SFTS Blog Hop: Heart Horse

Jenn over at Stories from the Saddle has started a pretty cool blog hop here that I knew I had to write about. I've had the pleasure of sitting on a lot of cool horses so far in my life. I sat on a horse who went to Rolex (Remind me to talk about this because it was SO COOL) and played around with dressage for 45 minutes. I've ridden barely broke horses who you could tell were so wildly athletic and talented. On the other hand, I've ridden horses who I detested and horses who detested me. So, do I have a heart horse? I'm not sure. Honestly. I have trouble committing to any one favorite of anything. I have two favorite colors. I basically run and hide when people ask me who's my favorite band. I have several favorite movies. I have about 15 favorite foods. Yeah. I just can't pick a favorite of much of anything. So to me, heart horse is a hard concept because I tend to love horses individually and for completely different reasons but they mean no less or more than another. I am partial to Digby as he's the first horse I've ever actually owned but there are still other horses that I love. I will keep this list to 3 horses (errr, 1 pony, 1 hony and 1 horse) for the sake of time.

Wannabe Platinum, aka "Oscar."
I braided him myself for shows and it looks like he rubbed them pretty good here. 

I leased Oscar for several years while I was a junior. My barn got him cheaply and he legitimately was afraid of everything. Fly spray, hoses, velcro noises, geese, poles, water bottles, you name it he was probably scared of it. He had two gaits - jig and gallop. Nonetheless, my trainer swore up and down that he'd be a great pony one day. She was right. After much blood (all mine), sweat (both of ours) and tears (hopefully all mine!), he ended up being an awesome pony. He is allergic to rails and very sweet. He ground ties anywhere. He basically self loads and you can take him anywhere. He's got a stop in him but he generally tries hard. I love this pony. I was going to buy him after I graduated college but it happened that when my barn was selling him, I was in my junior year of college and studying abroad for a semester and they couldn't reach me. (I mean, they definitely could of... But my trainer had left the barn and they didn't try very hard. Sigh.) I try to keep in touch with his current owner, just to make sure he's in good hands. I have offered to take him if she ever can't afford him. I just don't want him to end up in a bad home as he deserves a great retirement home. He's earned it.

Charlie, my favorite crazy chestnut TB.

I met Charlie my freshman year at college. Isn't that usually where people meet their husbands? Oh well, I met a horse. I only rode him a few times but I LOVED him. Charles had a knack for being bad. I've watched him spook, buck, rear and take off on several other riders. For some reason, he liked me. For some reason, I liked him. He went really well for him and one of the instructors at the school, who had never seen me ride before and certainly not Charlie, immediately yelled, "you need to buy this horse!" He's the horse who broke my knee, in case you read that post, and hands down my favorite horse to flat to date. It wasn't that he was the most broke (I think the Rolex horse takes that cake) but we just got along so well. I called up his owner and offered to lease him, as I couldn't afford to buy him while I was in college and she said she would think about it. I never got a call back and he didn't return to school the next year. I think about him every once in a while and hope he's ok.

The infamous Dig My Size.

Digby and I have had a very rough partnership. I met him the summer after my freshman year in college (so I guess I met two horses at college and no husbands?? Haha!) and was instantly smitten. He was wild, bad like a pony and super talented. Unfortunately, he had been donated to the college and very much hated his life there. I've written about his history a lot before, so I'll sum it up real quick. He hated college and was very bad. I adopted him to be my 3'6" horse. I wasn't sure I made the right choice and thought about selling him. He went lame almost right after that. He was on and off lame (and naughty...) for years. He's now sound and for the most part, well behaved. There were many, many days in the past that I discussed selling him. There are many, many days I love him. There are lots of ups and downs. Lots of tears, lots of smiles. I still am not sure he's in the best home for him but I do my best.