It all started with an essay. Three questions: Why do you want a horse? How would you take care of the horse? And what are your future plans for the horse? At 11, this wasn't my first year applying, but I was sure this was my year. I had ended my 4-H gift horse essay with the world's greatest hook. My future plans for this fictional dream horse were to make the best better. The 4-H motto. How could that not win? I don't remember the rest of my essay, but I do remember a conversation with my father in the truck that I might not win again this year. There were many applicants and some other kid may win. There was rain that summer day at the horse show and when I was awarded the filly my sister cried. I couldn't have been happier.
The 4-H program in Worth County was (and still is) quite amazing. Where else could you write an essay and win a horse? In past years, the horse had been an older, trained horse. The year I won, I got a weanling filly. Just a baby. It would be two years before I could ride, and even then you don't really want inexperienced kids on inexperienced horses. She was pretty solid sorrel, but we found a spot on her belly that proved to be enough color to register her as a paint horse.
I had Sommer until I went to college. We had a few other horses in the meantime (two kids so two horses, but turns out my sister wasn't ever really interested in horses), but Sommer was a staple. Every year I showed her at county fair, but never in riding classes. To be honest, I never really rode her much. As a junior and senior in high school I showed my uncle's horse in classes, but Sommer was my baby. And she had babies as well. Her first baby, Hallie, developed cataracts and ran into doors and walls. We took her to ISU and had them removed, but a few days after she got home the stall was eerily quiet, and I had lost my first baby.
A year or two later Sommer's second baby, Maggie, came along. She was born while I was gone for college scholarship day, but I spent as much time as possible with that pretty little baby. She had beautiful coloring and was cute even as a fuzz ball. I read books on imprinting and played with her all summer before I went to college. At the end of that summer, I sold her mother to a little 4-Her in my county who had many years with her until she went to college. She is an amazing young woman and our paths continue to cross, all because of a horse.
I came home the summer after my freshman year of college and spent my time working for the county extension office. I showed Maggie as a yearling on lunge line where essentially she ran around me in circles at the pace I asked of her. She did well and we spent a lot of time together that summer. At the end of the summer, she placed well at the Iowa State Fair and I faced the reality that she deserved a better home than with the cattle and me away at college. I posted fliers around the horse barn at the fair and had a potential buyer, but the man was shady and she ended up going back to my parent's farm and he never called.
During college, my dad sent her off to be trained. She was trained on buffalo to cut. I was trained to use my legs for cues. The first time I got on her, I couldn't make her go forward. To be honest, I might have ridden her twice before she turned five. Not good.
After college, my parents wanted her off of the farm--she chased the cattle which did not help their efforts to corral them. So I boarded her at Jester Park which was relatively close to where I lived. We learned a lot about each other that summer. She was five and there was an indoor and outdoor arena and miles and miles of trails. I went from riding her twice in her life to riding at least twice a week. After the barn found out I had horse experience and that I was looking for a side job, Maggie and I became wranglers at Jester. We were out on the trials every weekend and some week nights leading trail rides for customers. On slow days or after the last trail ride of the day, the wranglers would go on the back trails or in Saylorville Lake or race through the flats by the river. Maggie and I spent many evenings exploring until dark, trying new routes, running as fast as she could, loving the great outdoors together.
One of the hardest parts of moving to Hawaii was leaving Maggie behind. By the time I left she was one of my best friends, always happy to see me, always willing to do what I asked of her. She was my stress relief. I spent a few days at home right before I left and one day Maggie and I went exploring the woods south of my parents' house. There were no trails, but Maggie didn't care. We explored together. I remember scraping my arm with a branch and the cut lasting for weeks when I moved to Hawaii. Every time I looked at it it made me smile thinking of her.
That was the second time I should have sold her, found a better home for such a good little horse, but instead she went back home with the cattle. I leased her to a friend from Jester the summer I was in Hawaii, and when I moved back, I vowed to move her close to me so we could ride together. But I didn't. While I did go and look for barns when we were in Ames, she stayed at my parents'. But last April I brought her to Cheval Stables which are a convenient 3 mile drive from our house. Maggie and I rediscovered each other again. While there weren't the trails to explore, there were lots of horses and people and nice arenas and pastures and fields to ride in. When I chose the barn, I had asked if there were kids around. I knew that someday I would sell her, and I also knew that she would be great with kids.
