We are proposing today that within the U.S. the following five initiatives be put into effect:
If a horse has a rotational fall, horse and rider are suspended from competing for three or six months
If a horse has a rotational fall, horse and rider lose their qualification at the level at which they are competing.
If a rider falls off on the course they are eliminated.
Open oxers on courses at every level are made frangible.
If a horse falls related to a jump both horse and rider are suspended from competing for one month.
I would like to add some additional constraints: 6. If a horse falls related to a jump twice in a six month period of time, both lose their qualification to ride at the level at which they are competing. 7. In order to move up, both horse and rider must complete a recognized event with no jumping penalties on cross country.
Number 6 is because if you are having horse falls regularly, you need to move down. Period. And number 7 is because not all the horses who fall have a history of falling, but have a history of not going clear in other, lower-level events. We have enough events (sorry Area V folks) for you to get that clear round before moving up. Practice until it happens.
Now that should curb the cowboyism that people saw at Rolex. If people have a rotational fall as an "accident" and not human error, then tough. Sit out and learn your lesson. Now let's start the discussion on the format. The Long format might be officially dead, but don't pretend it doesn't have an impact.
I promise to get back to more Brego-tastic posts soon. Jumping training is getting started and conditioning will soon follow...
Badminton next weekend. I am going to sit that one out. Too many deaths last year.
I have read the public comment from upper level riders. I have read the comments from Captain Mark Philips. I call bullshit. Too many deaths to say they are all freak accidents. And for those saying we need tighter qualification requirements, some of our best are falling, not just the overfaced ammies.
I makes me ill to think about how little accountability or responsibility is being taken in this sport. Notice I did not say blame, just own up to the fact that there is a problem. And whether we want to own up to this or not, the deaths really picked up with the demise of the short format. The long format really weeded out the "almost ready" from the "damn sure we're ready and in peak fitness". A horse even at 90% fitness might not be able to squeak that extra 2 inches you need to clear the table when you blow it. Or have the mental focus to contend with corner after technical corner. And when you are moving that fast, over jumps that large, those 2 inches just might save your life.
I have said it before, and I will say it again. The sport Brego and I are playing in has little resemblance to the uber elite upper level riders and competitions. It's so different that people at that level don't fear mortality, I suppose. I just want a sport that encourages me to be a better all around rider with a little adrenaline kick now and then. Hunters in the US is a caricature of foxhunting, and eventing is turning into a caricature of its own.
There's no point to this post, just anger and frustration. The whole world wants to not accept responsibility for the very real crisis we, as a people, are in. It seems eventing literally imploding is just a symptom.
In other news, the rice rationing is really going to impact the fancy rice bran I feed Brego. Bad day.
After the long trip, Brego got a day off and then went immediately into work. Nothing strenuous or fatiguing, but just enough to get his brain active and focused on me. He did very well during the first ride in the potentially spooky indoor. He took the atmosphere in stride and was very attentive.
The barn itself is very fun and welcoming with some good, knowledgeable horse people around at all times, so I feel like the horses are well watched. There is a lot of activity with tractors, bicycles, kids, other riders, lessons, etc so I consider it really good desensitization to busy show environments. Both Hobby and Brego have taken it all in and soaking up the "new horse" attention.
Everyone loves butt dapples
They spent a few days in a private paddock and then I turned Brego out in a HUGE pasture with about 10 other horses. I knew he would quickly work his way to the top but I was pretty surprised to see two little mares work him over with their charms. Yes, Brego then did what all boys do, much to my shame and dismay. My little boy is growing up, all into girls, thinks mom is so uncool. We pulled the mares out because, although he did not hurt them, he was getting fixated. We had one of our best rides later in the afternoon, he was very forward and light and we just rocked at dressage. And yes, I do appreciate the delicious irony of my April Fool's Day joke and Brego's recent coming of age. I just hope he forgets about it. I do not want stud behavior out of him.
I had my Dad come out and visit and give Brego a man to man chat. I don't think he got the point across (stay away from the hussy mares, nothing but trouble), but Brego certainly enjoyed the pets.
Mares are nothing but trouble, my son
The barn is located on lots of property to set up some trot and canter sets down logging roads. I will start conditioning sets with him in the coming week.
The show schedule is coming into focus. Brego is doing so well at dressage, I am going to start the season with a dressage schooling show May 18th. Then I will go to an eventing schooling show in June and FINALLY register for our recognized debut. I am so excited to start showing. He is so much improved since last time we showed, I can't wait to see what the judges think.
