My first memory was when my dad rented a horse and took me for a ride - I screamed the whole time because I wanted to ride by myself. I LOVED horses, and spent my early childhood collecting Breyer horses and watching anything remotely related to horses on the TV. When I was 8, my parents let me have riding lessons, and I chose English style, because by then I had decided that I wanted to jump. I pestered my parents non- stop about having a horse, but they were financially unable to grant my wish.
When I was 11, things were looking up a little money wise, and they offered to buy a lesson horse I had fallen in love with – a run- down old horse who could barely move. I didn’t care – ANY horse would have been acceptable. Luckily, my barn owner refuse to sell him to us (I think he knew he wasn’t what I needed) A few weeks later, we were looking at a house for sale, and in the back yard there was a small corral with a horse inside. I spent the whole time looking at him instead of the house, but I knew it was a lost cause. The next morning, my dad said he had thought about that horse all night, and did I want him? Stupid question.
We went to pick him with the barn owner, knowing NOTHING about the horse. They only wanted $100 for him, and even at that time, that was a ridiculously low price. Anyway, it turned out he was a 3 ½ year old quarter horse ridgeling (We didn’t find THAT part out until much later – we thought he was a gelding), that had never been ridden and had only rudimentary ground training.
Surprisingly, he never bucked me off or hurt me, and we learned together, with help from my riding instructor where I boarded. Everyone said I had to ride him western, because of his build, but I ignored them – I was GOING to jump.
Within 5 years, he and I were competing successfully on the national circuit in A and B shows. We had moved to a training stable, and my horse and I I were absolutely fearless – we would jump anything (we once jumped a tractor on a dare) My form wasn’t perfect – I didn’t have the patience for a lot of rail work. High jumping and riding bad and untrained horses was my specialty. I was good at taking OTTB’s and calming them down and training them to be hunters. I became an assistant trainer at the show stable, and enjoyed it, however, high jumping was my passion. The highest I ever jumped was 6 feet – bareback. I also gave lessons at the local stable.
When I got married, my husband was jealous of the time I spent at the stable, and jealous of my horse. If I knew then what I know now, I never would have gone along with it, but all the advice I got from everyone back then was “Are you going to let a horse come between you and your husband?” I sold my beloved horse to a young boy who loved him as much as I did and stopped riding. My husband bought me a show dog as a ‘consolation prize’, and I got into dog showing and then training. For the next 35 years, I trained dogs. I showed successfully i n the conformation, agility, and obedience rings, and trained and handled Search and Rescue dogs and therapy dogs. My Doberman was a registered Federal Canine – Search and Rescue; had her obedience and agility titles, was protection trained, and in only 3 shows, was pointed in the conformation ring. She also worked the ICU, burn, and oncology units at many hospitals. The ache for a horse gradually disappeared.
4 years ago, we moved to Kentucky to be with our kids, who had moved there from Southern Ca and had gotten married. My daughter purchased horse property with a BEAUTIFUL wooden barn. The first time I walked in, I felt like I was home. A month later, ignoring my husband this time, I decided to buy a horse. I planned on buying a 8-12 year old, well trained gelding for trail riding/ the ground looks harder than it did 40 years ago LOL. I planned on taking my time and getting a PPE and possibly a trial.
I had never particularly liked palominos, but for some reason, I saw an ad for a two year old palomino Quarter horse and I HAD to go see her, even though I knew a young, untrained horse wasn’t what I needed. I went to see her and bought her without even watching her under saddle and with no vet exam. An hour and a half after first seeing her, she was delivered to my daughter’s barn. For the second time, I have the ABSOLUTE perfect horse for me. She is calm, quiet, well behaved and loving. She NEVER spooks, and loves to be ridden. Believe it or not, my husband loves her too, and is planning on getting a horse of his own as soon as he can.
The first picture is the day I brought my first horse home. The second was after I had been showing him for a while, (I told you my form was lousy) I looked for pictures of us jumping high, but my albums are buried in the basement. I’ll try to find some later. The other pictures of are my new baby.