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 Expert
Posts: 3782
    
Location: Gainesville, TX | Two of the best horses I ever had I rode in high school.
One was a horse my parents bought me at 16, grey, about 15.2 hh, always slender built no matter how much I fed him, and shawne bug bred. When we went to look at him, they said his name was Bug. I didn't like it but I thought VW Bugs were cute, so I ended up calling him VW Bug, or VW for short. He was gentle as a kitten and three years old. He was solid broke and had been used on a ranch in the mountains for the previous summer and winter which is probably what made him basically dead broke as a 3 year old. You could put anybody on him. He was fast too. I worked on him with the barrels but never had the money in my early college career to actually haul him. I mainly enjoyed him. I would take horsemanship lessons at WT just so I had an excuse to ride him even when taking 18-21 hours at a time and working 20-30 hrs a week. I would actually ride him the mile and half or so from our boarding barn to the horse center to take the class and then ride him back. We went right over the freeway and he was always a champ about it. I jumped on him, trail rode, worked cattle, did barrels. Even though, he'd been broke before, most of his actual performance training came from me. I was so proud of him. He was a great all around type. When I started my Master's, I stuck him out at our family's ranch in NM until I found a good boarding stable and while he was there some cows ran through one side of the fence and he ended up somehow getting caught in the downed wire. My uncle found him later. That was one of the hardest things I ever had to deal with. He had one of the kindest faces I've ever seen on a horse.
The other horse that taught me a ton was a bay named Breezy. I don't know how many of y'all are familiar with Cal Farley's Boys Ranch, but that was where I grew up. My dad and mom worked in that system for 15 years or better. I grew up working at the horse barn, teaching lessons, etc. I saw a whole lot of different types of horseflesh working there. We had a horse donated out there, an appendix, six year old that could barely walk. Somebody had used him as a barrel horse but run him on the wrong leads for so long they had wrecked his shoulder. After two years at pasture, and when I was a junior, he seemed to have fixed himself so he wasn't lame. I got on him and started to work with him as he was the only one fast enough out there at that time to really place well in the HS rodeos close to us. We always did really solidly at poles with times of 20-22 with the paints at the Ranch but couldn't seem to place in barrels. It took me two years to retrain him to slow down (he had two speeds at first, Go! and walk). I never understood how they had run him on the wrong lead though because he had natural leads. By my the last semester of my senior year I was frequently placing in the top 5 in barrels at nearly every rodeo. I also trained him to do poles and he could run a 19/20 second pattern. He belonged to the ranch and I couldn't take him with me obviously, but he taught me a ton about patience and perserverance. I don't think he ever ran as hard for anyone else as he did for me though.
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 Poor Cracker Girl
Posts: 12150
Location: Feeding mosquitos, FL | Bad Bubba Bronco. He was born across the street from my parents. I remember him as a funny yearling who would play fetch like a dog. He just loved people from the day he was born and he's still the most people-oriented horse I've ever met. I helped break him as a 2 and 3 year old and he was "my" horse that wasn't really my horse. When he went up for sale as a half-patterned 4yo, I sold my first horse (who looking back on probably needed hock injections desperately) and begged my grandparents for the rest of the money. They came through like they always did and I had myself a 4yo as a high school junior. That connection I felt with a horse helped me recognize that same connection when I met my husband. They are two shockingly similar individuals sometimes.
I finished his patterning and seasoning. He was a brilliant teacher who liked to buck - he taught me when to insist, when to back off, how to ride a buck and how to tell the difference between an ornery buck and a YEEHAW buck. He hasn't bucked consistently in about 6 years but I still think about it when I ask him to lope off the first time. He kept you on your toes because he was a bit lazy and would come untrained in about two weeks. He was just fun and I had a blast putting buttons on him. He's the reason I'd still rather ride a half-patterned baby than a finished horse.
He taught me about saddle fit, how to recognize pain, when to call the chiropractor, how to manage arthritis. When his arthritis got too bad last year to run him, he semi-retired to my pasture where he will stay until he dies. He's been with me through high school, college, moving away from home, being the brokest I have ever been, and now my marriage.