For the last night of the trip, we stayed in a State Forest in Voluntown, Connecticut. The forest was gorgeous, the other campers were frightening. Who knew you had to travel all the way to Connecticut to see the scariest rednecks of them all. I've been known to drop the f-bomb in polite company, but the expletives being shouted from that campsite had my ears bleeding. Just wow.
The horses did well with the 10 hour trip and slept on the highline overnight without incident. Every time I got up to check on them, Brego was sprawled out flat on the ground. He just might be getting tired, finally.
We took the morning to go for a ride in the forest. It was a perfect sunny day and Brego was calm enough to ride on the buckle, but moved smartly forward with the slightest pressure from my calf. We even jumped a few logs to clear the cobwebs. What a nice balance and it was like settling back into your favorite lounge chair. It felt good to be home.
Brego likes his new shoes
There is one more 4 hour drive today to arrive at our new boarding barn in Sanford, Maine. I am so excited to get them there. I had visited the barn a couple of times during the last 6 weeks and it already feels like home. The people are great, the horses look healthy and happy, and the amenities are extraordinary. I am really looking forward to getting back into the routine and taking on a couple of schooling shows in the next two months.
Of course, the perennial goal is to complete a recognized event this year. In a previous post, I discussed the "Percheron" part of the "Eventing Percheron" title. Now I need to get on that "Eventing" part. The move delayed our recognized debut by 6 months, but I think we'll be better for the extra work and change of scenery.
A night of movement around a pasture and a warm sunny day have tamed the fire-breathing monster. Brego was his ol' self again, with a little more gas and more balance. He was in a good mood and he even talked to me a bit.
I started the day with some longeing and although I got a few head tosses, he was very obedient. Not quite as brilliant and sharp as with my trainer, but that's to be expected, and at this point, welcome. I can tune him up later when I have the skills to handle him. For now, I need him to be with me. I need him to work with me.
Since the longing went so well, I kept it short and tacked up with my dressage saddle. There were no jumps at this facility, so I couldn't see how his new canter handled fences. I thought I would just work on a nice forward trot instead, with some adjustment within the gait. This is something we have always struggled with.
We started the ride and his magnetic pull to the trailer was strong, so I worked a long time on him not dropping that inside shoulder and bending correctly in a large circle around the field. It took some convincing, but he started to understand he was not going to get back to the trailer that way. He did great on adjusting the trot, he's started to let me place his balance and then motor off my leg into a bigger trot.
I then asked for a canter and was treated to a wonderful ride across the field, big but slow at the same time. He was balanced and contained, it felt amazing. I started to play with adjustability within the canter, which is brand new for us. He finally has the strength and balance to lengthen ever so slightly without tumbling forward and then with a firm half halt, come back to me. He was still very heavy by anyone's standards, but I was very happy.
Turning to the left, I got two kick outs from him when I successfully blocked his shoulder from drifting to the trailer. His response was funny. "So you won't let me fall out to the trailer, eh, take this!" and out he would kick. His kicks were so big they knocked him off balance and he fell into the wrong lead. So I would collect, get my butt back into the saddle and do a simple change to get him back and around we would go again. When he got to the point of the circle closest to the trailer he again tried to duck out and my outside rein stopped him and he again kicked out. Foiled again!
A couple more times around and he stopped trying to duck and we stopped for the day. So still some resistance, but easily manageable and only half-hearted. A kick out is the mildest of Brego's angry displays. I can handle that.
After the ride, he talked to me again as I was untacking and I was remarking on the difference a day made. It was good Brego was back because there was a gorgeous Irish Intermediate eventing horse at the barn, nice and big, who was being sold for a very reasonable price (read: dirt cheap) because he didn't want to go advanced. He wanted to be a training level packer. Sounds about perfect for me, eh? I could just throw him on the trailer and be on my way.
But what would I do with Brego? He's come so far and we've had so much fun. And I really do love the horse he is and only half love the horse he will be. Plus, I am not good enough for some mid-level Irish sporthorse. That talent is wasted on me. Brego and I just fit and we'll get better together and then we will see where we go.
During this trip, Brego has turned into a fire-breathing monster. The old Brego was always a handful, but when he resisted, and that was often, it was with a headshake and an angry look. The new Brego resists by Levade and Capriole. I am not excited about this development.
