Liberated: A Quarter Horse

(This post was originally published on Horse Junkies United in June 2011.)

It started with a call from my uncle, who wondered if I could take on an old horse.

She arrived coughing and stumbling off the trailer.  Her name was Libby.  She had been a barrel racer in her youth, and later had been rescued from neglect by a teenage girl who rode the manure-stained mare all the way home and asked her parents “Can I keep her?”  When Libby moved in with us, veterinarians concurred that she was probably about 25 years old.

Libby and I began our friendship with boundary-setting:  I quickly learned that if you inadvertently cause pain while trying to lift a hoof for cleaning, even an old horse can show amazing speed and agility when she bites you on the calf.  She was also horribly barn sour, and ran through every snaffle bit we had plus one low-port curb.  We decided she would make an excellent companion horse.  And she did.  When my beloved first horse died unexpectedly, I cried into Libby’s withers for weeks. 

Libby's idea of boundary-setting.

Late one July evening my husband’s grey mare colicked.  The vet gave us directions for administering pain meds and left us for the night.  We sat in lawn chairs in the pasture just outside the grey mare’s small paddock and together with Libby we all began the long night.  The grey mare had a rough time and Libby stood by quietly nickering to her.   Early in the morning, as the sky was just turning light, I was slumped against my sleeping husband when I felt something touch my elbow.  I woke to find Libby softly nudging me awake with her muzzle; I was overcome by her gentleness.

"Good morning, Mom!"

My geldings got rambunctious on a warm April day.  One lacerated a sole and the other tweaked a tendon, and they both landed on stall rest.  Libby expressed her feelings about being kept in the barn all night by breaking into the hay storage area and pulling each and every bale into the barn aisle.  Not satisfied with her destruction she then walked across the empty wooden pallets, breaking several boards and amazingly not hurting herself in the process.  I literally stopped in my tracks the next morning at the sight of the hay-filled aisle, and at Libby, who was unable to move an inch in any direction without lifting all four limbs over a bale.  Who would have imagined a 31 year old horse trashing a barn?

Libby is lying in the pasture as the geldings graze peacefully nearby.  The little black barn cat is with her, too; he lies on top of her grave and takes a bath in the sunshine.  Libby lies quietly in my heart as well, in the chamber she burrowed into long, long ago.  From time to time she nuzzles a memory softly forward into my consciousness and I find myself thinking of her and then I realize I am smiling.  It is not such a bad thing, to take on an old horse.

LIBERATED
"Libby"
 c.1980 - 2011

Meant To Be

The first thing you should know about me is that I have no talent for winning contests.

It is because of this dismal contest track record that I did not believe I had really won the Eventing Radio Show's Rolex photo contest.  The winner was announced on April 1st.  Surely this was an April Fool's joke.

Happily, it was not.

The incredible 22 year old stallion Cigar struts
his stuff at the Hall of Champions presentation.

And so I arrived at Kentucky Horse Park early on Wednesday afternoon and was able to spend a couple of hours leisurely strolling through the park and enjoying the attractions.  But I watched the clock carefully, because the first horse inspection was set to begin at 3:00pm.  Never before in my short history of attending Rolex have I been able to swing a Wednesday arrival, let alone see a first horse inspection.  The weather could not have been more perfect for this pageant of equally perfect horses.

Karen O'Connor presents the stunning Mr. Medicott
in her equally stunning white pant suit.  Love those heels!

Thursday was the first day of dressage, and I was in my seat early to watch the tests.  I recall thinking -- and this is a first -- that this test actually looked fun to ride.  At the lunch break I made my way into the Trade Fair and visited my two favorite vendors:  Dark Horse Chocolates (I stocked up on their Peppermint Ponies -- no pun intended) and Omega Alpha (makers of the wonderful non-narcotic Chill, a staple in my barn).  Late in the afternoon Chris Stafford of the Eventing Radio Show invited me to her table in the trade fair so that I could see her show live.  She also sent me on an errand in the media center, but it was just a clever ruse, for when I returned to the show she had arranged for me to meet Canadian rider Peter Barry.  It was the photo of Peter's horse Kilrodan Abbott that Chris had chosen as the winning entry in the contest, and she arranged for Peter and me to have an on-air meeting.  Needless to say this was a great beginning to Rolex weekend.

The winning photo:  Kilrodan Abbott ("Eddie") calmly
 standing  in a tub of ice water at the 2011 Rolex.

After leaving the Eventing Radio Show, I grabbed a big glass of Kentucky Bourbon Barrel Ale and made my way to a grassy hill alongside the stadium; with the sun sinking slowly behind me, I watched several riders practicing for their Friday dressage test.

William Fox-Pitt sits astride Parklane Hawk
as a lucky admirer gets some face time.

Andrew Hoy aboard the lovely Rutherglen.

Friday found me in my stadium seats again and I watched all of the tests up to the lunch break.  I then took myself on a tour of the entire cross country course.  It was the first time I'd done the entire course in one outing and the perfect weather made it an easy walk, a memorable afternoon.

Buck Davidson warms up on Titanium as
Andrew Nicholson walks Quanza around
David O'Connor whilst they chat.

A new jump on course this year, the
gorgeous Mountain Dulcimer. 

