My grey ponies
I seem to have a thing for grey horses, geldings, mutts, that are from other countries. Maybe its the accent? You know that one horse that no one else seems to get along with quite as well, that steals your heart, quirks and all? For me that was Taz. He was a grey, somewhat awkward looking gelding from New Zealand, had a huge almost misshaped looking brand on his left shoulder (I think) that had the number 27 over the number 0 (meaning he was the 27th foal born on the farm in 1990, the 0 standing for the year). It literally took up his whole shoulder, people at shows used to joke that someone drunk branded him. On his right shoulder was a tiny umbrella-looking brand. He had a black mane and multi-colored tail. I thought he was perfect, minus his fear of wheel-barrels and the jump that had a green 1/2 dome under it. No one else really liked him, in fact the first time I ever rode him I hated him. We jumped the same jump over and over again and he ripped the reins out of my hands each time, and the reins were the webbed kind and I wasn't wearing gloves, so basically he ripped the skin off my palms. One of the assistant trainers, Rachel York, now Rachel Fields, finally convinced me to get back on him, and I was hooked. I owe her big time. She gave me the most relaxing lesson on him and after that, I was sold. I remember one time I just sat in his stall with him. He nuzzled me, and I watched him eat. He was that kind of boy. A big heart, and such a love bug. And he was good on the trail and I could ride him bareback and just be goofy. I leased Taz for a long time, he took me from some less-than-stellar hunter rounds (he had a hard time with lead changes, I think he thought 4 legs was too many to untangle at once), to my very first jumper class and with that my first reverse championship in a class. Eventually we moved up together, but when my skills started to move past his, I moved on to other horses. He was still in the barn and it was very hard to watch other people ride him. Eventually he was sent to the trainer's farm and then to a sale barn. I found out who his owners were a couple years later by listing his description on a website called bayequest saying I was looking for a horse I used to ride and somehow someone who knew him told his owners about the ad. I talked to them once, and they sounded like they really loved him, they changed his name to Jazz, and they said they wanted to keep him forever. Somehow I lost their phone number and the email I had for them didn't work, so all I know is that he is in the Sacramento area somewhere. I hope he is living in a lush pasture, with all the love he deserves.
My next grey horse was mister Twink. Another big boned boy from New Zealand, belonging to my mom's good friend. I had watched Twink at the Menlo Charity Horse Show when I was a kid, and apparently told my mom, "I have to do that". ie jump, show, be a horse girl. Little did I know I would one day be able to ride and jump such a talented horse. Twink was a Grand Prix jumper in his day, an amazing athlete. He did sustain an injury and after his lay-up was "retired" to being more of a pleasure horse. A few years ago I spent a summer at home and a long winter break before studying abroad in Ireland and during these times, our friend was gracious enough to let me ride him and have lessons from her. He is a funky horse on the flat, very awkward but I liked him that way :) I could always get him to move out and I could deal with the often spontaneous bucks at the canter. And boy did it pay off, getting to jump him was A-M-A-Z-I-N-G. POWER. Sheer power. And speed. And that ability to turn on a dime. And he was a great teacher. He liked the long one and I had gotten nervous in my riding and seemed to be always looking for a chip. And if I really botched a distance, he didn't jump it. We had some ugly fences, but when I was on, he was on. And then it was great. And he loved to jump which made it 100x better. Twink is living his life out at our friend's house now, I am sure fat and happy, and I am so greatful to have been able to have those few months learning on such an amazing horse.
And now Pig has entered my life. No, he's not a pig in the sense of a fat pink animal with a curly tail. He is a grey big-boned boy from Australia. I leased him from a lady this past spring and really loved him. He has his quirks too. Quite an imagination, he thinks new people by the arena and turkeys on the propery are reason enough to get all big and huffy because "oh my! they might eat me!" At least I think thats what goes on in his head. But he is very well trained and as long as he knows you aren't going to let him get away with anything, he is very fun to ride. He is also very very sweet. He loves to rub his head on you (excellent manners I know) and he has great ground manners. I don't jump Pig, but I really don't mind. Its nice to ride just to have fun. And we get along great so I know hes not push button, but as long as I think about how I am riding, we usually have a great time. He hasn't been feeling his best lately so I am hoping he recovers soon!
And I can't leave out my girl. Eve, or more properly Eva Mia. My horse. The only time I could ride in the ring and have the annoucner say "Eva Mia, owned and ridden by ME". She was a big, bay mare. White star, no other markings. She was BEAUTIFUL. And she was born on Christmas Eve. She had a $ brand on one shoulder, and on the other there was a 0 indicating she too was a 1990 model. I am also pretty sure she was a long as she was tall. Like a limo. She was a World Cup jumper in New Zealand and then a Young Rider's horse. She came to the US and was owned by a girl in a barn next to ours and when that girl wanted to move up, I started leasing Eve. She was amazing! She knew it all and she knew it well. When I messed up, she was there to fix it. I think sometimes she thought "um, you are wrong, but just hold on, I will find our distance here and get you through it". I had some of my best rounds on her. We showed jumpers, up to 3'9'', and we did some equitation classes. She had some quirks too. She really wasn't the sweetest mare on the ground. Typical teeth grinding, angry faced mare, we called her "Mama" and we would call her angry faces, "Mama's angry face", but once you were on her she was so forgiving. She did grind her teeth after the fences and she would often have her ears back in pictures, but I think it was just focus ;)
I was so grateful to have owned such an amazing horse and so endebted to my parents for recognizing how important she was to me and making sacrifices so that I could have such an amazing horse.
Eve taught me a lot, and I wish I could have kept her forever. I remember telling her I would never let her go, but the reality of life was that I couldn't keep that promise. I know she had a great life after me but I can't help but have felt guilty about not following through on that one.
By the end of high school, Eve would get foot sore, she had a lot of miles on her legs and feet, and so we decided to give her back to my trainers. She lived on their farm in a big orchard with some other "retirees" and then was sold to a woman down South who LOVED her. We're talking matching tack here love. I heard a couple years ago that Eve was put down. I never found out why. I know she is somewhere galloping in a field and hopefully only using her angry face when really necessary :)
