Living My Passion
Fast forward to 1988
The flowers on the balcony were in full bloom. Summer had arrived. I hadn't yet picked a challenge for the year. Nothing had sparked my curiosity. Somehow that day felt different. The TV was on. As I walked by, I saw a gorgeous ebony-black stallion gallop down the center of the arena, picking up speed as it went. At peak speed, its body relaxed, and its hind end dropped to the ground. All that was left was a cloud of dust and two thirty-foot parallel furrows in the footing. The horse hesitated for a split second, rolled back over its hocks, and exploded into a gallop in the opposite direction. My heart was racing! I could barely breathe. I was mesmerized . . . literally. "Ah ha!" I had found my challenge for the year! I was going to learn to ride a horse! Little did I know that this challenge would constantly open new doors for the rest of my life.
Fast forward to 1988!
"I'm on a Mission."
Within two days of taking on my new challenge, I sold my West Coast contemporary home and bought a farm. The following week I traded my Corvette for a truck. As soon as I had moved to the farm, I purchased an old tractor, ordered a load of hog fuel, and went to work leveling the paddocks. I was excited and optimistic about the future. I felt like I was a part of a herd of wild horses blazing a path to greener pastures!
The trials, tribulations and joy of riding.
After finishing the paddocks, I turned my attention to buying a horse. That took only one week. "Sheza Hand Two," aka "Handy," was a feisty Appaloosa mare. She was a direct descendent of the High Hand line, a line bred for speed and endurance by the Nez Perce natives in the USA. Handy was British Columbia's rodeo horse of the year a couple of years before I bought her. That meant nothing to me until I sat on her for the first time. Talk about apprehension! I kept reminding myself this was only my first ride in the saddle. Things were bound to get better. "Better" is on a sliding scale. I'm still working on it. Most likely, I'll be practicing and improving the rest of my riding days. Before Handy, my only riding experience had been on a merry-go-round at a local fair.
Is this really a riding experience??
Patience and practice pay dividends.
Handy thoroughly enjoyed working with cows. The more time I spent with her, the better our relationship became. In this photo, the cow and I watch two dogs wrestle outside the arena. Handy remains focused on the cow.
Coach and show . . .
While enjoying life on the farm, I improved my horsemanship and coaching skills. After getting certified as a High-Performance Coach and West PerformanceJudge and Learning Facilitator, I was chosen to be the Master Course Conductor to represent British Columbia nationally.
Time passed. My mind kept flipping back to that ebony-black stallion I saw on TV. That horse inspired my change from teaching to farming. It didn't take long to locate the horse and rider in Washington, USA. The rider was a well-known trainer. He and his wife were world-champion horsemen. They took me under their wings and taught me how to show. I owe them a lot. Under their guidance, Geez Louise placed "in the money" at all the shows we entered in Washington and Oregon.
"Geez Louise" makes my day again!
Transition to a Young Horse
After owning and riding a "trained" horse, I challenged myself by buying a 3-year-old cutting-bred roan. "Bug Around" was athletic and drop-dead gorgeous. Good thing I realized early that both Bug and I needed hands-on help to become a safe, functional unit. Off I went to hire a trainer. OMG! What a dreadful experience that was!
I put the word out that I was looking for a top-notch trainer. I was introduced to the "best" in the valley. At least, that's what I was told. Naturally, I was thrilled. Little did I know that this trainer would shower me with the most horrific episodes I could ever imagine. It started the first day I observed this trainer in action. I witnessed a bloody aftermath of sheer brutality. He had used his spurs to make mincemeat out of both sides of his customer's horse. I broke out in tears when I saw blood on his spurs. Another horse was tied up in its stall. It had one bloody eye that was swollen shut. Apparently, in a previous training session, this trainer had repeatedly swatted the side of the horse's head with his glove. I asked the owner of the horse why he didn't contact the SPCA. No answer. But the next day, I heard that the SPCA had placed the trainer under supervision for a month. At the end of that month, the trainer moved to a new barn. I had hoped he had cleaned up his act. But he hadn't. He had gone back to his abusive ways again. I had already walked.
Throughout the following years, I saw only minimal improvements in the local trainers' abilities in my home area. Many horses suffered unnecessary punishments, then were given high doses of pain medication to mask the issues. I realized that if I wanted a balanced, healthy horse, I had to train it myself. My academic background in kinesiology and other sciences provided a cursory understanding of how the horse's body and brain functioned. But it didn't give me insight into how to be an effective trainer. The horse would have to show me that!
Guess what. . . It did!
A content 3-year old
Sunny places first in his first reining show..
I bought Sunny as a two-year-old. By the time I got him from California he had approximately eight rides on him.
Sunny didn't know he was a star, but I did. He was calm yet bold and relaxed yet willing. The training was a treat. In his first show, he carried me to a first-place finish. There were 36 other reining horses in the class. After my run, the judge said she had never seen as good an example of wilful guiding as what Sunny and I had presented during our run.
Donna and Sunny accept their 1st place award.
"Lark" remains at the top of his game!
Lark, one of the horses I owned, continued to train, then sold, placed second in the open reining division in the USA for the year. The same year, at the AQHA World Show in Oklahoma, he won the Youth division reining class and placed second in the Open division. The horse had been sold prior to the show, provided he passed the vet check after the show.
The vetting of the horse was the most interesting part. After completing the examination, the two attending veterinarians said they had never vetted a horse whose physical and mental health was as strong as what they had in front of them. They were curious about the training and husbandry methods I used in the care and training of the horse.
The last time I checked on Lark, he was still "healthy and going strong." He was in his late twenties, still helping young riders become reiners.