Hungarian Midget Woman
  
Location: Midwest | Been there, done that, have the T-shirt.
My first horse had ringbone. He was given to me by a family friend, and at the time, it was a great fit. I rode basic hunt seat and dressage. He was beautiful, had lovely gaits, but would come up off with too much work. However, I mostly trail rode, so it was NBD. I was 15 at the time.
As kids do, I moved on with my goals. I wanted to run barrels! At the time, I knew a lot about riding but little about the physical demands of the sport. I patterned him slow, and bless his heart he gave it his all. Unfortunately, I only made one show with him. He pulled up lame after our first show (4H at the fair), and I knew it wasn't fair to ask him to keep doing it, even though he would. I also saw blood trickle from his nose that night (though I had no idea what bleeders were at that time).
Based on the lameness alone, I did the tough thing.... I gave him back to the wonderful woman who had given him to me. She trail rode on him and then kept him retired in the pasture until he had degenerated to where he was no longer comfortable.
I missed him so much. However, I knew I did the best thing I could do for him. Sometimes.... you just have to do the right thing by the horse, even though it hurts.
Plus, it lead me to my current horse, who has tried every discipline with me and is a decent 3D horse. He's been great to get back into the sport with these past few years. Sometimes, things have a way of working out. |
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