How We Met

When I was in the 7th grade, I had taken riding to relearn the skill and Jackie was my lesson horse. She was a broodmare until the owners learned she was trained. They put a green horse with a green rider (lucky, in my case, this did not equal black and blue). We both progressed over time and soon we could both be “released” to have fun. However; she became lame after being rented for an Elk hunt, and I was put on another horse. He, in no way, had her striking copper coat…he was plain, dull brown. For a month Jackie would wait by the fence for my lesson to get done, and while she was resting and getting fat on grass, I was progressing more and more. A few years later the same man who made her go lame, saddle-sour, and made her hate having her legs touched…thought it would be a great idea to buy her. Needless to say, I threw a *itch fit. I knew he’d ruin her, and that she had no respect for him.

Apparently my fit was enough stimuli to get my mother to buy her. I can’t say “it has been nothing but bliss” because she has thrown fits; it’s taken almost 7 years to undo what that man did to her, but with each struggle we have come out stronger. The previous owner (who is a friend of mine, and a QH breeder) once told me that she used to be wary about riding Jackie, but now that she knows a small child could “tame the beast” she wasn’t so wary anymore. Since then I have put my 14 y/o sister on her, my little cousins, and I’ve tried my hardest to get my spunky grandma to give it a try…no luck there haha. I have help gentle scared yearlings; a colt who had strangles multiple times and was scared to death of everyone…I got him to want to nuzzle and check out his owner. I’ve helped imprint a filly and now she’s 2, and I’ve taken it upon myself to train her to be mannerly. I’m no professional, and I’ve only had 1 horse so far, but I get those horses out on that ranch…to them I’m another (odd) family member..