How my horse, Honey, saved my life and helped others.  

UPDATE: If you would like to read her published story, which was released for sale in May 2004, please visit you local book store and pick up Horse Miracles, Inspirational True Tales of Remarkable Horses by bestselling authors, Brad Steiger & Sherry Hansen Steiger.  Honey is not only featured on the back cover, but she also has a chapter of her own starting on page 131.

February 1, 2003

In May 2001, I purchased my very first horse, which of course is a Quarter Horse.  She's a Red Dun Chestnut Mare I named Honey. Before I bought her, she hadn’t had much attention and wanted nothing to do with human affection.  Her previous owner took care of her medically but not emotionally.  Once and a while someone would tack her up, ride her hard, and throw her back into the paddock full of sweat.  Because of this, it took me almost two months to finally get her to "walk" on a trail ride, rather than a hyper fast trot. 

 Just two weeks after I purchased her, she came down ill.  I was brand new to the horse industry.  I even had to learn to muck her stall from the previous owner.  So when she got sick, I also jumped right into learning how to take her temperature, check her vitals, give her medicine and comfort her.  I spent most of my time in her stall with her until she was better.  As worried as I was about her, this turned out to be quite a good bonding experience with Honey.  Now she realized that I was there for her and would take care of her.  Shortly thereafter she proved her affection for me by literally saving my life from a crazed charging horse.  

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 While Honey was sick, her halter had gotten a mess and I wanted to get her a new one.  So, one day I went into the field, gave her an apple and removed her old halter.  The problem was, that there was another horse in the field that had come from an abused home and was, well, not very friendly.  He would charge at you for no reason and was always biting at others.  He was not far from Honey.  I had a friend with me who said she would distract the other horse if it looked like there was going to be any trouble.  Sure enough, that horse had spotted me and was paying no attention at all to my friend.  I could hide behind my horse no longer and had to make a run for it.  I took a deep breath and walked away trying to act as if all was well; at this point I had no other choice.  My friend described the look in my horse’s eyes to be saying, as she charged at the other horse to keep him away from me, “don’t you dare touch my owner”!  That was when I knew Honey had accepted me and I was no longer afraid to do anything with her.

 When I first bought Honey, I was a very green rider.  I had some English lessons under my belt, but only at a walk and trot and had done some guided trail rides.  I was spending so much on my lessons and trail riding, especially after going back home to get my children to bring them on yet another trail ride, that it actually worked out to be cheaper for me to purchase my own horse.  Also, my last trail ride was on a horse that threw a little buck and struck fear in me for the first time.  So, at this point, I was quite nervous about riding a high-strung mare. I had no experience whatsoever in the training of horses and she had only the basics under her belt as well.  However, she was quite patient with me and very forgiving.  We learned together how to get along and enjoy the trail rides again.  Accomplishing this feat was an incredible experience that boosted my confidence immensely.  Especially when I had heard things through the grape vine that my previous instructor said I had no business buying a horse, and that I couldn’t even ride.  However, Honey and I had bonded and nothing was going to stop us now.

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 The first time I ever cantered was on Honey’s back, as was my first fall.  She stopped immediately and waited for me to get back up.  I got on her, and off we went.  Before long, we were riding down the road, across the highway, past loud and large vehicles, and into a state park where we went on hours of trails, learned to jump logs together, even ran down the beach in the off season.  There were times where I would get lost and just drop the reins and say, “take us home Honey”.  She did every time.  We trusted each other, and she would never do anything to hurt me. 

One day, when she should have bucked me off due to the immense pain of a horrible bee sting she was getting under her saddle blanket, all she did was twitch and shiver and reach her head back careful to bite the bug and not my leg. After the trail ride I saw the incredibly huge welt on her side and immediately comforted her.

 There was also another time when a friend I was riding with got us lost.  She was the more experienced rider, but only Honey was brave enough to take the lead and get us out of there.  My friend and her horse became much too nervous, especially with some of the steep embankments.  At one point we got caught up in some very thorny vines that tangled up in Honey’s legs, cutting her.  I hopped off her, broke away what I could, and guided her carefully out of those thickets, with her poor legs bleeding from the cuts.  Again, it would have been a natural response for her to buck me off her back due to the pain, but she only shivered, and was careful to keep me safe.  Thanks to Honey, she did find our way out of those woods and again saved the day.