We had an early start leaving Nashville and since it was going to be a 12 hour day, I hand walked Brego before he got on the trailer. He had been stalled pretty much non-stop for a week at this point, between training, the trailer, and our overnight stays. He was busting at the seams and had a hard look in his eye.
When I asked him to trot beside me in the 5 am dark, he exploded -- jumping, rearing, squealing. I immediately corrected him and made him back out my space, but it was ugly. I then longed him around me by his halter and leadrope, asking for walk to trot to walk transitions over and over. A few more bucks and he started to listen. Even through his freak out, he never took the slack out of the lead rope. He maintained a perfect 7' circle around me, head at vertical, really lovely. Too bad he was being a shit.
When I sensed him start to realize I was sans whip and gloves, I asked for a halt and we went back to hand walking. I was not about to let him find out I had brought nothing to this fight. We ended the mini training session with another trot in hand and this time he pinned his ears, but remained silent.
The most troubling thing about all this is the aggression. Brego has always tested, always been 20% resistant to work, always shown his anger at being put in place. He's a dominant horse who obeys, but not always willingly. He's not a labrador who lives to please. He enjoys being a good boy but at his convenience. Although I am a lazy person, I have a strong enough will to work through these issues with him, so they never distract from our relationship.
But this new behavior is not his usual game. It's bigger and more powerful and much more dangerous. I find myself never taking my eye off him, never relaxing, and that's not what I want or need. I don't need a full blooded dressage horse who is always on the edge of brilliance or disaster. I need a horse I can spend my days with and has moments of occasional brilliance.
I think the dressage training has not only tuned him up, but fried him a little. It's a lot of work to do in a short 6 weeks for a basic pasture puff. He's moving incredibly for him, but he seems distant and angry. He's not talking to me at all.
We are stopping for two days in Purcellville, Virginia, near Middleburg (the heartland of eventing in the US). He and Hobby will hang out in private, lush pasture on one of the most gorgeous farms I have ever seen and get some much needed down time. When he got off the trailer, after a 12 hour ride, he ran the field, bucking and farting for 45 minutes. I was afraid he was going to charge the fences, but he stayed contained... barely. Again, not my Brego. But maybe some time to burn off steam will ease his brain.
I hope so, this reunion has not been a lot of fun.
We spent two nights at the Cedars of Lebanon State Park outside of Nashville, TN. We had a 12 hour day from Texas to Tennessee, so we planned on staying an additional day at the park to allow the horses to rest before our push to Virginia.
Flowers in Tennessee
The break allowed for a nice trail ride through the state park on the day off. Brego was hard to handle on the ground in the morning, so I decided to longe him. He's the only horse I have ever met that comes off a long trailer ride with more energy than he started with. I think he naps in there.
The longe was pretty difficult. He was in full testing mode with me, after the long separation. He bucked, kicked, and halfway reared before I got reasonable walk to trot transitions without protesting and head tossing. I started him in side reins so I could use the outside rein to keep his shoulder from popping and keep some semblance of control. He was so naughty, I was glad I had that rein. After a few minutes I seemed to have won some mental battle because he immediately became more pliable and obedient. He was not tired, just lazy enough to stop fighting. The good ol' boys at the stable where we overnighted had a good time watching the show. I am sure I looked like some evil Dressage princess with my horse all rigged up in a surcingle and side reins. I would love to see one of those guys get on Brego when he is in that mood with a shank bit. I honestly think they could get Brego to flip over. All this work to get him off the forehand has succeeded. He is getting light in front.
Anyway, after the longe session, I took off the side reins and we did simple halt to walk transitions on a loose line around me. He did great and I made it easy for him to be a good boy and stretch his neck down and relax. After the tension of the previous few minutes, it nice to see him work on a loose line and listen. That's the boy I remember.
I finally got on and we went for a ride. The trail was very rocky and muddy with big slabs of stone littered across the trail. There was no packed dirt to be found, it was either boggy or rocks. Since Brego had already demolished his Boa Boots, I was trying his brand new #7 Ez Boots. They didn't appear to fit very well, but with the gaiters, they stayed on the whole ride, and I have to say that I really tested them. Brego was listening, but full of go and would not walk quietly behind Hobby. I was not looking to start piaffe training so I decided that we should just trot it out, even if the trail was a nightmare. So we started trotting and ended up going about 4 miles before he asked to slow down. As we worked, the trail would get challenging and at first Brego would suck back and really study the ground. After a couple of miles though, his confidence in his balance and in his new boots to offer traction grew and he started really cruising over this crazy ground. By the end, he was offering to canter a couple of times, but I didn't want to add any more speed to his brain.
