NOTE: I was recently asked to be a contributor for Full Seat Britches (FSB). It is a Facebook group/website that is all about horse activities for all women over the age of 20. One of the ladies at Magnolia approached me and asked if I was willing to share some of my blog posts and occasionally write posts to share with the group. I'm more than willing - I think this is a fun project, and I'm very excited to see how this turns out! I'm sharing some of my older posts, so that the ladies at FSB can get more familiar with some of my old work. I have also decided to rewrite From Hell To Heaven: Teddy's Story. I initially wrote this either my senior year of high school, or my freshman year of college. Clearly, my writing has changed since then, and I want my posts to reflect that.
Note #2: All names (except for horses) have been changed.
From Hell to Heaven: Part One
From Hell to Heaven: Part One
I wrote this a few months after Teddy's death. Of course, as the story spanned three years, and then an additional five years after that, I had to break it up in several parts. Initially, it had three different parts. For this, however, it'll be broken up in further parts.
NOTE: Everything in this story happened, and is one hundred percent true, unless I tell you otherwise.
Prologue
It was a total, complete twist of fate. It wasn't supposed to happen, but it did, and I am thankful every day that it has.
If it wasn't for that twist of fate, I wouldn't be the person and rider that I am today. I wouldn't be a careful and concerned rider, worried about my equitation and how well my horse was working.
And it all comes down to one horse.
Teddy.
This is his story.
The Early Months
It was April of 2003, and I was finishing up sixth grade. I was already ensnared in the power struggle that is known as middle school. I was caught in the awkward stage between child and teenager, and searching for my niche in school, and consequently life (in the eyes of a sixth grader - "What is the purpose of life?").
I was at that time leasing my first horse, Leo. He was a fourteen-year old palomino American Quarter Horse. I had a tough time with him - he was a school horse and I barely got to ride him, and I had a hard time bonding with him. I wasn't improving with my riding, and today when I look at those pictures of us, I cringe.
At that time, I wasn't a very careful rider. I wanted to ride, but I wasn't concerned about safety, correct equitation, or proper horse carriage. My feet would be "home" in the stirrups, and whenever I jumped I would throw myself at my horse's neck without any stability or base of support. I had been riding for about six years, but I just enjoyed the fact that I could RIDE. I was at Wiley Stables of Greensboro and taking lessons with Dawn.
On April 22, Dawn told me that there was a new horse coming. She didn't warn me how he would look, but that I had to see him. That day, I stood outside the barn with a small group of people. It was a rare event that a new horse came to Wiley, so we were all excited. The trailer backed up to the open gate, and the horse inside was revealed. I had never seen a horse in such a bad condition. He was a tall Thoroughbred, dark brown with a filthy, tangled mane and a tail cut short. His stomach had drawn up and his ribs stuck out. I was able to count each and every bone. His legs looked ridiculously long and his neck painfully skinny. His head was comically large and on each ear, he had enormous tumors. His hooves weren't what you would expect of a rescue. The typical rescue horse's hooves are extremely long and cracked. His, however, were trimmed way too close to the bone and his pasterns looked more upright than they actually were. This horse's name, I found out, was Teddy.
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| The Tedster on April 22, 2003 |
He backed out of the trailer carefully, choosing and searching for a stable footing before putting weight on each hoof. Stepping out of the trailer, he held his head and looked around. His eyes were trusting - he very possibly knew that this was his new home and a sanctuary.
Almost immediately upon his arrival, someone started to lease him. She was a girl called Amanda. She had formerly leased Leo, before I started riding him, and it was up to her to help rehabilitate Teddy.
Due to other circumstances, she was almost never at the barn, so it was me who bonded with this particle of a horse. Me - a mite of an eleven-year old. I was a bit afraid of him at first - he was so thin I was worried that he would break. He received three buckets of feed at each meal - a bucket of sweetfeed, a bucket of Equine Senior, and a bucket of disgusting, gloopy beet pulp, which turned out to be a salvation. He was handled every day, bathed often, and slowly, but surely, he put on weight.
Amanda rode him. Teddy was found to have a tattoo on his upper lip, so we knew he was registered with the Jockey Club and had possibly raced, but by this time, his tattoo was unreadable. We had nothing to go on with him. His previous owner had told Diane that he was sixteen years old, so we were a bit surprised about the tattoo. Teddy, however, apparently didn't like how Amanda rode him. He would take off and run, with her bouncing around on his back. As a result, she didn't ride him often, and he was sorely lacking in muscle tone.
Whenever he was ridden, he was tacked up with multiple saddle pads, which may have contributed to his soreness since the saddle would no longer fit him correctly.
By this time, I was consciously trying to improve my riding. I had started taking lessons with an older trainer called Dana. She fixed my position on the flat and over fences, and taught me the basics of a proper base of support and a release. By August, I had improved enough that Dawn asked me to try Teddy. Amanda was terminating her lease so that she could buy a horse, and as a result, Teddy was available for lease. I sorely needed a schoolmaster who could teach me things, so I grabbed the opportunity. I tacked him up and rode, and truth be told, I was a bit scared of Teddy at first. He was so fast and sensitive, while Leo was slow and dull. His trot was rough and jarring and jolted me out of the tack at every stride. His canter was uncomfortable, and I had to grab mane to stay balanced. His jump launched me out of the tack, and it took several circles to slow him down.
Surprisingly, Dawn was impressed with how I was riding him and let me ride him in lessons. I had one final lesson with Dana in late August before I started taking lessons from a young up-and-coming trainer, Danielle. Danielle had an older Appaloosa pony for the school program, and a four-year old Thoroughbred named Aaron. She had fresh ideas and felt that she could help me with Teddy. August was also the month when we discovered that Teddy had a fear of running water. Teddy couldn't be cross-tied but luckily could ground tie. I was tacking him up for a lesson and a friend, Annette, was washing buckets nearby. The water was splashing and Teddy lost his head. He backed up and flipped over on his back. After that, we weren't able to give him a bath without him causing a scene.
In September, I showed Leo at the HorsePOWER fundraiser show. Amanda also decided to take Teddy. She entered him in several classes, and as the day progressed, he got more and more out of control, and as a result he injured himself. By the last class, he was so head-bobbing lame Amanda was asked to leave the ring. Two weeks later, Dawn asked me to try showing Teddy at the opening show of the Gold Hill Fall Show Series. I agreed and showed both Leo and Teddy. Teddy went into three classes, and in our final class - Walk-Trot Open - we ended up tying for sixth. Diane was pleased with how we worked so well together and decided to let me start leasing him on October 1, 2003.
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| Teddy and I at the September 2003 Gold Hill Show. |
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