The Ones That Got Away

Before you judge me for the title of this post ("Kristin! You've only been married a month, and you're already reminiscing about old flames?"), rest assured that, like most things in my life, I'm talking about horses. Not men. Or babies (as in when I tell Philip to "look at this cute baby" and after seeing the picture he always responds with "of course you're talking about a horse"). I digress. This morning in the office, a co-worker and I were talking about clicking with horses that did not belong to us. It got me thinking about a few special horses that I got along with really well and would have loved to own but was unable to purchase at the time I knew them.

1. Chico (Steppin It Up)

Chico was a grey Quarter Horse that belonged to the owner of the barn I was keeping Chica (cute coincidence, no?) at during high school. I rode a lot of horses for her and people who boarded at the barn back then, and Chico was a new horse she had bought. He was about three years old at the time. I fell head over heels for him between his pretty coloring and his super sweet disposition. I think I rode him more than I rode my own horse during my senior year--I would ride him during my lessons and my sister would ride Chica. He was for sale, which of course didn't help my obsession with him, and I tried so hard to convince my parents to let me buy him with my FFA money. They (rightly) advocated against it since I was about to go to college and wouldn't have the money to keep two horses. This was the point in my life that I thought I wanted to be a horse trainer, and I was so stubborn about wanting to buy him that I seriously (secretly) considered not going to college. All for the love of a horse. One day I arrived at the barn and went searching for him to ride him, but couldn't find him. I called the barn owner to see where he was, and she told me she had sold him. I didn't get to tell him goodbye. I was devastated.

Fast forward a couple of years, and the barn owner heard through the grapevine that Chico had been struck by lightning and killed while out in the pasture. She didn't want to tell me, so she told my mom instead, who told me. I think I cried for three days straight.

A couple years past that, I received a call from the barn owner. Apparently it was a misunderstanding; Chico was still alive, and he was for sale again! I immediately called his current owner and made plans to come see him. I didn't know how I was going to afford him, but there was no way I was letting him slip through my fingers again, especially after he came back from the "dead." If nothing else, I just wanted to see him and give him a hug. It wasn't to be, however. The owner called me the day I was supposed to go see him and told me he had sold. When I asked if I could come see him anyway before he left, she told me that she didn't think it was a good idea, but guess what, she had several other nice horses for sale instead! I told her thanks anyway and cried, again, the rest of the day.

I had wondered about that boy ever since. A few months ago, I logged into my American Quarter Horse Association account and looked him up, just on the off chance that his current owner had transferred him into his or her name (people aren't always on top of that). I noticed a new name on his record, and I (perhaps creepily) looked it up on Facebook. There she was, and not only that, but there were pictures of an almost white horse on there too! I debated messaging her and finally went for it, and she confirmed that Chico, now named Blue, was in her possession. She was happy to talk to me about him, especially when I sent her an old photo of him. And it was such closure for me to know that he is in a fabulous home with someone who loves him very much.

Chico and half of me, for some reason.

2. Reyolena (TAMU Reyolena)

During college, I took an advanced horse training class. Our first day, we talked with the instructor about our experiences and he assigned us to horses based on our abilities. I was assigned to Reyolena, a cute little bay gelding. Originally I was disappointed; I wanted one of the few non-bay or chestnut horses in the class. But by the end of the semester, I was happy to have been picked for him.

Reyolena was a character. If I was longing him and it started thundering, he'd run faster and faster, screaming at the other horses. The first time I rode him, he bucked with me while I laughed. But otherwise, for a two-year old, he was so amazingly calm and sane-minded. Trust me, when you ride in an arena with 15-20 other two and three year old horses of varying training levels, you really appreciate a horse that can keep its cool. Outside of the arena, I taught him to drink out of the barn's water fountain. And he loved the smell of my hair. Any chance he got, he would stick his nose in my hair and just inhale for minutes if I let him.

We did an auction at the end of the semester and sold off a lot of the horses. Reyolena is one that the school decided to keep for their stock team. I've tried to find out how he's doing but have been unsuccessful thus far. Perhaps one day I'll run across him in my new line of work.

Sniffing my hair, how he do.

3. Annie (Siani)

All of my life, I've loved Friesians. I mean, who doesn't, right? With their flowing hair and jet black coats, they look like something straight out of a medieval fairy tale. So when one came into my barn, I fell immediately in love with her. When I was given the chance to ride her, I was over-the-top excited.

Annie belonged to a couple who were friends of my barn owner. She was the baby of the wife's Friesian mare. The wife couldn't do anything with her, so she sent her to a trainer. The trainer, however, kind of put her on the backburner. She had done a little riding on her, getting her to where she was broke, but that was really it. Even her care of the mare was lacking. When I saw Annie, her feathers were tangled, her tail was a mess, and I thought she was one of the most beautiful horses I had ever seen.

Annie learned quickly that either she and I could be enemies, or we could be friends. When I went to get on her the first time, she did not want to stand still. We had a discussion about it, and she never moved again anytime after that when I rode her. She had a huge trot, a huge canter, and was just so much fun to ride, even if she didn't know much.

Annie was for sale, too. She was just way out of my price range. Her owner talked about wanting to give her to me, since I was the only one putting any effort into her, but her husband said no. I was still hopeful he'd come around, however. They wouldn't have wanted to pay the board on her forever for me to come out and ride her, since she wasn't selling.

But then one day, she did sell. The new owner didn't even come see her, he just bought her based on photos and video of me riding her. She was to leave on a Saturday, so I drove in from College Station to tell her bye. I brushed her, combed out the feathers on her feet, and made her look as nice as I could so that he knew that someone had loved her.

Maybe one day I'll own a Friesian, but even if I don't, I'm so glad to have been able to have the experience of working with Annie.

Me riding Annie with a patient Chica waiting in the background.

I still miss each of these horses, in their own way. I know it was for the best that they didn't work out at the times I knew them, mostly because of financial reasons, and I know there will be other horses in the future. Hopefully horses I'll be able to afford and purchase. But I want to give a shout-out to Chico, Reyolena, and Annie, for the large parts they had in my life.