Aristides--Connected Across Time

Aristides

(Leamington x Sarong)

1872-1893 Chestnut Thoroughbred

When I was 9 years old I read the book "Kentucky Derby Winner". It was the story of Aristides, the first winner of the famed Kentucky Derby horse race. It was the story of a courageous little horse who wasn't expected to be the racing superstar he turned out to be. While Aristides had a pedigree that read like a "whose who" of racing, he was small & unimposing & only entered in the Derby to lead the way for another to win. Aristides had the speed to pull the field along until his 1/2 brother, a bigger horse thought to be the best odds to win the first Kentucky Derby, could roll past the field to victory. As Aristides lead the field no horse made a move to overtake him. His jockey knew he wasn't supposed to win, but he also knew he was on the horse who could win. He looked at Aristides' connections as he flew down the stretch, getting a nod to go for the win. The rest is history. Aristides, a little horse with a big heart became the first winner of the biggest horse race of all, The Kentucky Derby.

I don't know how many times I read that book as a kid, knowing that someday I would have a horse named Aristides. That book & that horse gave me a love of thoroughbreds & horse racing that stays with me today. Ever since I read that book the first time I'd had a dream of going to the Kentucky Derby one day. While I still haven't gone to the Derby, in 2008 I had the good fortune to go to Louisville KY, home of the Derby. It was so breathtaking to walk through Churchill Downs racetrack, following the path of so many great horses. Standing by the rail I could almost hear their thundering hooves roll by. The names of all the Derby winners are hung for all to see on the grounds of Churchill Downs. The twin spires tower regally over the stands, overlooking the track. I passed the barn that housed Secretariat the year he won the Derby. I saw the stall that was Lil ET's. The Kentucky Derby Museum is a treasure trove of Derby memorabilia, complete with video/film footage of all the winners since film was available. I know I spent hours watching every clip. Big Brown won in 2008 & I took pictures of the statue painted in his colors. Then I took the walking tour & what a wonderful surprise when I found a gorgeous statue surrounded by roses. Imagine the flutter of my heart when I read the name on that statue--Aristides.

DreamCatchr Aristides

(DreamCatcher Alshain x DC Kobayashi Wrain)

7/8 arab/morgan cross

On Valentine's Day 2009 a gorgeous chestnut filly was born to one of my favorite mares. Soon after her birth I was scheduled to be back in Louisville & I had plans to tour Churchill Downs again. I knew before my filly was born that I'd found my Aristides. She was a beautiful chestnut with a star & 3 white socks. I said her name as she struggled to stand for the first time. She paused & listened as if she knew I was calling her name. Aristides & I have a special bond. Anytime she saw me or I called to her, she would coming running across the pasture. She would whinny, flip her tail over her back & prance up to me. Laying her head on my shoulder she blew warm air on neck. She would come through the hotwire fence to get to me.

Then one day things changed. She decided I was the enemy after receiving her vaccinations. It was weeks before I could touch her, & then only if I had nothing in my hands. It was months before she decided that I was friend & she started laying her head on my shoulder once again. But sadly she never ran across the pasture to greet me again. In those trying months she bonded with the other fillies & decided that I was just a human, not her special person. I hate to admit that it broke my heart. Not long ago my Aristides went to live with a very good friend. I'm excited for her because one day she'll not only grace the showring, but she's destined to go down the endurance trail in style. My friend will do right by her & bring out all her potential. It was bittersweet when my friend told me how Aristides run across the pasture to greet her, whinnying as she comes. She leaves the other horses behind to spend time with her special person.

I will always love both my Aristides. One a legend from the past, the other one that I'll get to watch grow & excel, & know that I was her first special person.

TF Jumpin Jack--a Placement Gone Bad

TF Jumpin Jack
10 yr, 15.2 hand, chestnut, TB x Appy gelding

Sometimes things don't go as planned or hoped. Sometimes things go terribly wrong. That's what happened to poor Jack.

