The Underdog

            Today while going through the motions of my everyday horse chores, I stopped to give my twenty one year old retired FEI mare some TLC, and before I knew it I was flooded with memories from her younger years.  Regal Maskarade, who is better known as “Moose” was pulled out of a field at three years old to be my mother’s horse. Moose was fat as a tick with next to no awareness to where her body was at any given time, and heaven forbid you asked her to canter. She was a hot mess to say the least, and as time passed it became clear that she was just too big for my 5’2” mother. So at 17 years old, I was handed a big, opinionated, chestnut mare who had little desire to carry herself while schooling and had a special knack for evading the contact. Just coming off of a fiery thoroughbred, saying Moose was a challenge is an understatement. I spent many hours in the saddle teaching her (and myself) how to work with each other in a supportive, positive way. As she and I matured and grew together I quickly realized that the fat, gangly beast we had pulled from the field four years prior, had now developed into a well-muscled powerhouse with a killer trot. While her canter was pretty man made even up through the end of her FEI career, Moose had something a lot of her horsey-peers didn’t. Moose had heart. When Moose was in a “chestnut mare mood” I knew I would be in for challenging ride, but she always gave her heart when it counted, which in my opinion is irreplaceable in this sport.

            Over the years I have come across all kinds of horses with varying levels of talent and education, and while it is nice to get a six figure imported horse with all the training on it, there is something to say about the underdog; the backyard horse. The horses who weren’t necessarily meant to be dressage horses but, against the odds come out on top, or the breed that doesn’t fit into the dressage horse stereotype. Whatever the disadvantage the horse may have against it, if it has the heart to be a dressage horse, then a dressage horse it may be, and that’s what Moose showed me. While I have since had horses that were more gifted in knowing where their legs were, I cannot replace the lessons Moose taught me. She taught me that even as an FEI rider and trainer, I can’t discriminate against the package a horse may come in because through it all, every single horse has the ability to achieve something, and a lesson to teach us. Even now as a professional I learn something every day. Every horse I sit on and every student I teach gives me something to take away and put in my tool box.

            Moose was the first horse of many that helped me forge my path in this sport and probably one of the most influential. I was blessed in so many ways to have her as my first FEI mount. The lessons she taught me were irreplaceable and have kept me grounded as a trainer over the years. The challenges she presented in her own little package made me the strong, tactful rider I am today and I will probably never fully repay her for that. But as for now, Moose will remain fat and happy in retirement, taking me back from time to time, to where I came from.