Horse Shopping over the years...

SIERRA
When you are 10 years old and have spent the last 4 or so years begging for your very own horse, it is very hard to be objective when the opportunity to get one finally arises. I think my instructor wanted me to get him because he was owned by a friend of hers… He had been bought at auction, hadn’t really worked under saddle for years, and was lame due to recurring abcesses. Quite a catch, right? But, I was 10 and desperate. To me, he was perfect. You’d never seen a horse with a kinder eye, a richer coat. He was a gentle giant and I fell in love immediately. I don’t know why anyone thought it was a good idea to le me buy a lame horse, but I’m forever grateful that they did.

DUSTY
Great Barrington was the last stop before the slaughter house for a lot of unfortunate racehorses. Of course, I didn’t know that then. My friend was picking up a horse that day, and I tagged along with her and my instructor. I still had Sierra at the time, but my eye had begun to wander.
My instructor was the first to see her. Pressed up against the back of her temporary stall, she looked small and defeated, ready to accept her fate. Thankfully, my instructor had a soft spot for unwanted animals, and convinced the trainer to let her take the small bay mare off his hands. When we got back to the barn, I was the one who led her to her new stall, gave her food and water, and told her everything would be ok.
Over the next few months, I got to assist in her transition from racetrack reject to riding horse. She turned out to be a little firecracker, and while I thoroughly enjoyed her, my instructor apparently didn’t feel the same. One day, she wasn’t there when I showed up at the barn. She had been traded. For a paint colt. The people who took her planned to breed her and use her as a hunter horse.
Around a year later, I was in the market for another horse. I had just decided against a young Appy cross when my instructor informed me that the little bay mare she had offloaded a year ago was for sale. She hadn’t thrown a paint foal and she was too hot for the hunter ring, so the people needed to get rid of her. I went to try her, but I had already decided that she would be mine. From the first day I had met her, I knew she was special, and I still believe that her and I were meant to be together.

KESTRAL
The end of my partnership with Dusty was gut-wrenching. We had soared so high, only to come crashing down because of a silly little cataract. I didn’t do much in the process of purchasing the next horse. I was in Ohio, and my dad and I asked my trainer to do the bulk of the shopping for us.
Once she had narrowed the list down to about 4 horses, I flew home and tried them out. He was actually from Rochester, NY, but he was in town for an event, and his owners brought him over to my trainer’s place for me to try. I had tried 3 horses the day before, and had rejected 2 of them already. The 3rd horse I had been quite smitten with, but as soon as I got on Kes, I knew he was the one. Every once in awhile, you get on something that you feel like you’ve known for ages, and Kes was that horse for me.

TANGO
When I first saw Tango, I thought he was kind of goofy looking. He was all legs and ribs, with a scruffy mane and no topline. I couldn’t imagine he was going to be very nice, but I watched him go anyway.
Under saddle, he was obviously green, but seemed like a good guy, so I popped on and gave it a go. I hadn’t really ridden in awhile, so I was a little rusty and a little nervous, but he made me feel right at home. He tried hard and didn’t get flustered when we couldn’t understand each other, but I was truly sold when I completely screwed up a jump approach – we were so crooked that almost any other horse probably would have just run by the fence thinking that I didn’t want to go over it – and he self-adjusted and quietly jumped the fence. With his heart of gold and incredible athletecism over fences, I figured we’d be unbeatable. Too bad we all know how that ended…


DEE!!
Now, I’ve got Miss Dee. My great big baby mare, who looks like a yak in the winter and has a serious attitude. She and I have had some issues, there’s no doubt about that, but I honestly believe that she is kind of perfect for me. We’re quite similar in a lot of ways. One of my friends once said to me, (something along the lines of) “You come across as such a prickly person when someone first meets you.. But once someone gets to know you, you’re more like a week old gummy bear – kinda hard, but sweet.”
And that’s why Miss Dee and I get along now. I think we’ve realized that we’re both week old gummy bears who have to stick together.

No more Tango :(

Well, it's official. As of last night, Tango no longer belongs to me. He found a wonderful home in NH where he'll get to rehab at his leisure and then spend his days trail riding and doing minimal flat work. I'm really pleased with the situation he found, but it was still really sad to watch him disappear down the driveway in someone else's trailer. I spent two years training, bonding with and trying to fix this horse, and even though he caused me headache and heartache, I'll still miss him terribly.
The silver lining to this, though, is that now I can really start looking for a suitable project. I missed my chance at Suffolk, but I feel confident that I'll find something before long.

Back in The Saddle!