Jack arrived with The Red Horse, aka Donut. He'd been passed around quite a bit in the previous 2 years & had lost his trust of humans. I'd been told he'd been abused when he proved hard to catch. Why anyone would hit a horse once caught is beyond me. That's like calling a dog & when it finally comes, beating it because it didn't come faster. All that teaches is NOT TO COME! I could tell right away that Jack was a sweet horse who wanted to be friendly, he just didn't know if he could. I went in with him & stood still. He slowly approached & reached out to me. A few scratches later he was following me & letting me blanket him without a halter. Someone was going to get a very nice horse.

I had what I thought was the perfect home for him. A teen girl (TG) was looking for an english prospect so she could be on the Fresno State Equestrian team in the fall. Jack had been presented to me as green, ridden in an arena at a walk, trot & canter. He had only been ridden english & that was by his original owner, who rode dressage. I just knew he was going to be the perfect project horse for TG.

When TG arrived, along with Stacy & 2 of my friends, I handed her a halter & let her get acquainted with Jack. She was very timid & quiet which put Jack at ease. Soon they were walking around & then lunging in the roundpen. Their temperments seemed to be well suited. I allowed them alone time so they could see if a bond was there, & told TG she didn't have to take Jack if she had any concerns. It wasn't long before I spied Jack's head in her stomach. It really seemed like a perfect match when he hopped right into her trailer. Six hours later Jack was unloaded at the home of my friends, who were keeping him for TG until a stall was empty at her barn. A few days later, on Wed, Jack headed for his new barn.

What followed next was a prolonged nightmare of emotions, not only for Jack but for my friends & I. We were on a weekend vacation together when they received a call from TG saying she wasn't going to keep Jack. Now mind you, this was only 48 hours after he arrived at her barn. She gave some excuses saying she was just too overwhelmed, she'd taken him too fast, she was hasty in her decision, people at the barn were saying she couldn't handle him, blah, blah, blah. My friends told her they'd help her when they got home & that seemed to calm her down. A couple hours later she called to say she wanted him gone by Sun (this was Friday) so my friends said they'd pick him up. A while later TG called again to say she had taken Jack to my friends' house & had tied him to a horse trailer. OMG WTF was the reaction we all had. TG had tied Jack to an unhitched trailer along the side of a road AFTER dark, with no one home. Fortunately my friends were able to call a non-horsey neighbor who was willing to go rescue Jack & put him safely in a paddock. We were all dumbfounded.

It was a few days before my friends found out that TG had taken Jack to a trainer of questionable repute for an evaluation. This trainer's reputation precedes her with her heavy handed methods. The claim was that Jack twice flipped over at a tie rail. Piecing the multiple conflicting stories that TG gave, we think the so-called trainer either had him bridled & tied by the bit & reins, or grabbed the reins & jerked, causing poor Jack to panic. At that, the so-called trainer deemed him crazy & dangerous. Why TG took Jack to this person is a mystery. Why would you take an english horse to a western trainer (for lack of better title) who then puts a western bit on a horse who's only had a snaffle? This whole scenario defied reason.

My friends decided they would keep Jack, not only as an eventing prospect, but as an endurance prospect. They had bonded with him while they housed him & felt he deserved better than he got from TG. My friends have a couple horses at the barn where TG keeps her horse because they like having an arena to work in during the winter. A few days after Jack was thrown away on their road, they took him back to the barn so they could work with him in the evenings. All was well for the next few days & then things went very bad.