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 I decided to see what Honey liked to do and we would try things.  Her favorite, of course, is trail riding, and we figured out quickly how much this little mare liked to jump.  I asked a friend of mine to help me trailer her, which I had never done before and she hadn’t been in a trailer for over 7 years.  She followed me right in and off we went to our very first schooling show.  She didn’t really have the head set for western pleasure and was quite nervous, but still, she trusted me and we did our classes.  This was both hers and mine very first show ever, and I had only ever been to watch one show.  We took 3^rd place in equitation, 4^th place in western pleasure and 4^th place in trail class.  This amazed me to no end, especially because I had to literally teach her how to back between two poles just before entering that trail class.  I had only wanted to take her to a show and enjoy the experience, I had no idea we’d be coming home with ribbons that day. Everything we had done for that show was only what we had learned together. I couldn’t afford lessons, so we became a self-taught team. 

 I’ve always wanted to give my girls the dream of growing up with horses, as it was a childhood dream of mine as well.  I worked my hardest in school to get good grades so when I turned thirteen I could go to a summer camp, called El Rancho De Paz, where I could ride horses all week.  I finally did get to go to that camp, but only once, as it was costly.  Now I have been lucky enough to find a wonderful horse that is quite diversified in her skills. Even more wonderful, is that my two girls are getting to experience the joys of having a horse from her. 

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 She is so good with children and somehow knows to be slow and careful with them.  My youngest daughter, Christina, has ADHD and has gone through a bout of Petit Mal Seizures and a mild case of Turrets Syndrome.  When she rides Honey, she is very good at relaxing her seat and maneuvering Honey in a nice walk and gentle trot around the ring.  Sometimes Christina wants to canter like her sister and mommy does, but she’s not always in the right frame of mind to do so.  Well, somehow Honey knows this and no matter what Christina does will not canter if she doesn’t feel Christina can handle it.  On good days, when Christina is in the right frame of mind, Honey will do the gentlest loping canter ever.  Honey is also quite good with my oldest daughter, Amanda.  Amanda loves to canter and wants to barrel race like her mom this upcoming season.  Honey seems to know what Amanda can and cannot do, and will actually test her to make her do things right.  I am ever so amazed when I watch my children ride Honey and how she is with them.

 One day this past summer (2002), I brought Honey to my house for a pony party for the neighbor’s daughter.  I had always given pony rides to my friend’s children who would come to visit her, so I knew she would be good at the party.  However, I wasn’t sure how she would react to the large number of people, all the noise and the incredibly large jumping balloon they had set up in the yard.  I roped off my yard making a nice paddock for her on this very hot day.  When we first got there, I had to hose her off and cool her down.  Then I gave her some treats and let her graze. She wanted nothing much to do with grazing, she would only watch all the children.  She is quite a social horse. She was not nervous in the least and acted as if she had done this a hundred times at my house.  Then it came time to tack her up and give the kids their pony rides.  She was so incredibly gentle with them; she almost looked up at them after every step to make sure they were ok.  She was so careful about where she put her feet and walked so gently, it nearly brought tears to my eyes.  After the rides, I took off her tack and washed her off again.  The children lined up to give her treats and get their pictures taken with them.  I had taught her to say yes and to bow, so she put on quite a show for them.  She was the hit of the block.

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The next event we tried was barrel racing.  My ferrier’s wife is a barrel instructor, so I picked up a couple of lessons from her, which was all I could really afford.  After that we practiced on our own as best we could.  She loves it and is so smart.  She picked it up right away.  As a matter of fact, at our very first race, she had to be right by the gate watching the races.  I swear to this day that she is figuring things out and picking up tips from watching.  Our first race we actually placed 7^th in the 4D but got our very first point.  We race through the NBHA. 

 I had always thought she would do quite well at pole bending because of how quickly she would “hop” back and forth if you moved the reins from side to side.  At our last race of the season, we decided to try it.  A friend of mine wanted to try it too and signed us both up.  We stood outside the gate and watched the pattern, as I didn’t really know the full pattern.  Honey watched intently.  I thought for sure she would do like the horse before me and run for a barrel that wasn’t there simply because we had done that 3 times previously or spook at the poles, but she didn’t.  She flew in there as if she had done this a hundred times before.  We flew up the center, weaved in and out of the poles up and back.  Then she gave it her all and flew to that gate.  She loved it!  We took 1^st place in the 3D! 

