Friends and family sometimes have a hard time keeping up with who is in our pasture and who we are bringing to the shows. Believe me, we often have a hard time ourselves. The plan for 2016 was for Libby to show Ellie as her primary horse, Ace in 3 year old and for me to show Zippy. Things changed suddenly right before the first show and I was going to be showing Simon, Ellie was hurt and Ace had to step up and be Libby’s main horse for the entire season. Luckily we did get Zippy back in time for her to qualify for a few more classes at Champ Show because Ace decided he was mortally wounded just because he had a short trim. Simon also came up lame so Champ Show didn’t happen for us this year, but I’m thankful for what I was able to accomplish on him the shows that we were able to get to.
What some people didn’t know is that we had a lovely filly waiting in the wings at home who didn’t get to come to many shows (she made one) as she also had a short trim and a crack in her sole that needed to toughen up and grow out. It’s been a tough year for us lameness wise - don’t ask. Plus she was just a yearling, so washing, clipping, banding, etc… is a lot of work for one halter class.
Anyway! Everyone always asks, who is this and where did you get her? So I thought I’d share the story of how China came to be with us. Last winter Libby and I were window shopping for horses. For you non horse people, that means searching horse sale sites and seeing what’s for sale. I always claim I’m just doing market analysis to see what horses are selling for, but the truth is, I’m always looking and dreaming. Both of us were loving our Ellie, Maid Ya a Dream and we talked often about how amazing she was and easy to ride and train. We both said we would love another like her. And then Libby stumbled across an ad for a weanling, coming yearling called Maid of Copper who was bred a lot like Ellie and located just a bit away in Iowa.
I contacted the seller and asked all the right questions, I hoped, and he sent a short video to show her running around in the paddock. He offered to meet me halfway and I sent a deposit to bring her home.
Then life kind of fell apart for us and our home was in upheaval just a few weeks before we were supposed to meet to pick her up. With uncertainty about our future, losing the truck we used to haul with, and not knowing what my financial status would be, I sent a message to the seller telling him we were going to have to back out of the deal and I understood I would probably lose my deposit.
When I tried to explain to Libby she would have none of it. We were getting that filly and we would figure it out and make things work together. Sometimes it is hard to remind myself that she is only 16 (15) at the time. We borrowed my dad’s truck and made arrangements to meet her. Strangest thing is that when I messaged the seller to tell him we were back on and would be headed his way, he had never gotten the message saying we weren’t going to be able to get her. Taking that as a sign we hooked up and headed her way. We even brought Tim along as one of our first dates. Honestly, I knew he was a keeper when he volunteered to spend hours driving to get this filly with us, even after I warned him we were guaranteed to talk about horses all the way there and all the way back.
The roads were terrible to start and the trip seemed to take forever. We met Ken and his filly in a parking lot of a restaurant and he unloaded this big hunk of a yearling. The first thing that struck us all was her size. She was huge for a yearling (and not even having reached her first birthday yet). People always think their horses are bigger than they are. When Ken told me she was 14 hands as a yearling I was like, “okay, right.” But China stepped off and she was easily 14 hands. We had taken good old Zippy along as a trailer buddy and he was excited to have her with us but she was not interested in getting in our trailer. Honestly, looking back, this poor thing had never been trailered and here we were expecting her to load for only the second time in a busy parking lot. It took a little pushing but she did load quietly and we made the journey home.
We have come to know and love our China Doll. She has such a loving, fun personality. A lot of try and a heart of gold. She is wicked smart, which can be kind of scary. Show her something once and she remembers. Which is great if you’re doing the right things, but this is one you can’t make mistakes with. She flew through desensitization as she isn’t the type to get worked up or nervous about much. She learned lunging in a day. She yields hind quarter and front quarter quickly and easily. We have progressed to ground driving which is the first thing she’s faced that she isn’t super excited about. But mostly because she is still learning patience. Keep her feet moving and she’s happy. Standing still when her buddies are back in the pasture? Not so much.
We still love people’s reactions when they meet China. Everyone’s first reaction is “THAT’S a yearling! She’s huge!” It’s fun to have a training project in the barn and a blast to watch the lightbulbs come on for her. Here’s fingers crossed to a bright future for China.
No comments:
Post a Comment