I got on Tango for the first time in twelve weeks today.. very exciting. I don't think he's ever been quite so excited to see his bridle - he tried to put the bit AND noseband in his mouth. I sort of half expected him to be a beast when I got on him, but figured it was time. Much to my surprise, he couldn't have been better. We walked for ten minutes on a long rein, and he was perfectly content to just wander around the ring. Maybe now that he's starting work again I'll be able to place him somewhere.
I had a lovely wander around equine affaire yesterday. Watched the bruce davidson clinic, did some poking around the breed pavilion and drooled over all the stuff that I can't buy in the other buildings. Tango did, however, get a nice treat out of my visit.
Unfortunately, there's not much to update about these days. I do have pictures from today though.

Fall

Wow, we're already into fall, and I'm still stuck with my very handsome, very useless boy. He's finally getting turnout in a very small paddock, so I guess that's a plus. The leg actually looks great - no swelling, no heat and he's jogging sound on it. Next step? GET RID OF HIM!
In other news, I've begun working evenings for an accomplished dressage rider up in Washington. She deals mainly in spanish horses, and has 5 stallions and 3 geldings. They're all lovely and nice to handle, and I'm really enjoying the job so far. I've got some pictures of the boys here:


Novador


Taz


Amado


Amado


Taz


Rascal


Kiko


Novy


Novy


Ilyad

BAD NEWS BEARS

Well, Tango and I took a trip to Belmont on Tuesday to pay a visit to the Ruffian Equine Medical Clinic and finally get to the bottom of this lameness thing. As it turns out, he isn't actually LAME... just limited. He apparently had an old injury to the check ligament that was either really terrible or just never given the care to heal properly, because the ligament is now very thick because of scar tissue and the scar tissue has actually ADHERED to his suspensory. DAMNIT! I've now found myself with a horse that can't jump anymore, since jumping is going to pull on that scar tissue and make him sore.
Looking at that ultrasound with Nancy and the vet and coming to the slow realization that I can't fix him absolutely broke my heart. I would have given anything to be able to fix this horse... I would have taken any amount of time and given him any level of care if someone told me it would make him OK, but instead I'm left helpless with the knowledge that I need to find him a more suitable home... a home where someone can pet him and adore him and take him out on the trails... maybe do some flat work, too. I guess the only thing that's good to know is that he isn't in pain... this thing up front is just happening because he's lost so much elasticity in the ligaments.
I've had to sell horses before... Dusty needed a less challenging home when she went blind in one eye and Kess decided he didn't want to be a preliminary horse... Both of those were hard for me, but I at least felt like I'd gotten the chance to TRY with them... I spent 4 years with Dusty and we got a chance to to all sorts of marvelous things together.. we both finished our first Training level together... hell, we finished our first recognised NOVICE together. That mare taught me all sorts of things about riding softly and efficiently. She gave me confidence. Most of all, she gave me brilliant memories and I couldn't ask any more of her... she gave me all she had and it was time for her to do that for someone else. It also didn't hurt that Jen bought her, so I was going to be able to keep seeing her.
couple photos from our time together:

Dusty and I as Black Riders for Halloween one year with my friend Helen and her horse Benji

Millbrook

Ethel Walker stadium... on our way to 2nd place

Kess was a totally different story. We had a great, short run. I got him as a Novice packer who wanted to do more, and more we did. Our biggest highlight was finishing 2nd in the TR division at Stuart, and I was SO excited about him. However, with him going lame at Fitch's Corner, and me going lame as soon as he was rideable again... we had some issues. I loved him dearly, and had a blast with him, but I guess I never quite felt the same sort of connection with him that I did with Dusty.. probably because I wasn't the one who trained him. He is now happily trucking around Novice with a little girl and I'll get to see him run when I go up to Millbrook next weekend! Anyway.. here are some fun photos from our time together:

Stuart XC

Meeting santa at LEC!

Stuart SJ

Kess and Gunner - his love at Lake Erie


I was able to handle selling those two because I felt that we'd at least gotten a chance to perform together and have some fun. Maybe that's why I'm finding this so hard with Tango... I feel as if the two of us haven't ever gotten a chance to do anything. I absolutely LOVE this horse... Dusty was sort of green when I got her, but Tango was VERY green... everything we've accomplished has been because of our teamwork. And let's not even mention that he is the sweetest, most talented horse I've ever met... I had such high hopes for him, and it really feels like my heart is breaking when I think that I'll never get to experience his BEAUTIFUL jump again, and that he'll never get to enjoy it again... because he LOVES to jump. This isn't as hard as saying goodbye forever... not by any means... Sierra gets the medal for the hardest goodbye... but it's just the fact that he's SO talented and SO lovely and he'll never get the chance to really prove it. I can't even type anything more because it's just making me upset. The blog isn't finished... I'll keep updating on Tango until he finds a new home, and then I'll start up anew once I find a new project... but I'm done for now.