 Honey is an amazingly special horse in my eyes.  You see, we started out the season of barrel racing together, but it was then put on hold due to an unfortunate event in my life that happened back in January 2002.  I suffered from what some believe to be a stroke, but most doctors are not sure what happened.  However, I did suffer right-sided weakness, memory issues, thought process and definite balance issues.  I went through several months of physical therapy, occupational therapy and speech therapy to recover from this, but my best recovery came from none other than my horse.  She was so patient with me.  When we first started training for running the barrels, we started out to the left barrel because she could turn better on the other two.  After my incident in January, I didn’t have the strength to support her properly and therefore, we reversed the entire pattern.  For a horse to completely adapt to my needs, regardless of what had come natural to her just blew me away.

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 This summer (2002) we had our best trail ride ever and an incredible bonding experience.  Now keep in mind, before purchasing my horse, I had only begun riding, took a few months of lessons and hadn't even cantered yet.  I hopped on her back, bareback, no pad, attached a set of reigns to her halter, no bit, no bridle, wore my helmet and a backpack and headed off on an hour and a half trail through a pond, the power lines and woods to a beautiful lake.  By the way, this trail ride was a walk, trot, canter and jump ride.  When we got to the lake, I took off my helmet and backpack and we went right on into the water.  I swam with her, beside her, and even on her back, in water over our heads.  It was the most incredible bonding experience we ever had.  We would bob in the waves as the boats came by, waving at us.  She splashed in the water and we had a blast.  When we were finished swimming, I brought her out to graze on nearby grass while I pulled a lunch out of my backpack.  I gave her an apple and some “cookies”.  After we both dried off, I hopped back on and we headed back home. 

 I've only owned her since May 4, 2001, but I feel we have already spent a lifetime together. I believe by showing her love and commitment, I have taken this high-strung horse and made her a total people horse.  Now she can shake her head yes for a treat, and even bow.  She has had several children on her back, including a 10 month old, and even done a pony party.  A mentally disabled person, who had gone through a traumatic experience and wouldn’t come out of her house, would come out to see and pet Honey, thus getting her involved in the world again.  We learned together to jump and to barrel race and she'll do anything for me.  But our best times together are on the trails.  She loves it as much as I do.  We also have fun “playing” in the ring.  I started free lounging her recently and found out that she will follow me around the ring like a puppy dog.  Even while tacking her up or changing her blankets, I don’t need cross ties with her.  I can tell her to stay and she will, even if I leave the area to go into the tack room to get her a treat or off to the bathroom before our ride. 

 I am learning more and more about her every day.  This summer when I went to spend time in the paddock with her, I realized how protective she is of me.  The barn dog came with us up to the paddock as usual, and she is always fine with that.  However, if I am in the paddock with her, this dog is not allowed near me.  She chased him away, kept him out of the paddock, then came up to my side and put her head on me to make sure the dog knew I was hers.  I never could have imagined the wonderful bond I could have with my horse, and the mental therapy she has been not only for me, but also for children that come to see her, and friends in need of something special in their life.  Every person’s life that Honey has touched has been enlightening in some way.  

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 When people who knew her before I purchased her see her now, they tell me she’s a completely different horse.  Believe it or not, I found out that even the vet was afraid to go in the stall with her, and would rather go in the crazy, rescued abused horse’s stall.  She’d turn on you and kick at you, and she’d even bite.  One day when the previous owner’s daughter was riding her in the ring, Honey, then named Berry, decided she wanted to go in the paddock and graze with her herd, so she jumped the fence, the girl fell off and broke her arm, thus Honey was up for sale. 

 I didn’t know any of this until after I purchased her.  I had simply decided to start looking for a horse of my own, no younger than 10, small, something I could learn with and it could learn with me, and a sign would be that the horse would walk up to me when I went to see her.  Well, she was the first and only horse I looked at, and she did walk right up to see me.  Hearing some of the stories about buying horses, I feel quite lucky taking the chance I did with Honey.  I did bring someone up to look at her, and checked her vet records.  Other than that, a guardian angel was looking out for me and brought Honey and I together.  My life hasn’t been the same since, and I know I wouldn’t have the confidence I have now, nor would I have recovered so quickly and well from my medical condition last January without Honey.

 Unfortunately Honey was born of an “accidental” breeding and therefore I could not register her.  However, were she registered; she would have been Poco Impressive Lady of Impressive, Three Bars, Poco Bueno and Berry Pickin bloodlines.  Her pedigree is covered in championships and she will be the first in her line not to have those red colors.  However, in my heart, she is a champion of champions and I wouldn’t trade a moment with her for the world.  

© Lisa M. Whalen

Lisa 
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AQHA Member
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