The horse that is the reason for the extra-emotional Congress this year (Congress is always pretty emotional anyway!) is A Blazing Impulse, a.k.a Mocha. Mocha is my three year old, liver chestnut stallion by A Sudden Impulse out of a Blazing Hot mare. I purchased Mocha from the Congress as a yearling. On the ride home, while unloading from the trailer for a layover, his back legs slipped underneath the trailer and he got trapped and struggled. From that point forward, Mocha struggled with lameness issues. He would not pick up the right lead under any circumstances, and he would "bunny hop" behind. He was like this for nearly two years. When I sent him to get broke out as a two, I was told that although he was a very nice horse, he would probably never be sound enough to show, and he would basically be a waste of time and money. I was told to see if I could sell him as a breeding stud or keep him to breed myself - since he had nice enough bloodlines, maybe folks would take a chance with him.
When I brought him home from the trainers, I gave him a couple months off while riding him in the round pen once a week at most. He was bare bones broke - you could get on him, walk and trot with lots of kicking, and after two or three laps of trotting and kicking, he would maybe pick up the canter, but definitely not the right lead! Over time, I started working with him more and more. LOTS of bending exercises. This horse, no matter how hard you tried, would not pick up the right lead. You could try everything in the book, and nope!
After lots of bending exercises I could get him to pick up the left lead canter, so we worked on a lot of that and bending at the trot. He would at this point pick up the right lead probably one out of 15 tries! But, it was progress. I then had the vet come out and inject his right hock. He went from picking up the right lead 15% of the time, to 20% of the time, to 50% of the time! He still bunny hopped on the longe line, but every now and then he would relax and you could see some deep hock coming through. I also had to fix his feet, they were so warped from him moving to compensate for his pain, that they were also causing a problem. I also discovered Adequan, an injectable joint medication, and decided it was a MIRACLE drug.
Fast forward EXACTLY one year. Of that year, about seven months of it was a combination of getting him broke and getting him sound. The rest was refining, hauling to shows for practice, etc. Because of his injury, it was harder keeping him off the forehand and keeping him from head-bobbing, because he didn't want to shift his weight the hind, so we spent a lot of time working on that. We did lots of loping trail logs to help strengthen and keep his mind fresh with new, different activities. I even showed him in a couple shows myself for practice and he did excellent! Now came the hard, emotional part. Taking Mocha back to the trainers, to show what an entirely different horse he was from the last time they saw him! Convinced that he was ready to show and that he may even have a shot to Congress, I said goodbye and kissed the spotted nose of the horse that I rode nearly every day for a year, and left him at the trainers for evaluation.
That's just the hardest thing to do, life felt so empty without that cute face with the freckles and fat cheeks waiting for me at the barn every day, ears always forward and eager to go ride. I established a bond with that horse that I've only achieved with one other horse in my lifetime, that horse being Sendy. We were the best of friends and he was always the perfect gentleman for me... I could do things with this horse that no one else could. My favorite times were the summer evenings after a great riding, hosing him off and just handgrazing him in the yard during a sunset. I trusted this horse and he trusted me, and together we accomplished what we were told was impossible - a 100% SOUND Mocha who is now on his way to CONGRESS!
Not only was he "approved" to show, but within two weeks of me sending him back to training, he went to a show and showed in the open for the first time, winning the Green WP under four judges and winning the Circuit, and the last day he showed in a combined JR/SR (so he was against some older, more experienced horses!) WP class and won first under one and second under another! All in all, a combined total of 5.5 points, over half his ROM in one weekend show! Out of everything my horses have one, this year in particular, that was the greatest victory for me, possibly of all time. I was ready to cry... there are just no words to describe the feeling when a horse that was dismissed as a cripple, after being nursed back to health and being a green, three year old stallion trained soley by myself, an amateur.. goes out there and wins.
So, as you can see by my over-emotional reaction to that show... how I am going to feel when he shows at CONGRESS, in the Green and JR WP! I am probably going to be so nervous (even though I'm not the one showing!) that I will want to throw up and put my hands over my eyes! I am just so thrilled he even made it there, no matter how he ends up doing. This was a horse that was supposed to not even be showable, much less even be a contender at a show like the Congress. Anything he earns there will be icing on the cake and I will be an emotional basketcase!
My other horse showing is my longe liner, Twenty Four Karat Chip, a palomino stallion by the great Zips Chocolate Chip. "Tator Chip" has had a spectacular year, UNDEFEATED in the color longe line at all the major futurities! 2x Tom Powers Champion, Southern Belle Champion, Reichert Champion, and Palomino World Champion! He also was top five at the Reichert in the Open LL with a catch longer who'd only had the chance to longe him once before. Tator is one of the highest quality horses I've ever had the pleasure of dealing with, and it will be cool to see how "yellow" fairs out there at the Congress with the "big boys". He had a great start with Darlene Morawski, his breeder who sold him to me, had another couple months with the great longe line trainer, Kathie Kennedy, and the past two months with me. That was a new sort of pressure, preparing a horse for Congress all on my own, but he is a wonderful minded horse and by the time I dropped him off at the trainers to prepare to leave, he was impeccable. This will be Tator's last show in the longe line after his great career, and I'm sure he'll love having the winter to "be a horse". I can't WAIT until his riding career, after how well it went with Mocha, the current plan is to start him myself.
So, this will definitely be the most emotional Congress to date, and if you are there, keep an eye out for Mocha in the Green and JR WP, and Tator in the longe line! We will be stalled with the Cecil's, so feel free to come and say hi. Mocha will be standing his first year at stud next year, so if you are interested in breeding to this spectacular minded, gorgeous, talented horse, definitely come meet him in person, you'll fall in love just like I did!
I seem to have a habit of writing novels on here, I need to learn to update more often so my posts can be shorter! I'll end this novel with the announcement of a new addition to Top Line. I am very happy to announce the arrival of my new show mare, FINALLY! I can't even tell you how long I have been searching for just the right show mare. Life probably would have been easier if I had opened myself up to geldings, but since I breed and own stallions, I wanted a very nice mare that I could show now and breed later. Unfortunately, in my price range, they were either mediocre movers, young prospects, or had soundness or mental issues. I'd say its been YEARS that I've been looking for just the right show mare! Horses that I would like were consistantly BIG BUCKS and anything lesser, there was a reason. Well, it may be too soon to tell, but I think I got lucky with this one!
Meet "Ally", registered name Always On Good Terms but name change pending to Forever N Always. :) Ally is a four year old sorrel rabicano (roaning, white "skunk striped" tailhead), 15.2 hand mare by the late Always The Choice (by Investment By Choice) out of a Good Terms by Zippos Mr Goodbar mare. Ally is not only the most GORGEOUS moving mare in my price range, but she's one of the most gorgeous movers I've looked at, period! She has an amazing, flat, soft front leg. I've ridden her twice now, and I can say that I've never ridden a more natural, soft, flowing lope. She has a neck a mile long and a face that looks like she's part arabian, she's going to have the most gorgeous profile on the rail with the pretty dished, blazed face, tall white stockings and roaning... she'll be hard to miss and hard to forget! She is a sweetheart who is almost ready to show, just needs the finishing touches. She will be my amateur WP mare and all-around horse. My goal will be to get qualified in the Amateur WP for next year's world, and during the next year add horsemanship, showmanship, western riding, equitation, and performance halter. I can't WAIT!!! :)
Thinking about going to a show in Venice this weekend and taking Chance and Ally. I'll keep ya updated. :)
~Amy
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