When I was so depressed that I didn't have the energy to take a shower, I got off the couch twice a day because Bubba needs to be fed. He's the Original Boyfriend.
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Veteran
Posts: 104
Location: The black prairie of Mississippi | I've had several that have made an impact on me but I'll pick three.
Boomerang - My first horse a palomino paint Welch cross pony mare. She taught me to ride and we learned to run barrels and poles together. She was awesome. She had more grit and try than most big horses and I had such a blast running her. The first year was a trial and tribulation but after that we really clicked and she really excelled at poles. Someone said it looked like a Singer sewing machine running down through the poles she barely moved.
Yogi - My first finished barrel horse that I still miss every day. I lost him two years ago at 30. He was 6 months older than me I go him August of 1993 when he was 12 and I was 11. I was his third owner and he could be the most frustrating horse I ever threw a leg over and the most awesome. The last NBHA state show I took him to in 1998 or 1999 he was 17 and full of fire. He hated Jackson, MS with a passion because it never got quiet enough for him to really get any sleep so by the third day we were down there he was done. All I needed to do in the finals was run a good clean run, pull a 3-D check, and I was going to win that average saddle. He took the reins away from me going down the alley and he ran the pattern his self. I never found my reins until the 3rd barrel. I turn the first and second with nothing but a big fistful of mane, the saddle horn, and a quick prayer to God. He ran out of the 3-D and placed bottom of the 2-D. If you saw him run one time you saw him run every time. He wasn't automatic, if you didn't sit up and ride, he's sure let you know it by blowing a turn or running over a barrel or pole. He ran barrels, poles, and was an awesome quad horse. He also ran arena race and the instructions from the lady I bought him from was to kick all the way down the area, when you got about a 1/2 stride out, close your eyes, grab the horn, and he would take care of the rest. The first two years I ran arena race on him that's how I ran him. I was 14 before I ever saw an arena race barrel. He was big, scary, and fast. He taught me more about barrel racing and life than I know what to do with. (And I'm teared up now thinking about all the stuff we did.)
Dazzling Casanova (aka Cajun) - I bought a four year old sight unseen from a friend. It was a sob story but I sold a big, slick, shiny grade sorrel mare, and got back a wormy, bony, ribs and hips sticking out, jug-headed, walking skeleton. My mom was ready to kill me. But he was bred right. He was registered (the first registered horse I had ever had). He was a sight. He had been broken out as a 2 year old and turned out into a broodmare pasture for two years. He had pan feet, a two year old's attitude, and was scared of the world. He turned into a big, beautiful, blaze face baby. He ran barrels and poles, worked cows, trail rode through anything, could change leads every other stride, counter arc, back up a mile, you name a fancy button, he had it. I learned more about training, patience, and perseverance with him than any other horse I've owned. Training him and the lessons I learned along the way shaped how I train horses today. I lost him 11/25/2003 to a complication with an injury. The loss of him still hurts me in ways I don't like to talk about. I still think there's something else I could have done.
Sorry for the novel, I tend to get wordy as yall all know.
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 Balance Beam and more...
Posts: 11493
Location: 31 lengths farms | My first horse to really have an impact on my life was my POA pony Comanche or Monko as we called him. Goat Gutted, broomtailed, U necked, hammer headed, roman nosed, you name it, he had it going on. He also taught a little girl to love anything horse, love feeding, love the process of taking care of animals in all weather and its rewards for doing it no matter what, love the freedom of going home from school and disappearing for hours down the creek by yourself. any day my feet didn't have to touch ground like a mere mortal was a good day. Anything the neighbor girls horse could do my pony had to attempt, got him high centered more than once on hay bales, he was after all only about 11 hands tall but I was sure he could jump 3 hay bales like her horse could, LOL!!! Got kicked out of the branding pen more than once because I insisted on roping off of him and would get drug around and knock people over because I wouldn't let go of the dally, and he'd be doing his dangdest to put his butt in the ground and hold them for me. He was the pony you dream of when you start looking for them for your kids. I was heart broke when my dad decided to sale Monko when I was a Jr in HS, hadn't ridden him in about 6 years, he had become the neighborhood pony but those kids had outgrown riding and he went to another family where he learned to pull a cart and lived out the rest of his life well into his 30's.
