By: Lola Endres

My daughter, Lindsay, has been around horses since she was a week old. It was only natural,that when she turned nine, she would show in our county 4-H shows. Since our beloved pony,
Blaze, was nearing retirement, and our other two horses were semi-retired, we agreed to let Lindsay show a family horse in her first year of 4-H. Determined to be the best she could
be, Lindsay rode every day, and couldn’t wait until the first show.
One evening, while preparing to ride, the mare spooked, went over backwards, twisting Lindsay’s leg in the stirrup, breaking it in two different places. The mare was retired to become
a broodmare, and Lindsay’s confidence was shattered.

[private]After a long recovery, with patience, and Blaze to help her along, Lindsay began riding again, but didn’t want to try another horse just yet. When another family horse became available the following year, Lindsay was determined to try it again. Again, she rode every day, and couldn’t wait until the first show. 4-H enrollment was completed, and Lindsay excitedly practiced and waited.
I was stunned when I got the call from the 4-H extension office. A mean-spirited family member (on the day of the deadline) had complained that the horse was not in Lindsay’s name; therefore she couldn’t show him.

Lindsay could have folded; instead, when we brought 23 year-old Four Dot Cindora out of the pasture, and out of her semi-retired state, Lindsay was determined, yet again, to prepare for the
first 4-H show.

“Can she even lope?”, I remember Lindsay asking. I got on and cantered ‘Dorothy’ around a little, and that’s all Lindsay needed. For the next two weeks, she rode every day, a little at a time,
until she and Dorothy were a team. Dorothy seemed to thrive on all of the exercise and attention, and though nervous, Lindsay couldn’t wait until the first show, even after riding the mare for two
short weeks.

At the show, Lindsay and Dorothy were nervous. “I can’t do it, Mom.”, I remember her saying.

Dorothy will take care of you, was all I could offer, and after warming up a little, it was time to
enter the ring.

Though just a small open show, that first ride was the most beautiful I’ve ever seen. Ten year-old Lindsay and twenty-three year old Dorothy looked like pros. And when their name was called
for first place, you would have thought they had won the World Show. Lindsay and Dorothy entered three classes that day, and won three blue ribbons. The tears were flowing, not just
because they won, but because of what Lindsay went through to get there, and how that gentle old mare came out like she was ten again, and carried Lindsay to those blue ribbons.

The two of them went on to win many blues at the County Fair, and placed 7th out of 34 in Western Pleasure at the State Fair, where young horses with professional trainers were the norm.
How proud we were of the character our daughter had shown, to keep trying, despite all the set-backs; and how proud we were of Dorothy, who never balked at what was asked of her.

Lindsay has since acquired a horse of her own, and the two of them are inseparable. She has once again accomplished just what she set out to do, and has set many more goals for herself, which I have
no doubt, she will attain.

Lindsay has learned so much from each of the horses she has ridden, and she loves them, short-comings and all. She cared for her pony until the day he died, and will do the same for the mares who are
enjoying their well-earned retirement.[/private]