After a good ride in the sun, we went back to the barn. His boots had stayed on and worked amazing well considering the conditions. The rocks were problematic and he also negotiated thick sucking mud. I am pretty impressed. I am going to pad the boots to see if I can get them to fit better and then call them a success!
I chronicled the move from Austin to Maine along the way, but due to no internet connectivity, I am just now able to upload. So I will post one entry per day from the trip until we catch up time wise. The fact that I am posting this means we made it safely 2300 miles, but the forthcoming entries will contain details of our adventure.
Our first night of the trip, we stayed at a park in Sulphur Springs, Texas. We arrived with enough daylight to take some nice spotted-horse conformation pictures and get a ride in.
After 6 weeks away, I was excited to just go for a relaxing trail ride. I figured once we hit the trail, Brego would revert back into normal ol' backcountry trail horse. I was very mistaken. Brego used his new dressage skills to really power up hills and motor around. I used to struggle to keep up with our Thoroughbred riding companion. Now Brego was outpacing her, even at a "slow" trot. He just moved big and didn't seem to be in the walking sort of mood. Of course, gorgeous cool weather and high winds fueled his energy.
Brego's balance on the trail had improved as well, both uphill and downhill, as well as his confidence. He moved with remarkable speed over some pretty treacherous, slippery terrain. It was a lot of fun, but not really what I would call relaxing. Especially when we came across a pod of 30 or so wild pigs. Wild pigs make a lot of noise... and they can be mean. Brego did well though and did not spook, just stood at attention until the pod moved on. The rest of the ride though was even more animated because now he was looking for wild beasts in the brush.
I was struck with the impression that although Brego had not grown in the last few weeks, he seemed bigger in every way. I think a draft horse's size is made manageable by his sleep-inducing personality. To have the same size horse brimming with energy and attentiveness is a whole new ball game and I am still getting used to it. Horses very much are the creatures we create. Brego, in his laziness and good natured personality, is the horse I made. My trainer made him into something much more competitive and tuned, but it takes quite a bit to get used to it. It will be interesting to see where we go from here.
After numerous flight delays and getting up at 2:30 am to catch the earliest plane to Austin, I was finally reunited with my big boy. I was over joyed. Brego was more concerned about lunch time. I try not to take the desires of his stomach personally. :)
My dressage trainer rearranged her schedule to meet with me at the last minute because I was a day late getting into Austin (thanks, Delta!). She showed me how she has been training Brego over the last 6 weeks, how to longe him properly to get him engaged, and how to work with him in hand. After being up all night and two very turbulent flights, I was having trouble reacting to Brego fast enough to reward or punish properly, but I think I got the idea.
When I was tacking up Brego again I was overwhelmed by his size. He's not overly tall, but he is BIG. Just big... everywhere. And only being worked 3 times a week has gone to his head. He was pushy and overbearing and definitely confident in his own prowess. Honestly, I was really intimidated by him. Being away for 6 weeks had certainly softened me and I was not feeling well after the flights. I seriously questioned if I could handle him and wouldn't it be better to just not ride.
But, I am glad I did, because Brego is a different horse. Thanks to my trainer's tireless efforts, he's just different. He moves off the leg into a HUGE trot that I can barely keep up with my hip fully opened at the top of my post. He is just so big and expressive. It's very hard to explain, but my manageable plodding boy was transformed into a hair-triggered bounding beast and I had not progressed at the same rate to handle him. He was very well behaved, but I felt like he was on the edge of getting away, not bolting, just being too big, over the top with energy and explosiveness. I know that's what makes a good dressage horse, but after some time off, it was a lot to cope with.
Even leading him, he is "on", starting with a jump in his step and stopping suddenly with his hind legs underneath him. He is tuned, very tuned, and it takes some getting used to.
I just hope I can keep him tuned like this while working on my own reflexes and reactions. I don't want to deaden him again, since this is exactly what he needs.
I've got a few hours before my flight, so I thought I would take the opportunity to answer a question about how I trained Brego to jump.