My next one was the little QH/Arab my mom bought me for X-mas that I didn't get till my 15th birthday as she didn't have the money to get her paid off. I thought I had done something as I didn't get a X-mas present that year, then a week before my 15 birthday in Feb. at my HS rodeo my mom called me over to let me know that Ginger was my everything present for the year, LOL!!! I had been leasing her since I was 13. She was one of those horses that didn't know she shouldn't have been able to do what she did, the guys steer wrestled off of her, I tried to rope even though I sucked at it, she always put me in the right place, I cut on her only because she was so leg broke I could fake it well enough to pick up some points on her. gpat tied, ran barrels and poles. the only time she was tied to the trailer was during the rough stock events basically. Had her for about 20 years, laid with her head in my lap when she took her last breath and still cry to this day when I talk about her 15 years later. About 6 years after she passed a young woman came up to me at a race and asked if I had owned a horse named Ginger, when I replied yes, she said "I told my mom some day I'm gonna own a horse like that...I'm still looking". Again, the type of step up horse any one would dream of for their kid.
And my current horse is Tucker/Justa Smooth Ruler. Every big dream I ever had about horses that has come true has come true on him, learn to cut, check, go down the fence, check, run across the grass at Pendleton, check check and a Ch$ck, lol! Start a horse from the ground up and have them the type of horse anyone can ride, check. He is the type that I can go gather cows on Tuesday , my 82 year old dad can go for a trailride the next day, my 10 year old niece can ride him, toss him in the trailer on Saturday and go to a race and sometimes poke your head in to the 1D and Sunday if you are up to it, knock the dirt off him and enter up in a rein cow horse show. A good friend had a brain aneurism 4 years ago, her first time back on horse back was on his back. He is what ever you need him to be. He might not be a world beater but he is my world.
http://i97.photobucket.com/albums/l232/tuckercan/photo-11_zps7378c5...
Edited by run n rate 2013-11-26 3:58 PM
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 Undercover Amish Mafia Member
Posts: 9991
Location: Kansas | I used to own a mean little welsh pony back when I was about 5. That thing would make me eat dirt everytime I rode him....but he is the one that taught me how to sit a buck (so I guess I'm thankful for him LOL).
But my favorite horse of all time was an old palomino mare named Chance. I didn't own her, but a family friend did. This mare was bombproof, and the one who taught me how to barrel race, it was a sad day when they put her down. The old girl lived an amazing life and was full of love. I still miss her to this day. I tear up thinking about her.
I would love to own a mare like Chance | |
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 Saint Stacey
| These stories are all really great (and sort of sad, but good).  | |
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Expert
Posts: 1543
Location: MI | Sonic was my 2nd horse, a 1996 mare, registered AQHA as Miss Poco Senbar Doc. I bought her from my cousin when she was around 3, and rodeoed her through college. She had a ton of heart and was broke awesome, and somewhat patterned. This mare had heart and tried for me every time. I could put anyone on her and she'd ride awesome. As my now-husband said, "She has reverse!". I loved that she'd walk right into the trailer without hesitation - she surely was my confidence builder!
Sonic started to get some swelling in her leg and bucking a little when she switched leads. I couldn't run her knowing something was probably wrong. After multiple vet visits and a final second opinion, she was diagnosed with degenerative changes in her right fetlock that would worsen over time. At that time I didn't see the need for having a horse I couldn't run, so I sold her.
I still look for her around though, I'd love to have her back.
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 Extreme Veteran
Posts: 369
Location: south arkansas | For My Master aka "Boo" she was out of Perksmaster...... I purchased Boo in October 2012 to help me cope with the the loss of my grandmother who passed in August 2012. She brought back so much in me I thought had gone with the loss of Nana. She brought back my confindence, smile, tears and so much more. She was a tough gritty little mare that was a blast to ride and compete on... I tragically lost Boo in July 2013 but in those few months with her she changed my life tremondously... Now she is running the the best in Heaven
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Hungarian Midget Woman
Location: Midwest | I will post another awesome boy as well.
