In this horse story the author tells about her bay Shetland, AQHA mare horses and her glorious horse riding career.
My Horse! My Life!| A Glorious Horse Story by Karen L. Waite
Horses are my life. I know that seems like an extreme, overused statement, but in my case, it’s really true. I remember every stage of my life with respect to what horse or horses were around at the time, and the lessons I learned from those horses.
For example, when I was 7, I got my first pony. Her name was Candy and she was a little bay Shetland with a heart of gold and a stubborn streak a mile wide. She was a great pony to start with and we had all kinds of fun together. At least I had fun. She would probably argue that point. My father also had an Appaloosa gelding named King Bob. When I was 9, my parents divorced, and during that same time period, both Candy and King Bob died. It was my first exposure to how difficult life can be, and I realized just how little control I had over what went on in the world.
When I was 11, my father bought an 11 year-old AQHA mare named Cindy Lea Dexter. at a local auction barn. Suddenly, after two extremely difficult years, I had something to look forward to, and I began to regain a sense of my place in the world, at least as it related to horses. I may not have been able to control what went on at home, but Cindy let me lead her and ride her all over the place. I’ll never forget the day I learned to canter, and more importantly STOP! I was on top of the world when I was on top of that horse!