The story of my second horse, a foal to raise as an inexperienced horse-crazy girl, our close bond, mistakes we made, and a tragic end.
A horse named Fiery Spirit.
Never give a horse a name you are not prepared for him to live up to.
"Fiery Spirit" came into the world in the pouring rain, early in the morning on June 3, 1983. Despite my pleas with his dam, Sugar (Sweet Surprize), for her to foal while I was around, I was on an end-of-school-year 6th grade field trip to Chicago that day, and didn't find out about him or see him until the next day.
"Fiery Spirit" came into the world in the pouring rain, early in the morning on June 3, 1983. Despite my pleas with his dam, Sugar (Sweet Surprize), for her to foal while I was around, I was on an end-of-school-year 6th grade field trip to Chicago that day, and didn't find out about him or see him until the next day.
one day old
His dam (mother):
Spirit's sire is unknown, as I received his dam as a Christmas present just that past December. She was reported to be half Quarter Horse and half Tennessee Walking Horse, and since Spirit was gaited, it is highly likely that his sire was also gaited.-
A horse-crazy girl's Christmas wish come true: Sweet Surprize
-
This is a tribute to my first horse -- one of those types that comes along once in a lifetime, and that's if you're lucky. Along with memories, I hope to share a little bit of helpful advice as well.
My Beer.
I was EXCITED, you might say! My second horse, a newborn colt (male foal) to raise and train, at the experienced age of 11. It was a short-lived disappointment over the fact that it wasn't my dream of Sugar having a black filly (female foal).
"Beer" (absolutely innocent shortened version of Spirit) and I shared a close bond very few, fortunate horse owners know. I could write for a very long, long time about Beer and some of the times we shared, but then I would just end up crying and I'm not in the mood right now.
"Beer" (absolutely innocent shortened version of Spirit) and I shared a close bond very few, fortunate horse owners know. I could write for a very long, long time about Beer and some of the times we shared, but then I would just end up crying and I'm not in the mood right now.
a couple of months old, with my dad
Big red.
Spirit was a red chestnut (reddish-brown) son of a black Tennessee Walking Horse and Quarter Horse crossbred mare, and his sire was unknown as Sugar was pregnant when I got her that previous Christmas.
His mane was the color of his body, but his tail varied from a light blonde at the top to a deep burgundy-black in the center.
To look at Spirit was to behold him. It was if he was gracing you with his presence. He was tall and stocky, burly and big-boned.
(Okay, I was a pretty impressionable kid -- your own horse is always the most stunning horse on the planet, right? I imagined he was Flame, from the Island Stallion book series.)
His mane was the color of his body, but his tail varied from a light blonde at the top to a deep burgundy-black in the center.
To look at Spirit was to behold him. It was if he was gracing you with his presence. He was tall and stocky, burly and big-boned.
(Okay, I was a pretty impressionable kid -- your own horse is always the most stunning horse on the planet, right? I imagined he was Flame, from the Island Stallion book series.)
Favorite horse fiction
only a "cute" trick when they are small
Trick pony.
One of the biggest mistakes a beginner can make with a young horse is to encourage bad behavior such as rearing -- which is exactly one of the mistakes I made as an 11 year old girl with a "cute" playful colt.
Not so cute when they are much, much bigger later in life.
Spirit never had professional training, and was more or less broke by a number of well-meaning kids and young adults unafraid to get thrown.
He was never afraid to remind you that you were only a passenger, never in complete command, on his wide back. To 'control' Spirit would be like controlling the winds and the rains. More precisely, the tornados and the hurricanes.
Once, at a full gallop, he spun in a complete circle and stopped in his tracks, and I'll never know how I managed to stay in the saddle. It happened too fast to think.
Another time, in the middle of a big Independence Day parade in Lansing, Michigan, he decided to stop dead in his tracks. I tried to get him to go forward, and he reared right up on his hind legs. Trying at once to control my fear and calm the onlooking crowd, I tried to play it off like he did it on command.
I must have been as pale as my shirt.
Not so cute when they are much, much bigger later in life.
Spirit never had professional training, and was more or less broke by a number of well-meaning kids and young adults unafraid to get thrown.
He was never afraid to remind you that you were only a passenger, never in complete command, on his wide back. To 'control' Spirit would be like controlling the winds and the rains. More precisely, the tornados and the hurricanes.
