Breeches, Bits, and Bridles

During the summer of '96 I leased a mahogany bay Thoroughbred mare named Hollyhalo, or "Holiday." She is 16.2 hh, which was quite a change from Gypsy. She was raced on the track for a few years, but was retired after she had a leg injury. She is fully recovered, but is still not fit for racing anymore, so she is now owned by Derbyshire Farms, where I was assistant Stable Manager. Holiday was still a bit green, and had the tendancy to "race" when you ask for a steady pace at the trot or canter. She improved much over the summer, and actually made the downward transitions with little trouble. I showed her in a Dressage show half-way through the summer. We performed three walk-trot tests. She did an excellent job, especially on her first test. However, our competition was somewhat stiff. We placed 7th out of 7, 6th out of 7, and 7th out of 8. But, all in all, it was a good day. I worked with her all summer, and in September I showed her Green-As-Grass in an MCTA event. We took third place out of 7! Talk about improvement! We went from little jumping experience to that! I was impressed.

During the Spring '98 semester, my final semester at MSU, I took a Horsemanship class which allowed me to ride twice a week. I worked with an Arabian gelding named Narrative living at MSU's Horse Teaching and Research facility. He was four or five, and was originally trained to race until he developed bowed tendons. He was then being trained for dressage, but he developed cysts in his stifles so they decided to turn him into a lesson horse. I was the only person to really work with him that semester, and he really improved over the course of four months. Unfortunately, I don't have any pics of Narrative because my camera decided not to wind my film.

I also joined the Equestrian Team for the '97-'98 school year and competed in IHSA (Intercollegiate Horse Show Association) shows. I helped out with the shows we held at MSU, and got to ride every other week for practice. It took some getting used to riding hunt seat, and my trainer went nuts when I came home and she had to correct it! *grin*

The summer of '98 was an eventful one. I graduated from Michigan State University in May with a BS degree in Animal Science with an equine emphasis. I moved back home with my father for a month and a half, and during that time I adopted a horse named My Runnin' Kelly, Kelly for short, who became my project. He's a bay Thoroughbred gelding, about 9 years old at the time, and somewhere between 15 and 16 hands high. He was owned by a man who boarded him at Derbyshire. In exchange for cleaning his stall, I was able to ride Kelly at my leisure. His owner was quite pleased with this arrangement, as this meant he got the stall cleaned and free training for his horse. At any rate, Kelly was a bit attention starved and slightly psycho when I first got on him. Rearing and bucking were some of his favorite activities. But attention, lots of lunging, earned us a fourth place finish in the Derbyshire Farms USCTA Horse Trials, Restricted Novice class.

On July 1, 1998 I moved again, to Wind Spirit Farm, a small private stable in Westphalia, MI. I lived there until September 1999. I was responsible for the care of 9 horses, as well as their training and general farm maintenance. I also taught lessons to a few local girls. I experienced my first foaling there, and became involved with the Belgian Warmblood Association in showing Venturo at two Keurings. Sadly, I was unable to continue working there due to my pregnancy. I would like to get back into the horse industry eventually, but the current family situation makes that difficult.

On Sept 9, 2000 a new horse came into my life. She was a three-year-old Standardbred. She had no name, no papers. She was up for auction at the Stockbridge Horse Auction, and I fell in love with her. For a mere $375, this sweet girl became my first official equine companion. She was a dark bay, with no white markings, and she stood about 15 hh. She was quite underweight, and working her way through a bout with strangles, but she was a sweetheart that just won me over immediately. Over the course of the next year, she filled out nicely and was a wonderful trail companion. We managed to keep her mostly in shape through the winter, and spring of 2002 brought the promise of local 4-H shows. Unfortunately, spring also brought the return of her colic promblems. The combination of wacky Michigan weather (80 degrees one day, 35 the next) and fresh grass proved too much for her sensitive digestive system. After returning from a wonderful 2 hour trail ride (during which we'd had no problems) on Sunday, April 21, Epona fell to colic. It was a gas colic, and she quickly swelled with bloat. After several days of ineffectual treatment, I made the hardest decision I'd ever had to make. Epona was euthanized on Friday, April 26, 2002. She was only 5, and had so much living ahead of her. At least I know that I gave her a wonderful life for the short time she was with me.

On January 3, 2003 a new horse came into my life. Zephyr is a 7 yr old unregistered Thoroughbred mare that was rescued by Horses' Haven back in the winter of 97/98 from a farm in Davison, MI (click here for the story of that rescue). She ended up back at Horses' Haven because her previous owner tried to sell her, which is in violation of their adoption contract. I was lucky enough to be approved to adopt this lovely mare and finally brought her home as a Yule gift from my husband. Zephyr has a lot of spunk, but she's a beautiful girl and a joy to ride. I'm so glad to have the opportunity to give this girl a loving home.

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