Horses

My First Horse…

Name: KC (1997-2013)
Show Name: The Story So Far
Breed: Thoroughbred
Height: 16HH
Age: 3yrs when purchased, 11years when I gave her to my friend
Colour: bay
Nicknames: Goober, KC Mare
Discipline: Hunter
Favourite Treats: apples and carrots. She was so picky!

I got her as a 3 year old when I was in high school. I worked a part time job and saved all my money to pay the monthly board (plus some help from my parents). She was a dream come true.

Mostly I just rode for fun. I wish I had more pictures of her but no digital camera until near the end of my ownership plus a computer crash means not many good photos.

Our first summer together I decided to take her in some open schooling shows. They were relatively inexpensive and you didn’t need to invest in all the show clothes (breeches and a golf shirt were passable). Our very first show was when things started to go wrong. We were in the warm up ring when out of nowhere she took off bucking (think cowboy bronc riding). Nothing I did would stop her. Eventually I decided to bail, unfortunately I should have paid closer attention to where I was because I bailed onto the fence and ripped my breeches. Embarrassing! I found out after this episode that the place I bought her from had a dent in their indoor arena from her throwing someone.

We probably only showed in a couple more schooling shows after that. But I did occasionally have friends show her in schooling and Trillium shows. She was really bad for one of my friends in particular. I remember watching her in one show jump out of a line, hit the ground and go right into her bucking bronco routine. Needless to say my friend fell off.

In hind sight she was probably not the best first horse but she sure did teach me a lot. She was never as bad for me as she was for my friend. For every bad ride there were way more good ones. Unfortunately she still did a number on my confidence.

 

 

 

Current Horse…

Name: Tucker
Show Name: Tucked Away
Breed: Draft cross
Height: 15.3HH (I should stick him to be sure)
Age: 11(ish) years old
Colour: bay
Nicknames: Tuck, Bud, Fat Head
Discipline: Hunter
Favorite Treats: apples, carrots, munchies cheese flavoured snack mix, lick it (any flavour), cheese burgers, sour cherry candies… basically anything he can fit in his mouth.

Tucker is the horse I need and probably should have been my first horse (or at least one like him). I’m not going to say that I’m cured of my nerves but he’s such a confidence builder. He’s the perfect ratio of point and shoot, spunk and need for further training. Sometimes he makes me want to kill him though. He can be such a brat and if he doesn’t get what he wants or is bored, believe me when I say you’ll hear about it. Food is the fastest way to his heart that is if he doesn’t run you down to get to it.

He’s a draft cross so he doesn’t have the best movement. But we’re working on it. I’ll never expect to pin first in a hack (unless everyone else falls over) but by the end of the season last summer we were at least pinning and not coming last. His jump on the other hand (when I get him to the right distance and we’re not taking the long spot) is great. Such cute knees my boy has.

We’re definitely a work in progress. But we’ll get there.