My Short Story

I've loved horses as long as I can remember. I poured over every Marguerite Henry book, imagined riding Walter Farley's Black Stallion, and collected Breyer horses that I groomed so well the paint rubbed in places. My friends and I held mock horse shows winning ribbons made of scraps of fabric and puffy paint. From the waist up we were rider and our legs jumped the show jumps like champion steeds.

I was very lucky to grow up next door to a Morgan horse farm. I could see the horses through the deep woods of our yard playing in the pasture in the winter after the leaves had gone. My Aunt had an elderly QH that she offered for us to take and we found a neighbor open to pasture boarding. I had started taking a few riding lessons, saddleseat, the year before and I was over the moon at the idea.

Muchacho was everything a little girl's horse should be. Dead calm, very tolerant, ready to go anywhere I pointed him at his leisurely pace. When my dreams moved me towards becoming a really good rider I started lessons at a Dressage barn and began jumping.

A few years later I was riding anything I could, training some young Arabians, and working a job at a petstore to fund the habit in addition to working 2 years and a full summer at a large cat facility with tigers. A few bad riding falls, a concussion (yes, I was wearing a helmet at the time), some lost teeth requiring jaw surgery, a fractured spine, and riding became painful. Something to endure.

My Mom moved us to Georgia and we ended up living in a home that was an extension of a Paso Fino farm years past it's hay day. The farm owner allowed me to take on her older Paso Stallion, Flashy. He was so much fun and as easy on my back as a horse could be. Before long, teenage things consumed my life and I was living on my own at the age of 16. Horses weren't possible. They were a painful memory of something I loved but could no longer have. All of my previous dreams of a college equestrian team spring boarding me towards a great trainer and on to high caliber riding or being a jockey, were replaced by how to pay a bill.

I tried to fill the hole in a way I could financially handle, I bred diamond doves for awhile, did some sheep herding with my little Sheltie and started to feel better. I worked as a Vet Tech during most of this time so animals were everywhere all the time. I got my first Siberian Husky and really tapped into that competitive drive to do the best I could with my animal going into showing, obedience, working titles, and finally agility. Full circle I had gone from show jumping horses to the dog form modeled after that very same sport. I love this sport and these dogs still very much and I'm looking forward to starting a new puppy next year.

Then one spring day in 2010, my husband came home after meeting a client and proposed an idea. The client ran a hippotherapy center and needed volunteers to come ride and exercise the horses, was I interested? I had so long ago set down the dreams of horses that I didn't know if I could pick it up again. All of my tack and gear sold years ago when I let it go for good. Could I even ride anymore? Did I remember all of the small pieces that come together that is horsemanship? 15 years away from it, maybe it was easier to just stay away at this point. I have 5 kids now and the dream that was horses seemed like a lifetime ago. I was a professional dog trainer and should stick to what I've created... then again....

I started riding the therapy horses and began to love them all over again. I didn't remember a lot, it was pretty humbling (and continues to be) to re-learn all the things that were forgotten. But it was more good than bad and I enjoyed the time I could escape there.

Then the weekend after Thanksgiving, one year ago today, the post came that would change things forever for us. Horses, horses in dire straights who needed saving. Could I help? I could help, with lots of help from others, and my in-laws wanted to help and take a horse too. Promise came into our lives at that point, Beauty into their's, and started us down the path where we met Cheryl and three weeks later, Whisper.

With time, some fighting the system, and love, Promise and Beauty foaled in early springtime babies they were carrying through their ordeal, and they continue to do well in their retired horsey lifestyles.

One full year after they joined our lives, here they are today ; Promise and Pirate, Beauty and Star. Promise will always have a special part of me, seeing her with Pirate, carefree and happy is a kind of wonderful that's hard to explain. She is living the good life on acreage with her own tree stand, stream, and plenty of room to play with that crazy mule of her's at my friend, Maggie's place. Promise remains slightly lame on her right hind, but gets around the pasture just fine. Beauty and Star live on acreage of their own at my in-law's.