As background, even though I had ridden hunters most of my life, I had never taken a completely green horse and taught him or her to jump. So there was a lot of learning on my part about how to put together exercises that would ask the appropriate question and build up to a proper jumping course.
I started playing around with Brego on the trails, trotting over logs and such, but not expecting anything from him other than he must go over and not stop. He did fine, as he always does, just packing around in a clumsy, uneducated fashion.
I have a close friend who is also a hunter trainer, so when I started to get excited about eventing, we teamed up and I started taking lessons. We began with setting up canter poles and just asking him to canter over them in rhythm. It was pretty discouraging because he was not truly coming forward and, being green, would miss his stride and plow over the poles. He didn't care if he stepped square on a pole or not. Brego is known as the pole killer.
So then we raised the poles about a foot off the ground, and again, he would either canter over perfectly or just blow through them. He wouldn't make any corrections if he started to miss the stride. In retrospect, I think I did him a great disservice because he needed to be much more adjustable on the flat, before asking him to jump. He just didn't have the instinct you look for in jumpers to get you out of a mess and leave the poles up. He would rather crash through things and stop working so hard. :)
Honestly, when your horse looks like that on the flat, this is what you are going to get jumping...
The first couple cross rails we set up were also very disappointing. He jumped them, but with really awful form and inherent laziness. Again, our lack of preparation on the flat was a big issue. I am lucky in that through all of this, Brego never really let his clumsiness shake his confidence. He would nail a jump and look gorgeous and then the next fence he would tear down, but it never made him want to quit and he never stopped.
So more dressage lessons, more fitness, lots of time in the jumping chute so he could figure things out on his own, and he started to mentally understand what jumping is all about. Poles were not just something you broke because you could and it didn't hurt, they were a kind a test that could be fun! You could actually see him think about the problem instead of running around and lifting his legs at the (mostly) correct time. He's a very smart horse, but the whole point of jumping was lost on him until we started to make things more interesting.
Once I raised the jumps to 2'6"-2'9" and added solid obstacles, he really started to "get it". He started to understand the rhythm of a line and how impulsion made jumping easier, not harder. He would lock onto fences farther and farther out and think about them. And, because of my ammie nature and his size, it was a lesson he needed to learn by himself. I am not good enough to teach it to him through perfect riding.
This picture is from the last time we jumped. And honestly, if we never jump again, this picture proves that he is a successful jumper. It took almost a year to get to this picture, and a lot of trial and error along the way to reach this moment. If I had a thin-skinned, mentally fragile horse, I would have gone to a professional for most of the work. But Brego just seems to like trying new things and is very forgiving.
He's still not very rateable and jumping is definitely something we are lagging in this days. But we'll make it through somehow.
I highly recommend this book on eventing which helps cover some canter pole to cross rail exercises to start a horse to jumping. There's lots of good information out there in other books as well. Just don't give up and listen to your horse. You'll be perfect.
This is just my opinion, but I think that asking horses to drill endlessly over 2' fences makes them worse jumpers. It teaches them to be lazy and not pay attention. Endless drilling is always bad, but especially over boring little jumps. So when Brego and I are stuck and he's not listening, he's bored. If he is calm and obviously not brain fried, I raise the stakes and the fences and then lo and behold, he CAN make the distance. So in general, I don't jump him under 2'6" anymore, because we will always battle a case of the "lazies". I do fewer fences higher or more interesting and call it a day.
Brego jumps out of pastures from a trot or (once) from a standstill at about 4'. We school at 2'9" and he does just fine.
Today I fly back to Texas to be reunited with Brego. We will then begin the long journey back to New Hampshire and our new home. Hopefully the trip with be uneventful and not generate too much content for the blog, but I will update everyone upon my return.
I have had a couple of people ask me recently if Brego is pure bred Percheron. The truth is, I honestly don't know. Given certain clues, however, it's pretty safe to say that he is, and is actually probably registered somewhere.
His Past
I purchased Brego in July of 2005 from a couple in Houston, Texas. They had Brego, then named Hobo, and another Percheron together in a paddock. They told me they purchased both of them from another local barn in November 2004, but that originally, they were from Canada. They were pretty adamant that neither horse was from the PMU industry. That was the extent of the background information.