If you have never attended the Saturday cross country day at Rolex then I must tell you that the traditional viewing strategy is to arrive early, get a good seat somewhere on course, and then figure out how you will walk the course throughout the day so you can see all of the rides.  This course had other plans, however; not many riders completed this very technical course.  Thankfully, no horses or riders were seriously injured.  But I was only vaguely aware of this at the time because, you see, I was busy in the vet box after Peter and Eddie's excellent ride.  They finished with no jumping penalties and only 3.2 time penalties.

Peter Barry and groom Colleen talk about the ride
as super-fit Eddie calmly soaks in ice water.

On Sunday I arrived at the park early to participate in one of my favorite Rolex rituals:  breakfast at Roosters' Cafe.  The nice folks at Roosters make a breakfast sandwich with no peer; I always get the hot sausage with a fried egg nestled into an inside-out toasted hamburger bun.  I nibbled at it while I made the very chilly walk to the second horse inspection.  From the time the second inspection ends until the start of the jumping test is a span of several hours, and so I filled it by stopping by the Charles Owen tent and getting fitted for my JL9 vest and my skull cap.

Finally, one o'clock arrived with the stands jammed full of spectators.  I couldn't see a single empty seat.  Even with the mandatory television delays the jumping test went too fast.  Within two hours a new Rolex champion was crowned, and the awards ceremony was over.  I was able to chat with Peter for a couple of minutes between his interviews, and then I headed back to the Eventing Radio Show table where Chris let me sit in on her live show.

The funny thing about Rolex this year was I wasn't even planning to attend.  I entered the photo in the contest because it was a photo of a horse that I really really liked.  I never once thought that it would win, but I'm so glad it did.  Kilrodan Abbott is the kind of horse I find myself drawn to:  steady, workmanlike, as kind as the day is long.  

Eddie and yours truly.  Photo by Dylan Barry.

My gut feeling is that Eddie is about to stride into a global arena.  I write those words with a certain amount of wistfulness because my affection for Eddie is kind of proprietary in nature.  As silly as it sounds, I do not want to share him!  But of course I'm being selfish.  The truth is I am lucky to have spent any time at all with Eddie and his fantastic owner and support team.  Just to get close to a horse like this is an unbelievable opportunity.  I am so grateful to the Eventing Radio Show for allowing it to happen.

Planet Rolex

My feet have been back on Tennessee soil for nearly three days now, but my head is still very much in Lexington.  All of the standard aerospace metaphors apply:  in orbit, over the moon, in 7th heaven, walking on clouds...you get the idea.  In the last nine years I've made it to Rolex six times, but this year was a little different.  I was able to arrive a day earlier than usual and therefore experienced the event from beginning to end.

It started on a warm and sunny Wednesday afternoon with a horse inspection:

Parklane Hawk and William Fox-Pitt

Once past inspection, horse and rider completed a dressage test:

Andrew Hoy aboard the stunning Rutherglen,
 practicing before their test.

After two days of dressage, I woke early for the cross country test and arrived at Kentucky Horse Park on Saturday at 8:00am.  Cross country day always fills me with trepidation because it is a jumping test over mostly fixed and immovable obstacles.  I've seen a few crashes, one of which was fatal for the horse, and the possibility of serious injury to horse or rider is always at the back of one's mind.  This year I positioned myself at the coffin jump first thing and much to my surprise watched the stellar Andrew Nicholson retire there after his horse Calico Joe refused both routes of the jump.  When Andrew Nicholson walks home, it tends to get your attention. The course was tough and took it's toll on a number of riders, but no serious injuries were reported.

The view every rider hoped to see between
his horse's ears:  the last obstacle on course.

Clark Montgomery heads to fence 7 aboard his
wonderful Loughan Glen; sadly, Clark and Glen
were eliminated when Clark took a tumble
just three fences from the finish.

Sunday morning dawned cold and blustery, and at 7:30a.m. I hustled to the second horse inspection thinking that in addition to mad dogs and Englishmen only horse people would bother to stand out in such weather.  By noon of course everyone had peeled off their layers as the sun began to bake the park.  The last test of the event began at 1:00p.m. and tens of thousands of spectators jammed into the stadium to watch the final jumping test.

My boy Eddie clearing the last fence before
galloping to an 11th place finish, and
netting the Bank One Trophy for owner /rider Peter Barry.

This year I stayed for the awards ceremony as my favorite horse and rider finished in the ribbons.  I was hoping to make it home in time to give my horses their evening feed, but I was delayed a bit and didn't get home until after dark.  As I drove down the lane, I thought about stopping by the barn, but the horses were turned out for the night and I decided not to bother them.  (But it took several minutes of internal debate while idling in the lane before I made my decision.)

Early Monday morning I pulled on my boots and headed to the barn.  Both my boys stood near the barn, waiting for breakfast.  Momento came right to me, sticking his muzzle in my direction everywhere I moved, saying "hello" and being the perfect, wonderful horse that he is.  Hero was of course cool and standoffish.  He barely looked at me and didn't get close until I sat his feed pan down for him.  After eating both horses stood in the barn aisle, resting and aloof, and I stood there too, looking them over.  All at once, I noticed Momento's expression change from relaxed to submissive, and in the next second Hero took two steps forward to stand between us. Apparently, I was now officially forgiven for leaving him, because he dropped his head in front of me.  I rubbed his neck and forehead and stroked his ears (which he loves more than anything) and soon enough he was yawning and stretching his neck and then he shook himself.

All the aloofness and stress evaporated, and once again I was standing in the barn next to my two favorite boys, and it was then that I finally started to feel like I was really back home.