He was my first horse that was given to me at 15 by a family friend. He was on the kill buyer's truck on the way to the canner when she bought him... he was about 6 and had high ringbone. She rehabbed him a while and gave him to me. He was a grade paint, 17 hands, and gorgeous. He had the most heart of anything I've ever ridden. I rode him english, trail rode him, and ran barrels one year with him in 4H. Sadly, he wasn't sound enough to run, so I gave him back to her. She retired him and he lived the rest of his life with her until she put him down at 15 or so (due to the progression of the ringbone). Her vet looked at the Xrays and said "This horse is walking?!?!"
He was the type that would move out sound under saddle, but limp when you hand walked him after getting off. If you got back on, he wouldn't limp and would do anything you asked.... I wish I would have known more about my options back then for vetting him, but I was just a kid. He taught me to be a better rider, and ultimately that we must do what's best for the horse. I cried when I dropped him off there and I still regret not seeing him before he died. He did however, have an awesome life (mostly thanks to my folks and my friend) and I feel lucky to have had him those few years. I do think he kept me out of a lot of trouble in my teen years.
sporting a killer outfit
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 Hummer's Hero
Posts: 3071
Location: Smack Dab in the Middle | I've had so many horses (growing up as a trainers daughter) so it's hard to believe I was a teenager before I had horses that really really shaped who I am today. But I was 15 when I got Mick. She was by our stud, and the owners brought her to us to be started, and she was a handful! They wanted her for a kids horse and my mom told them that she wasn't going to be the one. We had a broodmare that had been one of my walk/trot show horses, wasn't show sound anymore, but she was safe, so we traded. Mom's intent was to get her riding pretty good, and sell her off. I was itching for a project, so Mom let me put some miles on her, and I never gave her back.
She was way too smart, and the type that you didn't dare teach anything to that you didn't want her to remember forever. She would pull back, paw, hated clippers, wouldn't load, etc. She also had a bad habit of getting mad and threatening to flip over--which I cured by learning to step off and flip her on over. I got her over every bad habit and every vice, probably because I was too young and stupid to know better. But she was so talented, so althetic, so smart...she has halter points, was a hi-point showmanship horse, stellar WP horse, even better at horsemanship and trail, and made a pretty dang good barrel and pole horse. She has about 40 lifetime points, not including any of my youth points, and got me the second half of my youth superior award. I did everything imaginable on that horse...shot baskets, shot fireworks, rode down the highway, used her in a "wild west show" that I was part of in college, even dabbled in cutting on buffalo, and some roping. Just whatever I had the chance to try.
Now, at 19 years old, she will be my son's horse starting this spring (he will be almost 3). And I am trying to talk the hubby into letting me breed her to a really nice stud for my next super star.
Then I had the opportunity to get Mick's full sister, Mia--8 years younger. I wanted another Mick, only this time I was smarter (or so I thought)...however, Mia is NOTHING like Mick--other than they stared with some of the same bad habits, like pulling back. Mia's a total fruit loop, scared of her own shadow, just a mental mess. But she was my first real barrel horse, that I did from start to finish (tho I had great friends helping me). I'm hauling her now, and she's so fun, but it's been a battle keeping her healthy--though we are on the upswing on that front after finally diagnosing her and treating her for EPM. She's finally kinda normal, LOL.
And last is Hummer. I didn't go looking for him, and even tried to turn him down, but I thank God and my lucky stars every day that I ended up with him. I was his saving grace, and he was mine. I may never have another one like him, but he taught me how to ride a 1D horse. You either keep up or not, he's not waiting for you. He runs big and turns hard, but never runs with less than his whole heart and soul. He's let me win races and rodeos that I'd have never dreamed of ever winning at...like placing in the top 10 at the first Bonus Race Finals, winning the KsNBHA State Finals 1D, winning a round of the Topeka Barrel Bash, and the list goes on. And, he has a personality bigger than Texas.
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