I am very proud to say we had no fitness, dehydration, lameness or soreness issues. At the closing ceremony when I was presented with a belt buckle I was told that no horse of his breeding (Friesian X) has ever survived the trip. I am glad they did not tell me that before the ride!

Larry is truly an amazing horse and my best buddy! I really enjoy having a horse that I can do anything with. He is capable of anything I decide to train him for. I cant wait to take dressage lessons on him and do some serious showing, but first we are going to do another 100 mile ride in April (from the Mojave Desert in CA across the boarder to Nevada). And however he is dressed, English or Western and covered in sweat and trail burrs and trail dust he is always nice to look at. This weekend we are going to Arlington Arizona to camp out and ride through some historic landmarks. So we got our coggins test today and are headed back into the wilderness!

Cheers, Lizzy and Larry