At the end of 2009, one of my horses colicked and died. She was a beautiful eleven year old Westphalen mare, and I had imported her from Germany in 2003. It was tragic, but fortunately happened quickly; it came on so fast there was no time to transport her to the clinic for surgery; she died within a few hours.
I was devastated, but with horses, in order to experience the triumphs and happy times, you have to be prepared to accept some of the difficult times as well.
I only keep two horses at home, so my other horse was left without a buddy. I decided to find a companion animal, nothing fancy, but something I could train and perhaps sell later on. I wasn’t too concerned about having another competition horse; any time spent in the saddle translates to more knowledge.
I looked around locally, and nothing stood out. My friend mentioned she had a Quarter Horse that was currently in reining training, and the horse didn’t show talent for it. She was going to bring her back home and just put her out in pasture. I decided to have a look to see if she would suit me.
She arrived at my house, and my first thought was how pretty she was. She was also very small compared to my warm bloods, but being a Quarter Horse, she was wide-bodied and even though I am 5’7” she was a good fit for me. She was four years old at the time. Her name was Justine.
I started riding her and immediately noticed something special about her. Now I didn’t have high expectations for her. She was downhill built and moved like a sewing machine. But she was so sweet and willing, and I found myself looking forward to coming to the barn because every time she saw me she nickered loudly. And wow, what a quick learner she was! At age four, I had her doing all the first level dressage moves in a few months. Her canter was a highlight too, like a rocking horse.
Again, since I only had the two horses at home, I decided to bring her along to the shows with me. She was for sale, as her owner was having health problems and couldn’t keep her. So I figured getting her out and showing her would help with the sales process.
She had an amazing year. She almost always scored in the 60’s, and placed in most of her classes. She would go toe to toe with fancy warm bloods and hold her own. My other horse showed in the advanced classes, and preparing for those would stress me out. With her, I could just relax and have fun. It was a nice contrast from the pressure I normally felt when I showed.
She helped ease the sadness of losing my other horse. I was so amazed at how she tried, she never let me down. She didn’t have the natural talent of the warm bloods, but she would put 110% effort in every time. She belonged out there. I try not to be overly dramatic, but it was almost like she had been sent to me for a reason. I never pondered that too much, all I knew was that I liked her and she brought me joy.
At the end of the season, I had another horse I brought into the barn to start, so I sent Justine back to her owner. I was satisfied with our season together, and thought it was time for both of us to move on.
Justine came back into my life a little over a year later. Another chapter began, and I will share that story in future posts.
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