As I was walking around at work today (I work at the boarding barn where my horse lives) I realized that I would really like the world, or at least a few people, to know the back story of my horse Onyx and I. So, here it goes:
I started riding horses in the summer of 2006 at Kingsway farm in Winfield, Illinois. This was just for fun because I had been bugging my mom about it for so long. After a while taking lessons from one woman, I switched my lesson to ride with a friend. And the rest, as they say, is history. After the switch, I started "playing with" my trainer's horse Onyx. At the time, I didn't know what I was doing with horses because I had minimal experience, so I let my best friend Amanda do all of the work and I would just watch him run around in his pasture. After a while, I started to become a better rider and I was riding more horses and difficult horses. I leased a horse named Jetta from about the summer of 2008 to the summer of 2010 and I stopped riding him because he would get hurt frequently and I was paying the owners for a horse that I couldn't ride. During the summer of 2010, I went on a month long volunteer trip to California and I didn't get to ride much. When I got home, Jetta was hurt again and I was very upset and wanted to start riding other horses.
During the time when I was riding other horses, my trainer sold Onyx to another girl because she felt that the new owner would work with him more often than she had. This was a horrible mistake. The new owner neglected him for two years. She didn't ride him or come to the barn to see him or anything like that. And he just sat there. This gorgeous animal that had once loved and trusted people was just sitting away in a stall.
When I came home from California to find my normal mount hurt, I suddenly became very brave and told my trainer that I wanted to ride Onyx in my next lesson. She agreed. Before I got on him, I spent about a half an hour lunging him (basically running him around in circles to tire him out) to tire him out and get some of his energy released. After the first ride, I committed myself to helping this horse become the best that he could possibly be, and he has improved significantly since then.
When we started, Onyx would:
- Throw his head
- Hold his head way up in the air
- Buck and rear and kick and bolt around when lunging
- He was hard to get into the canter (a faster gate)
- He would not stay in the canter for very long
- Not respond to cues
- Be easily spooked and startled
- Not listen
- He had never had a bath before (in his entire life)
- He was also pretty fat and not very healthy
If you aren't a horse person, some of these things may not seem like a big deal to you. But trust me, they are. Especially when compared to the improvements that Onyx has made since he has come to live with me in Wisconsin in December.
Now, Onnie is a perfect gentleman and a lot of people at my new barn love him. His attitude has significantly improved and he absolutely loves working and being ridden. Now, Onyx:
- Has a gorgeous headset
- Has a nice little western jog and lope
- Can canter easily both directions
- Lunges in his little western jog and lope
- Responds very well to cues
- Can be ridden without lunging beforehand
- Can be ridden bareback (and cantered!)
- I can slide off of his butt without feeling like I am in danger
- Can trail ride with no problem
- Does not spook easily
- Has had a bath
I would love to elaborate on all of his improvements and tell how I have gotten him to trust me so completely, but that's what the rest of this blog is for! I'll post other funny stories about my life in general and hope it provides y'all with some amusement. See you later :)
