My Crazy Horse

I wanted to talk about another hobby/passion of mine – horses! Over the years I have lived in the cities and people find it weird that I own my very own horse. To me it is normal and I don’t get the big deal but people always say “Horses are expensive!” well depends where you live but yes they can be. I grew up on an 88 acre farm as a child so owning any kind of farm animal was normal. Although many young girls who got horses never ended up keeping them when they got older.

We have been out enjoying this beautiful weather!

I began begging for a horse as early as 4years old. When newspapers were still a thing; we received one called “The Peach” and I constantly would look for horses for sale until I was 11. I came across one that said “Millenium foal” and it was nearby. I have no idea why my mom even considered this one out of all the others we looked at – especially because she was a baby with no training. We go to the county fair to meet her and I fell in love! I wanted her so badly and she came named as Millenium Star but short they called her Mel. They had an open bid on her after the county fair. My mom bid on her and the guy who also wanted her said 450 then my mom went up to 460 and he stopped bidding. She was mine! Photo collage of us and the photo on the bottom right was me teaching her to accept a rider!

Over the years I struggled training her and knowing how to break her to ride. She was a handful and people who met her called her crazy horse. She broke out of any fence and was very stubborn. One winter I just got the courage at 13 and scooted on her bareback. I held on and nothing happened! She took me around the pasture and we went from there. I watched a lot of tv/read books/ asked a million horse people questions. I had a hard time with even stopping her from eating grass when bringing her out of the pasture. I never imagined we would be where we are with her training and my knowledge. Teaching a horse to accept a bridle, saddle, leg cues, verbal cues and more is really a daunting task (especially when they're too smart for their own good) if you have 0 experience. Now I ride her bareback around and have no fears! It is amazing how much time, tears and knowledge it took to get us here! Mel is a Paint/Quarter horse and unique because she a tri-paint with 3 colors instead of just 2!

I have been even fortunate enough to help others with lessons or just talking to them about horses giving them advice. I met a woman who has a house where I board my horse and live. She appreciated me giving her daughter lessons and just talked to her about my knowledge of horses. I was always positive and supportive about her new life with horses. I never want anyone to feel like they can’t succeed at what they’re passionate about. Owning horses isn’t always easy if they’re not trained well or are green broke (green broke: freshly broke to ride horse) and the owner doesn’t know anything either. I’ve seen these 2 grow together and it’s really awesome to watch them meet their goals together! Pic below is me with her horse Pyro – she is a thoroughbred and actually won money on the track before becoming a trail/barrel horse.

I am so proud of her and myself for all we have accomplished together. I am so fortunate now that she lives right in my back yard. I get to wake up feed her and go ride later in the day. I use to board her near the cities because she was so far away at my mom’s that she never got ridden. My goals are to work on riding bareback which is a great exercise for me! Also, I would love to teach her to rear or some other trick this summer. She is so intelligent and just an overall amazing horse. I hope to breed her before she gets too old. I can’t imagine life without her. She has taught me so much and has always been a constant in my life. I will never let her go or give up on her.