By: Kelley Reames

He’s 16.2 hands, he has big brown eyes, and a heart of gold… this is my horse – TC Mexican Leggs. A hand equals 4 inches. I am Kelli Reames, I am 16 years old and I’m in the 10th grade. My parents are Don and Kelley Reames, and Margaret and Darrell Clark. I have one brother Jessie. I am a member of the church choir and the church youth group. I am an active member in the Beta club, FBLA, FCA and on the Honor Roll. I sing in the choral program at school.

My main project is horse. I show horses on the local, county, district, and state level. In my project I learn how to take better care of my horses. Also in my project I have and I am still learning that horses need lots and lots of care, but most of all they need love. They need love like any human being needs love. My horse club watches videos, go on tours, and attend clinics so that we can better understand the way our horses’ body and all their functions work. We listen to talks and/or demonstrations so we can know exactly what should or should not be going on with our horses. I have been president of the horse club for the last four years.

You could say that a horse could be a mentor. A horse could be this for someone who has no friends. This animal will never criticize you for who you are or who you once were. Horses are used for therapies for people who may have disabilities. Horses are used for work, recreational purposes, performance, or for racing.

Part of growing up in 4-H or any activity is dealing with disappointments. TC Mexican Beauty (full sister to ‘Leggs’) learned very quickly what she could and could not get away with, and whom she could get away with things with. ‘Beauty’ held a special place in everyone’s heart. I’m not sure if it was the way she rubbed her head against you or if it was her overall personality. When she was just three years old, I took her to the State 4-H Horse Show in Pine Bluff. We placed well. We went again when she was four - she placed well again.

Then in June 2001 my world turned upside down and inside out. On June 30, 2001 ‘Beauty’ died. She died about two weeks before the state show. Talk about a major upheaval!! The state horse show that year was not the same, it won’t ever be the same again. August 29, 2001 my house burned to the ground. It was a total loss. That was another thing that caused upheaval in my world. Life must go on and that is exactly what I did. I have overcome these obstacles. Now, there is another young horse that I am working with. ‘Beauty’s’ half sister ‘Ginger.’ Even though she is not at all the same, she is. She has a great personality and is great to work with.

This past year was my first year to show ‘Ginger’ and the State 4-H horse show and we did really well. I am looking forward to showing her in more classes this year. I also made the decision to retire ‘Leggs.’ He has been great for me and I must move on to improve. If we were to let every hard time get us down then no one would have anything to live for. Being able to overcome things is part of growing. I have learned through ‘Beauty’, and her short five years, that God blessed us by allowing us to care for her. The adjustment will be hard and time will make it better. I will grow and improve because of all these things.

I also learned to drive a tractor this year. Part of learning to drive the tractor is stacking hay in the hay field to make things easier for my Dad and momma Kelley when they are putting up hay for the farm. I have also learned how to put the hay out in the pasture and feed. I learned the importance of hay and grain in the digestion of horses.

This was also my first year to do horse judging. I did compete at the state horse show and had a good time doing so. I was pleased with my performance and what I learned. I was also fortunate to compete in Palomino Horse Breeders of America horse shows in Arkansas and Oklahoma this year. This is a national organization that promotes the palomino colored horse.

Other project and activity experiences I have performed are fitness leadership, pet-care and photography. Under my fitness leadership, I play volleyball, I dance, I took physical therapy, and physical education (P.E.). I am captain for the school volleyball team. I took physical therapy after I had knee surgery in October 2001. I am currently in physical education. I am a leader for the class. In physical education we do things such as running track, and playing moon ball.

Moon ball is like softball; the only two things different about it is you use a plastic bat and a Styrofoam ball. My pet care project includes my dogs, my cat and cows. I feed my dogs, cat and cows everyday. Our club has been having Buddy Berry of Alma, Arkansas, come down and give photography classes. This year Buddy also took a day and took photographs on our farm for people. This was a fundraiser for our club also.

I helped organize this. During the class that Buddy gave this fall, we decided to have three competitions. One of these competitions is a “Scavenger Hunt”. We have a list of 24 subjects we are to take pictures of. The first photo has to be a self - portrait. After that, the rest can be in random order. We are to turn our undeveloped roll of film in to our club leader, who will turn it over to Buddy and he will have the film developed and he and his wife will judge the best group of photographs – anonymously. I have been having fun doing this.

I participate in the following classes at 4-H horse shows. I show in halter, showmanship, western pleasure, horsemanship, trail, reining, hunter under saddle, and the queen’s class. I also help the younger 4-H members in our group. I have shown them what clothes they should and should not wear in the show ring. I have also shown them the proper way to do some things such as, leading the horse, cleaning their feet and the tack that they show with, and how to brush the horse and the order in which to use the brushes.

Our club is very involved in community service projects. We worked the concession stand for the rodeo. I also served as a ring steward at some of the shows throughout the show season, including the Logan County Fair Open Horse show. We adopted two angels and took them gifts for Christmas since they have no family, now we are their family. Our angels are two elderly gentlemen that live in a local retirement home. While we were there we caroled to the rest of the retirement home residents. Then we do a fundraiser for the St. Jude’s hospital.

This money is used for the treatment of the patient. This hospital is a nonprofit organization. We give valentines to our sponsors to show our appreciation. I also volunteer at the Arvac offices. Clearly, through 4-H and participating in my main project, I have learned what a true and loyal friend is, and also that with time, love, patience, and practice you and your horse can do anything together.

Tags: Amazing Horse Story, Emotional stories, General Horse Stories, Great inspiring Horse Story, Horse 2 Heart

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This entry was posted on Thursday, November 20th, 2008 at 4:45 am and is filed under Horse Stories. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.