Percheron Traits
I suspect Brego is purebred, despite his seemingly random coloring, which is very unusual for the breed, because he displays many "typey" characteristics. His exaggerated action while trotting is very typical for a Percheron as is his single white star. He also has heavy draft characteristics such as big bones, big head, and big feet. So there's no question he's at least mostly draft, and the other common draft breeds have coloring characteristics that Brego lacks. Belgians are sorrel with flaxen mane and tail, Clydesdales are feathered and tend to be sabino, Suffolks are chestnut, etc.
But the most conclusive evidence is his docked tail. For those who don't know, when a horse's tail is docked, it is cut through the bone and tissue to the desired length, usually at birth. The docking of tails is a breed characteristic of Percherons and, what's more, it is usually only performed by the bigger show barns who intend to show their Percherons as part of a big hitch. Horses who are docked for heavy work tend to get a longer dock to encourage at least some hair growth to offer protection from the flies. Horses bred for show hitches or conformation classes tend to get a very short dock. Brego's tail is very closely docked, with approximately 6 inches of tail remaining. You can see in the picture above where the bone ends and the rest of the hair continues. The practice is increasingly under scrutiny and has fallen out of favor somewhat from the working horse communities, including the Amish. However, it remains a largely cosmetic practice among the purebred Percheron breeders. Cross bred horses are almost never docked.
I do not know why he was culled and sold, but I am darn lucky he was. He does truly hate driving, so perhaps he wasn't conducive to it. I allow his tail hairs to grow as much as they can, and thankfully he has enough tail to help him in the summer months. His tail will never regrow however, and those that see how short it really is are often confused and ask me why I cut it off and how long it take to regrow. I don't have a need for a docked tail, so I would never perform the operation on my horses. It's just one of the mysterious clues I have about Brego.
Eventing Percheron?
So, there's the story. It is not my intent to mislead anyone by representing Brego as something he is not. Every indicator points to him being purebred, or purpose bred at least. And I do not show him in breed shows, obviously without papers, so he is not competing in anything that registration is important. Anyone can look at him and see he is not a warmblood or other light breed, thereby granting me some advantage. I would love to find out his true identity and find his papers, but since he is once again a gelding, his pedigree is somewhat irrelevant to his performance.
A couple of months ago, I toyed with the idea of taking him to the World Percheron Congress and having a go on a "level playing field". When I made my inquiries as to whether they would accept a grade horse in classes, I was understandably denied. It makes sense, since I guess some unscrupulous person could masquerade a thick Thoroughbred as a Percheron and clean up. But then, it's not like winning a hack class at the World Percheron Congress is going to light the world on fire with your magnificent talent. :)
I reached a dead end tracking down his past. Maybe someday I will unearth another clue and restart the quest.
I am at the one week countdown until I fly back to Texas and collect Brego. I thought I would take the opportunity (coupled with a little spring cleaning) to freshen the look of the blog a bit. This new look is a little more masculine (for the big Brego) and of course, in his eventing colors -- Blue! The older blog was so, I don't know, teenage angst circa 2003.
If all you do is read the blog as a feed in a reader, pay no attention... you have no idea what I am talking about. There is nothing to see here.
This weekend I will post the final long-distance training photos and video. I can't wait to see all the improvements in person.
I just got a report from my vet in Texas that the unusual swelling Brego has near his boy parts is, in fact, an undescended testicle that has now found the light of day. For a week or so, we simply thought he was bitten by a snake while laying down sleeping.
So Brego is actually a stallion which explains a lot of his macho behavior, but does not explain his coat coloring *sigh*.
Because of his amazing ability, I am considering offering him for stud once we get the final fertility test to see if he can do the deed with a single, er, asset. I am also getting blood drawn to DNA test him to track down his registration papers. Woohoo!
So if you've always wanted a little Brego, the fates have transpired against all natural odds. Sign up now for a Brego baby!!
Brego is a 8 year-old Percheron gelding of unknown breeding. I purchased him as a 4 year-old without papers to be a back-country trail horse. As he has grown up the last couple of years, he has shown me that he has some pretty amazing talent and athleticism I had not understood in a "heavy draft" breed before. And... he's darn good looking!
I've been riding horses since I was five, mostly hunters. I was the proud owner of an Arabian gelding who lived with my family from the time I was 5 until he died in December of 2005 at the age of 27. I competed hunters through college on a Thoroughbred mare and in IHSA before I went abroad to study. When I returned to the states, I took a few years off before I bought a Percheron for trail riding. Little did I know that he would teach me so much and change what I wanted to do with horses...
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