Today was the day! Indy gets to move back to my barn and be
with his big brother Forrest! It was a cold morning and I got to Indy’s barn
around 7:45AM to pack him up, load him up and drive out. I think Indy was quite
confused. I loaded all his things, which wasn't much, into the trailer and left
him for last. I walked down to his paddock which he was standing there waiting
for me. It was a big to do at the barn, there was a horse trailer that drove in
and all the horses were anxiously waiting at the gates trying to figure out
what was going on. Was someone coming off the trailer? Or was someone leaving?
I met Indy at his gate and slipped his halter on. He was
fresh and in a happy mood. As I walked him back to the barn he started tossing
his head and bunny hopping, basically being fresh, as we walked to the trailer.
I couldn't punish him so I lengthen my hold on the lead rope and let him “play.”
Once we walked by the trailer and stood in cross-ties Indy knew what was going
on, and it was that someone new was coming it was that he was getting ON that
thing! Indy is a good loader but a terrible traveler. I think he believes that every
time he steps on the trailer he leaves for a new place with a new person. Why
you may ask? Let me give you a brief history on Indy.
Most kids when graduating high school want a car for a gift
so they can drive. Me not so much, I wanted a horse. So with the help of some
friends and local horse listings I found Indy near Richmond. Ironically enough,
I swore the last thing I wanted was a chestnut. They seemed common and you just
saw them EVERYWHERE! I wanted a black, grey, or especially a paint. I wasn't breed
loyal yet, this was my first “big” horse of my own. I can’t still remember the
first visit with Indy. It had rained the day before so the ring, which was red
clay, was unusable so there was a small area of grass I could ride. We tacked
him up and walked him around and he was good. I remember trotting him around
and thinking that I didn't like him because his stride was so big!
Now the only time prior to searching for my own horse, I
rode 2 weeks out of the year at summer camp. My favorite camp horse was a 15H Morgan
named Brewster. So you can see why I would think Indy, a thoroughbred, had a
BIG stride.
I couldn't canter him or jump him so the owners wanted me to
come back another day when the ring was dry. I have no idea why, especially
since I wasn't thrilled with him as it was, but my mom and I agreed to come
back and try again in a couple days.
A week later we made the trip back to Indy and gave it
another go. The trot was the same but when I asked him to canter I was surprised
to find that he also started BUCKING!!! So I rode through it and he stopped and
kept going. He reacted the same way in the other direction but definitely not
as bad and only did it once. I was definitely not thrilled but I almost took it
as a challenge as well. I know it wasn't my horse, but I also didn't want him
to think he could get away with it…bad horsemanship! So we smoothed out the
canter and I felt a bit better. Next was jumping.
They didn't have anything overly decorated but they made a
trot fence with 2 strides than a vertical. I was told that this horse was used
for the owners’ daughter, who was 11 at the time, and taught her to ride.
Internally I was surprised. Here is this bucking horse. Either the girl can
ride ANYTHING now or the reason they are selling the horse was due to his
reaction and not because she lost interest. So Indy and I start trotting over
the little x and he tossed in a mild buck on the landing side but nothing bad,
and I had kind of expected it. So we moved onto the combination and that little
sucker would run out no matter what I did.
He would gladly do the first fence but not the second. So challenge #2:
get horse over the fences! Well I succeeded after a while and he went over
both.
So most people at this point wouldn't have given him the
time of day after bucking at the canter let alone running out and bucking after
fences, but something about him tugged at my heart and I looked at my mom and
said he’s the one. I’m pretty sure she was shocked. But being that this was our
first experience buying a horse with no trainer, she agreed and Indy was coming
home with us.
It has been an interesting experience with him. Indy had
severe trust issues. The first day in the barn when I had him in cross-ties and
was grooming his face he got scared and reared knocking me over and under him
along with hitting his head on the loft, breaking the cross-ties and bolting out
the barn. I then spent the next couple months doing baby work. Indy had a fear
of his head being tied down. So I started outside grooming him with the lead
rope over the fence so when he moved it moved with him. We progressed into the barn
and did the same thing. Then by late winter I was finally able to connect him
to one cross-tie that now had bungees on them, and by spring we were in two
with no issues. During this time I was also trying to get Indy ready for Sweet
Briar and hoping he would get accepted!
Arrival
Learning to trust
Training for SBC
Indy got accepted, through drama of its own, he made it by
the second semester. At SBC, we learned a
lot about each other and grew as a team. We started in the hunters, than the
jumpers, then the hunter trails field and cross country type schooling. We
bother graduated and continued to compete in the local hunter show, hunter paces.
He eventually became a lesson horse and took many kids through short stirrup to
win champion ribbons for the kids.
Hunters at SBC
Hunter Trails at SBC
Hunter Trails at SBC
Four Oaks 2008
Four Oaks 2009
I got Indy in September 2000. According to his jockey papers
the poor boy was bought and sold 14 times in his 13 years of life by 2000. For
obvious reasons and not so obvious reasons, Indy came to me with serious trust
issues and skepticism over everything.
Okay okay so maybe his history wasn't so brief, but I love
my old man dearly and so excited for him to finally be with me. When he arrived
at the farm, the horses were happy to see him. Forrest definitely remembered
who he was and they nuzzled each other over the fence. Indy will remain in the
injury paddock for the day while everyone adjusts to him and will be turned out
tonight to join the herd.
Together Again
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