The Animals

Of course, my ride down the bridle path wouldn't be possible if it weren't for all of the wonderful horses in my life. First, let me show you the horses from my past.

This is a horse I rode last summer when I did my first working student. His name is Iri, and he was a super cool little boy. His story was that he was bred by the Amish, but they sold him because he was too slow and lazy, so a riding school bought him. They sold him because he was too slow and lazy. A dude string bought him, but they sold him because he was too slow and lazy. His current owner bought him, then had to put him in training because he became extraordinarily hyper. I loved him and called him the fairy tale pony.

This is the second horse I ever bought. He was a 16.2 hh quarter horse I renamed There Hugo. At his old home, he was kept in a tiny pen that was in the sun 24/7 (illegal in Arizona), never turned out, and ridden 13 years in the last year they owned him where he went from his stall to a 4 hr gallop in the wash then back to his stall. He was a super chill boy, and a genius. He could open gates, so to separate him for grain, we would lock him into a pen, and when he was done, he would let himself out and close the gate behind him. His dressage wasn't bad, and judges said he was "warmbloody" looking. Unfortunately, he never got the hang of jumping. It was like chucking a bag of cement over fences, and he would always land in the middle of an oxer. So, the woman who bought him LOVES him. He is now the head fox hunt horse in Minnesota, and when he isn't being ridden, he's turned out in several grassy acres full of trees.

This is Sgt. Pepper. He was the first horse I ever bought. We got him eight years ago, when he was eight. He was bred for barrel racing, but they said he was too slow (I think they just couldn't get the speed out of him), so they sold him. His owner before me loved him to death and did a lot of 4H with him. He became the top 4H horse in Ohio for western and English pleasure, I believe. He was also a lesson horse because no one could get him to canter. Sadly, she outgrew him and had to sell him, so I bought him for western pleasure. He hated it so much. No other horse could approach him in the arena, his ears were always pinned, and we had to stick him in training for a couple months to get him good. Not to mention, it took three years for him to bond with me. He genuinely missed his old owner and hated me with every fiber of his being. My parents almost sold him several times because he threw me a lot (his
buck is insane), and everyone believed he was dangerous. Then I discovered the joys of gymkhanna. We had a lot of fun with that, so that was what I did when we moved from PA to AZ. That was also when he clicked with me and we became a team. We were one heck of a team. I joined 4H out here and began to do ranch sorting. We loved it. Apparently you lose points if your horse bites the cow... The barn I boarded at had an Eventing instructor (an awesome person, Manuela Prophe), so I gave it a try. At first, we were awful, but the moment I did cross country, I knew that I would forsake all other disciplines and pursue Eventing. At our first event ever, we were second after dressage, held it through stadium, and would have won if it weren't for a refusal on cross country. We won the next one. And the one after that, and that's what our career became. Everyone learned who I was. Everyone was amazed that this girl and her once western pleasure horse were doing so well. We advanced from Beginner Novice quickly, but a bowed tendon set us back for almost a year. He had a full recovery, and we came back strong. We repeatedly won Novice and moved onto Training. That's where our career slowed down. I wasn't a good enough rider at the time to take a horse with
his build further, despite him having the heart. So I began to look for another horse, and his career slowed down. He also has arthritis, and I don't want to ride him into the ground, so now we just go for trail rides and gallops. He hates the arena, but he loves the field. I hope to have him for life...

Above is Pepper and my other current horse, Diamond Martini (Marti). Yes, they're love birds, except Marti always cheats on him... Shhh..... So, Marti is my "project" horse, and the one I have major plans for. I got her October 2010, when she was 4 yo. She came from Long Island through a broker on http://bitsandbytesfarm.com/, a site that sells OTTBs. She only started twice, once was at Belmont Park, but she came in last both times, so her owner decided to sell. He was very picky about where she got to go, so I felt honored when he decided I could have her. In one of her racing videos, you see her and hear her name as she leaves the gate, but she falls so far behind she isn't in the camera for the rest of the race. What a champion, haha. But she's perfect for me. I hope to have her going Prelim within a year, which seems very likely, and means I'll have owned her for three years and already have her further than Pepper. She's going to go to college with me, and I'll see where we go. I expect it to be far.