05/01/2023
Long post warning, but worth the read…
I was recently told it’s maybe time to consider gelding Gunshy because we’ve had no interest in breeding this season. And I won’t do it… at some point he will prove himself as a show pony, I hope, and until then, the inconvenience of a separate pen, isn’t a big deal…
The never ending quest to turn Gunshy 00 into a show pony.
This little stud is amazing - you’d never know he was a stud. He stood all day, for three days, next to a bunch of mares - never looked at them, nickered at them, nothing. Even in his stall, he stood quietly.
He’s a world champion at home, soft in the mouth, responds to my seat - if I want him to stop all I say is whoa and he’s dead still. He tracks a cow well, without really any effort from me, and he’ll get down on his shoulder to cut one. But we have a ways to go when we’re away from the ranch.
We took second in ranch riding - an improvement as at the last show he got scared of the bleachers and we didn’t make it much farther than that in the particular class. I think that’s part of what I like about VRH, you can OP your heart out, but you don’t DQ.
We actually entered reining, we’ve avoided this as I wasn’t sure he was quite ready - day 1 was a royal sh*tshow (everything in the arena was terrifying), day two was better.
We got blessed with two great judges that were understanding, and didn’t get upset that each time we entered the arena (something that’s big and scary), I talked to and pet my horse with my free hand - after all - it is VRH, and at home, when we’re working - I talk to him and pet him all the time.
He wants to please, he tries so, so hard, without fail every time I get on his back to do what I ask.
He hates men. He’s unsure of a lot of women. But we click.
I can’t talk to people about this horse without starting to cry, I can’t control it.
I’ll use the term mistreatment - its funny in that when you put two living beings together who have experienced hell, you tend to come out on the brighter side of Heaven.
The more I learn about his past, the more I feel sorrow, but at the same time happiness. I swear Divine Intervention is the only reason he’s with me. He was almost starved to death at 5 years old, he was repeatedly hit with a hot shot, he was roped and it was cinched so hard around his neck that it caused permanent damage to the muscle in the right side of his neck leaving an abnormally large “prophets thumb” scar. It’s like he wasn’t given a chance to prove he was nice, just assumed he was aggressive because he was a stud - to the same tune maybe he was aggressive - but there’s ways to fix aggression without capital punishment.
When I bought him I asked if I could go in his pen… and I was told to watch it because he was in a bad mood. I whistled and he looked at me, I threw my arms around him - and he nestled into my back.
If you know me personally - and even if you don’t it doesn’t take long to figure out my past wasn’t all sunshine and daisies. And there have been more than a few men that decided they needed to “put me in my place”. I regularly carry a lot of anger, but not when I’m with him.
But like I said, when you put two living beings together that have experienced hell, you tend to come out on the brighter side of Heaven.
He has the potential to be a great show pony, we just have to learn that there’s no difference in working in the show pen and working at the house…. Except the 50+ other horses, loud speakers, banners, and more than just me, him, and the cows.
Don’t give up on the goals you set, it may take you all your life to accomplish them, but you’ll get there.
We make a good team, me and the grey stud. And we’re working through our traumas together. I’m a different person with that horse, and our small 3 show record might not be great, but it’s progress, and progression in all things is the goal.