It seems TG was so upset at seeing Jack back at the barn that she complained to the manager that Jack was dangerous & was going to kill someone. She wanted him banned from the barn. With these claims a witch hunt in the style of Salem began. On the word of a clearly disturbed teenager, Jack was being sentenced to what could have been a death penalty. The manager told my friends that they needed proof that he'd been ridden, proof (preferably from a vet) that he wasn't crazy & proof that he wasn't dangerous or they would have to move him out of the barn. Their attorney told them that the barn putting the crazy & dangerous label on Jack would make him a liability. A horse with those labels was slated for euthanasia. I was able to get a letter from a former owner that he'd been ridden. Along with this letter, I faxed one of my own for the barn manager. Mine was a bit scathing & I let it be known what I thought of the actions of TG. I also pointed out the ineptitude of the barn manager in handling the matter. I really have a very low tolerance for morons. When my friends gave the letters to the manager, they told him what their attorney had said. From what I was told, the barn manager did a lot of sputtering & indicated that they didn't have to get an attorney. He wasn't going to ban Jack. He said he didn't need the letter from the previous owner of his ridability. It was all a misunderstanding & my letter (which was quite detailed about the entire episode from start to finish) had provided details that explained everything. Jack was welcome at the stable as long as a sign was posted so people wouldn't feed him. The thought behind that was to keep strangers from scaring him as he's still wary of people. I personally think the suggestion for the sign was really to notify TG to stay away from Jack as we had concerns she would emotionally abuse him. She hates having to see him every day & goes out of her way to avoid my friends. She won't even walk down Jack's barn aisle. Did I say she was disturbed?

Poor Jack. I feel in so many ways that I failed him. But I suppose the saying "all's well that ends well" is the moral of this story. Jack is in a wonderful, forever home & I'll get to see him shine. Oh, and because he's risen from the ashes of what some considered a trash horse, his new name is FAWKES (after the phoenix in Harry Potter). Go Fawkes!

This is Fawkes with his new, forever mom. Does he look crazy & dangerous to you? Thank you Jenn for loving him & giving the chance he deserves.

Stacy & The Red Horse

The Red Horse

Chestnut, QH type gelding, born late 1990s

A couple of weeks ago I was asked by a couple I know if I'd help them place some of their horses. They had a number of geldings they no longer wanted. I guess I forgot to tell them I was going to ride in 2010 & not concentrate on rescue. But being the "fallen off the rescue wagon" person that I am, I said no problem & told them they could deliver on Thurs.

I barely got to know The Red Horse (he came with this name & who was I to change it?). As I pulled into my driveway on Wed, I found a big, chestnut, QH type gelding in one of my front paddocks. He was happily eating grass & ignored me when I went in to see him. He was a little thin & his feet were in desperate need of a trim. I had been told he was stand-offish, not caring much for people because he'd been "cowboyed" quite a bit. I'd also been told he needed an experienced rider because he was quick. He could work cattle, spin on a dime, break out in a flash, & slide stop fast enough to put you on his neck if you weren't glued to the saddle. When I was first asked about taking him in, I had no idea IF I'd be able to find him a home because I didn't know anyone who wanted, or could ride, a quick cowhorse. But here he was & I had a prospective adopter coming the next morning.

When I knew I was going to be getting The Red Horse I happened to mention him to a friend because I just knew I was going to have him for a while. Her eyes lit up & she said she knew someone who was not only looking for a horse, but who had ridden reiners. Could The Red Horse & I be so lucky? When my friend arrived the next morning with Stacy in tow, I made sure everyone understood that The Red Horse was for an experienced rider only. I told them he didn't like people & wasn't personable; that if you didn't have glue on your saddle he was liable to leave you in the dirt; you needed to ride with quiet legs to make sure you didn't cue him by mistake & end up in the dirt. Did I mention I had been told he didn't like people & wasn't personable? Maybe with most people, but he sure wasn't that way with Stacy.

I was happy to see the way Stacy smiled when she went in to check out The Red Horse. She liked everything about him. She turned him out in the roundpen to watch him move. He wouldn't stop & come in to her when she said whoa so she sat on the mounting block to wait him out. It wasn't long before he'd walked up to check her out. Pretty soon he was following her. He hopped in her trailer about as fast as I've seen a horse load. I think he wanted to make sure she wasn't going to change her mind.

