A Little Horse History

Since I have only really talked about what goes on in my life now, I figured it was time to show you my life as a youngster, with my horses. Now that I have a scanner, I can get old pictures into my computer! Very exciting! So I am sure I will have a lot more to show and tell about my life, if anyone finds that interesting! Please note: All the pictures you are about to see, were taken in the 80's. So please excuse the hair-do's and clothes! You all might get some good laughs, but that is ok, I always laugh when I go through old photos. It is funny to me, that back then, we didn't take many pictures. So the few that I do have, were obviously not the greatest quality, I guess when we were young, we didn't think about how the picture will turn out. Oh well.

I started riding when I was 7 yrs old. My older sister, Pony Girl, was 9 yrs old and she wanted a pony. That pony was Black Jack, or BJ, a black Shetland Pony gelding. I can't find any pictures but maybe 2 that did not turn out when scanned. So you will have to imagine a really cute black Shetland Pony. Once she outgrew BJ, he was passed onto me. He was like all ponies, stubborn and with a mind of his own. I can't tell you how many times he took off running with me. But I'd have to say that he taught us very well. We would take lessons, when we could afford it, from our neighbor. We actually started taking lessons from her before we got BJ. We learned how to groom, tack, and ride on a beautiful Morgan mare, named Maggie.

Once I outgrew BJ, I moved up to a larger pony, Angel. We never knew what breed she was, she was a rescue pony and when we went to go see her for the first time, she was so skinny. It was really sad. But I really wanted her. We just said she was a Quarter Pony. She was a fun little pony. I could do anything with her. She only bucked with me one time. That was when my sis and I were trail riding and she started bucking like crazy, we think she was stung by bees, I fell off, and my foot got stuck in the stirrup. I was dragged for awhile. This is how I injured me knee. I was in a lot of pain and I missed a week of school. I don't think I went to the DR until years later, when I was having so many problems with that knee. I never found out what was wrong until 4 yrs ago, I had a torn meniscus and a ACL tear. I can't believe I lived with that pain for so long.

Angel and I loved gaming. Whether it was barrels or poles, you'd see us doing it! My dream as a youngster, was to be a professional barrel racer. A girl can dream right?



Many years later, while I was at a horse show, I ran into my old pony Angel. She was now at a barn, where many other little girls were learning to ride and show. This here is a young girl with Angel. I couldn't believe after all those years, and my pony was still teaching young ones to ride!



I remember walking up to the girl and telling her I used to own that pony. I believe she still had the name Angel. Here's that little girl, showing Angel in a class.



My next horse, was a foundation bred Appaloosa mare. When I went to go see her, I fell in love right away. My favorite breed back than was the Appaloosa, and I loved loud colored leopards! This is Kitkat Kochise, or Kitty. She was a very sweet girl. But she had the worst trot! It was very choppy.



I continued my passion for gaming on Kitty. But she wasn't very fast. She was actually downright lazy. It was hard to get her around the barrels, but I did! This is also the horse that slipped going around the 3rd barrel and fell on top of me. Guess what? No broken bones!



This girl loved spotted butts!! Like how my eyes are closed? I believe my sister was the photographer. She did a photo shoot of Kitty and I. Aspiring photographer in the making....



I had been in 4-H for years, and I finally decided I wanted to show. So it was time to find my next horse. I answered an ad in the local paper. I talked my parents into going to look at this horse. She had been shown, but for the last few years she had just been a pasture ornament. Her owner really wanted her to go to a show home. When I tried her out, she knew everything, from halter, trail and western pleasure. I think I found my show horse! And she was an Appaloosa, of course! My parents bought her for me.

This picture was taken about a week after my new show horse came home. Her name was Knotahe Sullivan, or just Knotahe. Try to pronounce that one! You know every time our name was called when we placed, the announcer always butchered it! Knotahe was very overweight from being in the pasture for years. Her previous owner loaned me her show tack, and even came to my house and gave me lessons on her. She was very excited that I would be showing Knotahe. She even came to an open show and to the fair to watch us show. She had owned Knotahe since she was a 2 yr old (the horse, not the owner!) and had planned on raising her kids with her. But other circumstances in her life, prevented her from keeping this horse.



Knotahe was the granddaughter of this horse, Silky Sullivan. He was a famous racehorse in the 50's. He had an article in Sports Illustrated. He raced in the Kentucky Derby, but did not win. So you know what I was thinking, besides halter, trail and western pleasure, I was thinking, barrel racing here we come! She was FAST!!! That horse could run. The only problem was when I went to show in trail, once she went into the arena, she thought she was going to barrel race and she got all hyped up. So I never did well in trail after I started gaming on her. Maybe I should have just did games with her!



Here is Silky Sullivan racing.



Don't ya just love the show outfits back in the 80's? I used to have teal chaps and hat too, which I actually still own. I eventually went to just black and white.



Taking a break. Oh, how I miss showing! I would always be nervous before a class, but once in the ring, I loved every minute of it. Our best class was showmanship. Knotahe was so good. I guess I was too, because we would always get Grands and Reserve Championships! We also did really well in Stockseat equitation, I don't even know if they still call it that!



I never showed huntseat. I had an english saddle to putz around in at home. But this here is one of my pen-pals from California. She flew up to see me and another pen-pal from the area. She came to a horse show with me. I let her and my other pen-pal show Knotahe in huntseat and hunter hack classes. I am still friends with those 2 pen-pals. I think it is so cool, that you can write letters to people, this was before the internet, and talk on the phone, than you meet and a life long friendship forms.



Knotahe is one horse I regret selling. She is the one I wish I would have kept forever. She was what I'd call the perfect horse. Not a mean bone in her body, very sweet, kind, loving, a champion. I will remember her always.

Now, you all know how much I love Mustangs, and would love to get one someday. I actually rode a Mustang in my younger years. This Mustang, Cupcake, I know, such a silly name, belonged to a friend of the neighbor who taught us how to ride. He boarded Cupcake at our neighbors house, and he said I could ride her whenever I wanted too. I actually remember doing a lot of longing and arena work with her. She was only around 5 yrs old I think, and very green. I also remember how hard she was to catch, sound familiar Pony Girl? But once you could catch her, usually by getting a bucket of grain, she was a sweet horse. I didn't know much about her. I don't think she was at the neighbors for that long. I do remember that this is what started the whole "I want to adopt a Mustang someday" thought process! Oh yeah, my sis took this picture too, if I remember correctly, I was sweating in that sweater! She made me dress up, seriously!



So there you have it. A brief horse history of my younger years! Well, maybe not that brief!