I rode other horses in the Seattle area, but nothing really sticks out to me. I eventually moved to Portland, and met the horse I would ride for three years running. His name was Matrix and he was a total shit head, but I loved him like he was mine. For all intensive purposes he was. His owner, who is now one of my closest friends, was a workaholic and didn't have time to get out and ride her horse, so I went out for her. He was a scrawny little appendix quarter horse and he acted like a crazy 2 year old TB. He spooked at everything, was a total punk on the ground, dumped me for no reason, and legitimately complained with his whole body if he had to do something he didn't want to. He threw me more times than I can count, spooked at everything in the whole world, and I gave him time and consistency. Eventually one day his brain just clicked and he turned into a completely different animal. Then Grace lost her job and sold Matrix to a wonderful lady named Anne who lives in San Diego. We actually got to ride him when we went to California together and it was so sad and good to see him. Matrix was the horse that changed my whole life, and I miss him terribly, but knowing he has a good home is so awesome.
Here we are together:
After Matrix, I rode a slew of horses for other people and spent a couple of days riding with this woman in Vancouver, WA who had a crazy Tennessee Walker mare, a calm TW gelding, and a one year old pain in the ass medicine hat paint colt that she won in a raffle. Of course, the paint gelding was deaf since he was free (I feel like it always goes that way), and of course I love the crippled and broken, so naturally I loved him immediately. His name was Gage and he was so responsive and smart. He was almost two and I spent some time working with him in the round pen using hand signals, and was totally shocked when he took to them very quickly. I wish I had bought him from her (she was debating selling him). He would have made a great pleasure horse. He was deaf, for crying out loud!!
I also rode a 17.2 hand TB/ Appy gelding named Tango for a girl I met on craigslist, and he changed my riding a lot, too. He was HUGE and I hadn't ridden for almost a year, so naturally he terrified me. We spent a lot of time walking and trotting, and eventually Tango helped me get my confidence back, and I am so lucky I got to spend time with him and his mom. If I didn't, I wouldn't have gotten my confidence back for a long, long time.
After Tango, I got a job working for a lady who was the CEO of a major natural foods chain riding her horses for her. I eventually had to sell all but one, and got SUPER attached to all of them as time went on. There were four of them when I started, and they all challenged me in some way.
The first challenge was Oreo, the pony. I couldn't really ride her because I am 5'10" and am not a delicate flower, so I called my friend Grace (who had Matrix) to come out and help me. My boss bought Oreo as her riding pony, and didn't have time to ride much, so she was the first horse we were asked to sell. Oreo was amazing. She was a Quarter Paint Pony, and she was fearless, responsive and SMART. We could take her anywhere, ride her in/ on/ over anything, and she was ready to go. She was 13 or so hands, and she was going to be awesome. We managed to get Oreo to balance herself out, and started doing some basic reining with her. She was amazing. Grace wanted Oreo for herself, but we didn't have the money. It was too bad, really. We ended up selling her to a 6 year old girl and her family, only to have them email me a month later and ask if we would buy her back because they couldn't afford to keep her. I wonder where Oreo ended up.
I DID sit on Oreo before we sold her on a dare. Nobody got hurt when this happened:
I fell in love with Acorn (now Denali) at first sight. I loved everything about him, and he loved me. Acorn was 15, underweight, and needed a tail brushing, but when we got down to all of that, he ended up shining. I think he was part Saddlebred, but all I knew was that he was at least 75% Arabian, and I have a soft spot for Arabians, as you may know. When I got on him, I didn't know what he would know, so I asked for a jog and then a lope, and he responded like a true pleasure horse. :) He knew barrel patterns, keyhole, how to move laterally, he went over cavaletti, and I rode him bareback in the pasture a lot. He was awesome for me, but a total snot for Grace, so I rode him mainly. He was the next to go up for sale, and I really heavily debated buying him on contract from my boss and using him as my everything horse. He was so awesome. I don't think I'll ever find a horse that awesome again. He ended up getting a great home with a 15 year old girl named Stacy. They just moved to Montana and he went along with them -- it was love at first sight for both of them, and I hope they have a thousand more years of good riding. She does Natural Horsemanship, which I'm not a fan of, but Acorn (whose name has been changed to Denali), seems to thrive doing those games.
Here's a rare picture of Acorn behaving for Grace:
Pretty boy:
Then there was Summer. She was the absolute BANE of my existence for almost the entire time I was working for CEO lady. She was crabby, stubborn, ugly, food aggressive and cantankerous. She would have a bucking fit every time I got on her, and she hated to work. I knew she had potential though, and as I got to know her, I fell in love with her. My boss' daughter used Summer as her training level eventing horse, and Summer could JUMP. The reason she was so snotty was because she was too smart for her own good, and once we unlocked the mystery of Summer, she was so much fun to ride. She was only 14.1 maybe, and my legs just dangled well below her stomach when I rode her bareback, but I didn't care at all. I wanted to find a good home for her (she was for sale too) and never ended up doing that because I couldn't sell her. She was eventually given away, and I miss her too.
Grace taking her over a cavaletti, which she clearly over-jumped:
Summy, mummy, wummy:
And then there was Danny. A perfectly matched horse after my own heart. Danny was as close to another Flash for me than any other horse has ever been, and I regret not taking him when given the opportunity. Danny was a Quarab. He was 15 hands and 15 years old, and a Steady Eddy. I taught a thousand of my friends how to ride horses on Danny, and he was my go-to guy for anyone who was fearful or nervous around horses because he was so gentle. I loved the ever-living crap out of that horse, and treated him like my baby. When I started working for the lady, he was 300 lbs overweight and had a bad coat, so he got baths and conditioner, and I started working him 3x a week. I have never met a horse with more try than Danny, and I don't know if there is one. He did everything I asked him to do, and was a great learner. By the time I quit that job, he knew where all of his legs were supposed to go, was fit enough for flying lead changes, neck reined like a dream, and had a beautiful, floaty extended trot. My boss was selling her property, and that's why all the horses were getting booted off the property, but Danny was her special Mister too, and she didn't want to sell him. She did, however, flat out offer him to me, and I would have taken him if I could have (there were many talks with Jennifer about it), but I had just graduated college and wasn't sure where I was going to end up. Sadly, I am still here, and am kind of glad I didn't take him because I am broke, but I bet I could have made it work. Too little too late, and I have no idea where Danny is. Maybe with his owner, maybe not. I don't think there will ever be another horse in my life like him, but I'd rather not doubt the possibility. ;)
I have a thousand pictures of Danny.
I have no energy to write about my current horse (that I share with Grace). She is present, so I feel like constantly updating about her is enough. I also ride my friend Bree's horse, Luna, but she is not life changing -- she is a jerk. Luna, not Bree. :)
My next update is probably not going to be about horses.
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