I bought a horse for the first time in 10 years!
Growing up, I could not imagine a future without horses. They were infused into every part of my life; I was obsessed. At 6 I was riding all the time, at 7 or 8 I got my first horse and started barrel racing soon after. One horse turned into two, then we had to get a truck and a two-horse trailer to haul them around. Two turned into three, three turned into five, then six, then seven, then we needed a bigger trailer, a bigger place with an arena, and it continued to grow on and on. We were neck deep in the horse industry by the time I was 12, traveling hundreds of miles and attending sometimes up to 4 rodeos or barrel races in a given week. I honestly don’t know how my parents did it – they were true heroes.
23 years my life revolved around these wonderful creatures and then seemingly out of nowhere, I realized I was burned out. For a myriad of reasons, I had gotten to the end of my rope. I realized I was putting way too much pressure on the animals I loved to perform in ways that made me look good and helped me be known as a winner. I realized somehow my identity had gotten all wrapped up in winning, and after some advice and prayer I decided to quit. For the horses’ sake and for mine. I needed to learn who I was apart from these wonderful animals.
Fast forward ten years, and I can totally say taking a break was the best thing I could have ever done. Knowing who you are apart from your horse and its performance or even the horse industry is a big plus when it comes to competition, training, and just enjoying horses.
I’ll spare y’all the nitty gritty details, but basically 5 months ago, after a ten year hiatus, I decided to jump back in. I knew if I was going to get back into riding, I would want to run barrels again, so I started searching online for a horse that could work for me.
I initially was going to try to find something broke but I didn’t have a very big budget at the time and I found myself having to choose between getting a horse with good genetics and decent conformation or finding something that was already broke and started. I browsed for a while and finally found an ad for a little quarter horse that was bred well. Her sire side is race horses while her dam side is cutting and cow-horse. That’s a combination I had had success on in the past so I drove a few hours north to check her out.
She was sound, had decent conformation, but what really got me was her ability to move her body so easily and her great disposition. She was calm, quiet, and attentive. Although she had only just turned two and had only been halter broke, I decided she’d be a great fit for me right now. With her being so young, that would give me two whole years to get her started, get myself back in riding shape (both mentally and physically) as well as give me time to adjust to training and running barrel horses again.
I bought Hope a week after checking her out and brought her home to TNT.
Meet Hope (Dash of Litening)
Dash of Litening, who I affectionately call Hope, is a two year old mare registered with the American Quarter Horse Association (AQHA). Her grandsire (horse talk for granddad) is Corona Cartel a leading racehorse on the Quarter Horse track and is the #2 All Time Leading Sire of Racing Money Earners. Her Dam (mother) is a cow bred mare that goes back to Poco Bueno, one of the great foundation stallions who was by King P-234. Poco Bueno and King, as with most “foundation stallions” were known for their versatility, cow-sense, athleticism and the gritty, get-it-done attitude and body type that made these horses great cutting and performance horses.
As I mentioned earlier, I really like the combination of the speed of the race horse bloodlines on her sire’s side coupled with the smarts and versatility of the foundation bred horses on her Dam’s side. I’m hoping this will help her be athletic and competitive while also keeping the healthy mental attitude that is so important when bringing a young barrel horse up the ranks.
When it comes to personality, she is very affectionate and will walk up to you out in the pasture just to say hi. But don’t try to pet her muzzle, she’s not really a fan of that. She’s pretty easy going except on windy days when she can get pretty fresh and spooky (we’re working on that). She’s taking to ground work extremely well and really wants to please and do what is right. I’ve loved getting to train her so far.
I don’t know what she will become, but the joy is in getting to know her one day at a time and instilling the trust and confidence in her that will prepare her to thrive in the future no matter what discipline she ends up enjoying.
