#PleaseAllowMeToIntroduce My Defining Horse
I remember how I used to daydream out the window every time we went anywhere, dreaming of the big palomino horse with a blaze that was as fast pst he wind. I may have been six, but I knew exactly what I wanted to do - ride a horse and go fast!
Unfortunately for me, all I had was a 38” tall miniature horse gelding named Dude. Now there was nothing wrong with Dude, I loved him dearly, and we drove all over the neighborhood and competed in the Willamette Valley Pony Club in driving gymkhana, driving equitation, reinsmanship, and anything in-hand.
When I was eight years old, we went to look at a full sized horse for my older sister to show in 4-H, as we had realized by this point that it was not common to be a driver in the local youth programs of 4-H and High School Equestrian Team. The first horse we looked at was a give year-old sorrel Tobiano American Paint Horse named Maddy.
From the moment I saw him trotting up to the barn with the rest of the herd of horses, I was hooked! There was nothing more that I had ever wanted more than that horse… so we got him - for my sister. A few short weeks later, I had stolen about 30 rides on him bareback in his paddock without my mothers knowledge, he had bucked my older sister off twice and, wa-la, Maddy was MINE!
His mom was a quarter horse sprinter, his sire a paint by a Thoroughbred racehorse; I had FINALLY gotten my racehorse. A big fan of the Thoroughbred series, I was bound and determined to become a jockey and every morning in the summer I would go out at the crack of dawn to “exercise my racehorse,” running the irons all the way up on my english saddle and racing through the farm fields.
The thing was, though, is that Maddy didn’t want to be a fast horse. It was a stark realization that I had entering high school and seeing the truly fast gaming and barrel racing horses. It just wasn’t his cup of tea! I had two options; sell Maddy for something different or find something else to do.
The former was not an option in my book, he was my best friend and shoulder to cry on! I had to find something that took just as much precision, concentration, practice and skill; Extreme competitive trail. I know you probably don’t think that they are anything alike but, think about it, they are! The amount of control over every single inch of body part of your horse is what helps a top barrel racer be successful. From high end to dressage to navigating a trail course, Maddy and I had the time of our lives and a ton of success through 4-H, OHSET, and local open shows.
Maddy was my go-to, he did it all! I remember being gone for two weeks before horse fair due to a club basketball tournament in Chicago and Maddy more than pulled his own weight o win us medallion after medallion (so given to those who score in the 90th percentile or higher). He’s the only horse I’ll probably ever own to always a score a 99 to perfect 100 point trail class score.
My Junior year of high school I got the horrible news after a series of in-depth veterinarian exams, knowing deep down that something wasn’t right, that Maddy was navicular. Navicular is a degenerative bone disease of the navicular bone located in the hoof of a horse. There wasn’t anything we could to but watch his gradual decline as his body started to fail him. As my best friend, the holder of so many secrets and so many tears, I wasn’t sure what I was going to do without him.
Thankfully, we’ve been able to work extensively with both my veterinarian and my farrier to slow down the progression of the disease. While he took my junior year off and I learned a lot on my sisters actually fast horse, Ringo, I was able to show Maddy in my senior year of 4-H and OHSET. I will forever cherish those medallions, ribbons and state qualifications with my best friend.
From the time I graduated high school until the early summer of 2022, Maddy got to live the life of retirement luxury. He never got ridden, except for a random bareback ride up from the pasture or once for a photoshoot to prove that the old man still “got it!” I think that was the best moment, skipping flying lead changes bareback in a halter in our back yard while the photographer laughed in amazement.
He wasn’t the horse that I wanted as a child, he was the horse that I needed and he’s the horse that I never want to live without and, because of him, he’s made me the horse person that I once dreamed of being when my first foal was born out of a my rodeo mare; a Dash for Cash, barrel-prospect Palomino, with a blaze.