Regards….continued

 7.13.22

Finally, I had a full time job. Before I was morning help, but since I was being much more than that,  I was told that I would be getting full time pay and also an basic health insurance policy. I was totally pleased!   That was going to be very helpful for me to catch up on my bills.

 I had been working with one of my personal horses and she was lookin so very good lately. So good that I thought we could be ready for an easy day trip to a show. I just wasn’t sure though. I owned Appaloosa horses and loved them so much. One was moving into a wonderful English pleasure horse and one other was just so sweet under western tack.

Jellino had been showing in baby classes and he was loving it. What a complete show off he was! He would jump so high that it was like he knew this was for  ‘ babies’.  Each time he’d return happily and full of energy ,Anna had been saying that he might be more interested in eventing than a boring show ring. She was not sure if the damage that had been done before would rear its ugly head or not. This was one of the reasons I loved working here. The horse’s health came first… not the status or ribbons. This is why Regards had been held back before her re-entry to the world of show jumpers. To be completely sure that she would have a good time, and she did. In fact she still was. 

My little monster was growing like a weed. Every day she changed. Butt high for a couple of days, then she’d level off and be gorgeous.  Then it was back to “ Omg, Who are you today ?”  One day I was grooming her (she adores being groomed, especially when she is muddy) and was trying to get her tail a little neater when I noticed that she had a white area starting from the top of it and traveled about half way down. Sure enough, it was white hair… I asked my boss about it and he told me it was inherited from Cliche’s side … many decades ago a foal had been born with a white area in his tail.Try as they might, it would not go away. Owners had tried braiding it at shows, pulling the white hairs out so they wouldn’t show up… just didn’t work. I thought the white hairs in my filly’s tail were cool looking. In fact I told her that she reminded me of a little skunk. Oddly enough,that became her barn name. “ Skunk “. She was so incredibly friendly and kind,that there were times when I could not believe she was so young. She would pick up all of her feet for me, she’d let me brush her all over ,bend her little ears almost inside out, rub her gums and loved to get her tummy scratched. We’d go out for walks with mama and she’d have the best time with the snow. I could say the word to back up or to walk on with out touching her. Such a smart beautiful baby she was becoming.  Cliche’ was a great mama too.  She was patient but when little Skunk was wrong, she was firm in her discipline.

One morning, I was having some coffee with my boss’s daughter and she asked me if I was going to breed Regards,what stallion would I choose.After almost choking on my coffee I got out “ I have no idea “. Anna grinned at me and said that I should think about it because it was going to be a family decision. A “family “ decision? Wow. They wanted Regards leave a legacy for them after she was gone. Well, I didn’t have a clue but I was going to have to think about it all.  Hmmmm, a Hanoverian mare would match perfectly with What? Yes, I certainly needed to think about that. I needed some options to consider too….