At first I couldn't ride enough. But for me, for us, my riding wasn't enough. Maybe it was because I didn't have goals (I wasn't showing anymore), but riding in circles for a while bores me. I had the time, but I still wasn't giving her the attention she deserved. So last fall, with tears in my eyes, I asked the barn trainer if anyone was interested in leasing or buying a horse. After a few "test driving" lessons, Maggie had 3 young kids on her back in lessons, beginners doing Western and English and even trying jumping. It was a great lease arrangement: I could still ride as much as I wanted and Maggie was getting the attention and love she needed and deserved when I wasn't making the time to go out to the barn. The kids did really well with her; they learned a lot and showed her at local shows where she did fairly well. It was fun for me to watch them with her and see how she treated them differently than she did me.
This summer I hardly rode. And it got to be more obligatory than something I really wanted to do. So this time, instead of letting a good horse go unused, I made the hard decision to do what was best for Maggie: to find her a new loving home. The whole process surprisingly took no time at all. I asked the family that was leasing her if they would like to buy her, but they were looking for something that would jump so they ended up finding another horse. I put Maggie up for sale on 3 websites on a Thursday night. By Friday at lunch, someone had come out to ride her. That weekend another buyer came to ride and I watched as my horse refused to perform for someone I would have hated to sell her to. It made me smile on the inside as I watched Maggie sabotage this ride knowing that there wouldn't be an awkward conversation where they would want to buy her and I wouldn't want to sell to them.
The next weekend I had 4 "showings" lined up, two on Friday evening and two on Saturday. All with kids. I know what it's like to be that kid who wants a horse so bad. I also know what it's like to get that horse that is a terrible fit but your parents said yes so of course you want that horse. I wasn't in a hurry to sell her and I wanted to find a good fit for both the horse and the buyer. Maggie pulled her "I'm not going to perform" trick for the first family. But what was cute was that the little 10-year-old girl got on her and would not take no for an answer. I think horses know who they have on their back and Maggie melts for kids. The mom and I both had troubles getting Maggie to move (did she know she was for sale and didn't want to leave?) but she did what the little girl asked. Go figure.
The second family on Friday ended up being the family. They were very nice and after watching me ride, the mom hopped on. I knew right away that she knew what she was doing (read: horse experience) and that she wasn't going to put up with Maggie's laziness--she likes to test people to see if she really needs to work or not. After the mom gave her a try, the 8-year-old girl got on top. Maggie followed the mom around the arena like a puppy. Two hours after they had left the barn, they had bought her. Maggie was for sale for only 8 days. It seems like a whirlwind when I think of the past 10 years I have owned her, all changed in a little over a week. For the first time since 6th grade I do not own a horse.
I rode as much as I possibly could this past week, but work was terribly busy and my heart wasn't in it. I did not want to say goodbye. Every day I wished she would frustrate me and make me glad to see her go, but she did what I asked. Every day I lingered longer. Thursday I finished riding and just sat on her in the arena, talking, watching, not wanting to get off. Friday we were both not ourselves. I just wanted to run with her, one last time. But it just didn't feel right. She wasn't mine anymore and she was about to be gone. I stood in the arena saying my goodbyes, crying as the sunset with my arms around her neck. It was a beautiful evening, and she stood quietly as I cried.
Maggie could not have gone to a more perfect home. The family lives only 20 or so minutes away on an acreage with 3 other horses, each with their own stall at night and plenty of pasture to graze on during the day. They have an arena and woods to ride in and the little girl is just starting Clover Kids. They don't see how I could part with a horse I have had for the entirety of her life and have invited me to swing by anytime to see her. They have assured me that Maggie has found a forever home and that she will be adequately spoiled. The little girl's face lights up when she sees Maggie and when they came to pick her up yesterday the truck had barely come to a stop before she jumped out and raced to her stall. I remember being that kid and am so happy that Maggie gets to be part of that relationship. I think it is a great fit and I am so happy that Maggie will get the love and attention she deserves.
But I sure will miss her. Goodbye, Maggie Sue. I will see you again.
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