I heard an update a couple days later & The Red Horse had been renamed Taz. Stacy had gotten a taste of his blazing speed (I had a fleeting thought that she would return him after coming off him) & had decided that he was as fast as a Tasmanian Devil. From what I hear, she laughed at hitting the dirt & said she wouldn't let it happen again. Since then she & The Red Horse, aka, Taz have been out on the trails building a partnership. Two weeks later, yesterday, I had a phone call telling me that Stacy has renamed her new horse again. She says he's so sweet that she calls him her sweet Donut. That's right, The Red Horse is now known as DONUT!

Many happy trails to Stacy & Donut. I just love happy endings.

Like A Bad Penny

After a very busy "rescue" year in 2009, I told myself I was done rescuing horses. While it can be rewarding & self-satisfying when all goes well, rescue work can be emotionally, financially & physically draining. I decided it was time for me to concentrate on MY horses & focus on riding. My resolve to be rescue-free in 2010 didn't last long.

Flamin Haat Love

(Haat Soxxs x Touch Of Love)

Registered, chestnut, arab gelding born 2004

By Jan 8th I had already brought home my first rescue of the year. I was at the local feed store when someone I know mentioned they were "getting rid" of a little arab gelding that was out of a mare I used to own, by a stallion I once owned. Flame was like a bad penny, how could I NOT bring him home?

Flame had been a bit of a hard luck little horse, never quite being wanted. His original owner traded him for a filly when he was a coming yearling. It had been my task to find him a home back then & I placed him with friends. Unfortunately not much was done with him beyond a little groundwork for the next few years as he became harder & harder to handle. He would bite, rear & strike, & walk on his hind legs. He was kept in a small stall, set up the hill from the other horses & isolation didn't help with his behavior. As a 5 yr old he was gelded & eventually tossed into a pasture with a few other geldings. Never having learned any social skills, Flame didn't fare well in a herd environment. After getting some knocks & dings & losing weight, he was once again put back in a stall where he sat untouched because his owner began battling illnesses. Fast forward a year & Flame was once again heading back to my place.

When I got home from work that Thurs Flame had already been dropped off. He was thin, his feet long, & he didn't really want to be bothered. I'd been told he ran the fences all the time & that's why he was thin. Supposedly he wouldn't stand & eat so couldn't keep weight on. Hmmm, did they drop off the wrong horse? Here was skinny Flame with his head buried in his hay, no running, no fretting, & definitely NOT interested in not eating.

I knew he was a very athletic horse with correct legs, a beautiful hip, & a ground covering trot. I sent word out among friends, mostly endurance riders, that I had a really nice prospect looking for a home. A very dear friend & riding partner of many miles emailed that she'd like to come meet Flame. I was so excited because I just knew she'd love him & she'd be a perfect home. That next Sat my friend & her husband drove 3 hours to meet Flame. She worked with him a bit & he responded well. Then she led him to her trailer & he hopped in like it was HIS trailer. Flame has spent that last 2 weeks settling & getting to know his new friends, a couple of endurance geldings. I expect I'll be riding next to Flame by the end of the year. What a great start to 2010.

A Lesson Learned

A few days ago I was asked if there was ever a time I had needed to listen to my horse. Like it was yesterday, I can still remember the day I should have listened. One of my childhood horses taught me to always listen to my horse, & it's a lesson I've never forgotten. Reno was a go anywhere-do anything kind of horse so I really should have known to listen to her that day. I was riding along the Santa Ana riverbed bottom when Reno stopped & refused to go forward. At my urging she finally stepped forward & down we went into quicksand. The first & only quicksand I've ever seen, hopefully the last as well. I got lucky that day because my horse found just enough footing to thrust herself, with me dangling from her breastcollar, to the solid edge. It took some work but I pulled myself out by clinging to a bush on the edge. I managed get my horse out by pulling up brush & pushing it, along with driftwood & rocks, into the quicksand under her. We were both exhausted after hours of struggling, but we made it & I will never again fail to listen to my horse