Once, at a full gallop, he spun in a complete circle and stopped in his tracks, and I'll never know how I managed to stay in the saddle. It happened too fast to think.
Another time, in the middle of a big Independence Day parade in Lansing, Michigan, he decided to stop dead in his tracks. I tried to get him to go forward, and he reared right up on his hind legs. Trying at once to control my fear and calm the onlooking crowd, I tried to play it off like he did it on command.
I must have been as pale as my shirt.
Independence Day parade
Racking horse.
Beer was approximately 16 hands (a 'hand' is four inches) of sheer power, very stocky and muscular.
He could gallop at a speed that literally whipped the tears from your eyes, with his head held high and not much you could do but hold on and hope for a gradual stop rather than a sudden one.
He also racked (a smooth lateral gait performed instead of a trot but at roughly the same speed) with a sense of pride that was hard to miss.
The only attempt made to get that on video, didn't turn out too well, and most of it was accidentally taped over, but the graphic below was created from a video still from that day.
He could gallop at a speed that literally whipped the tears from your eyes, with his head held high and not much you could do but hold on and hope for a gradual stop rather than a sudden one.
He also racked (a smooth lateral gait performed instead of a trot but at roughly the same speed) with a sense of pride that was hard to miss.
The only attempt made to get that on video, didn't turn out too well, and most of it was accidentally taped over, but the graphic below was created from a video still from that day.
racking down the road
Racking horses.
-
Racking Horses | Gaited Horse Breeds | All Horses
-
Racking Horses are a breed of gaited horse that perform an alternate gait to the trot which is smooth and easy to ride, called a "rack." This gait is a four-beat gait with no bounce, compared to the two-beat trot which has either a small or large am...
Huggable oaf.
I've probably drawn the wrong picture of his personality.
Given all of the above, he was also a horse that, upon hearing of my many teenage woes, would lick the tears from my cheeks, and give me a huge horse "hug", holding me tightly against his wide chest with his massive head and cresty neck, and keep me there until the sobbing ceased.
At the only horse show I ever took him to, a high school equestrian meet in St. Johns, Michigan in October 1988 (see portrait below) he did his best to try and do what I asked of him, although we'd never practiced any of the patterns or classes or even transitioning between gaits in the arena. He'd never seen an arena, much less been asked to jog in single file in a big group, or enter alone and run cloverleaf barrels, but he did everything I asked like a champ.
That is the horse I will always remember ... the one who would attempt a cartwheel for me if I only knew how to ask him to.
Given all of the above, he was also a horse that, upon hearing of my many teenage woes, would lick the tears from my cheeks, and give me a huge horse "hug", holding me tightly against his wide chest with his massive head and cresty neck, and keep me there until the sobbing ceased.
At the only horse show I ever took him to, a high school equestrian meet in St. Johns, Michigan in October 1988 (see portrait below) he did his best to try and do what I asked of him, although we'd never practiced any of the patterns or classes or even transitioning between gaits in the arena. He'd never seen an arena, much less been asked to jog in single file in a big group, or enter alone and run cloverleaf barrels, but he did everything I asked like a champ.
That is the horse I will always remember ... the one who would attempt a cartwheel for me if I only knew how to ask him to.
high school equestrian meet
Gone too soon.
It was evening, after dinner, on January 3, 1989.
The phone rang. The exact words I don't remember, I knew from the tremble in the caller's voice what they were trying to say, although I didn't want to believe it.
And for years, I tried to convince myself that Spirit was NOT gone, this was some horrible nightmare, and one day, he would come galloping again at my whistle.
It wasn't until I searched the farthest reaches of the woods in the back forty in 1992 and found his weather-whitened bones that it finally became "real" to me that he was gone forever.
An accident that no one could have foreseen took my best friend's life at the age of 5-1/2 (in terms of horse age, just reaching the prime of his life), and a tremendous part of my heart and soul as well.
In my memories and heart he will be forever young. A few of his bones, specifically his skull and a hoof bone (my attempt at a proper Thoroughbred racehorse burial), now rest in a circle of pines, under a bog ore marker (if you don't know what bog ore is, it is a big, bulky, ugly, heavy, basically worthless rock ... it's an inside joke!) with trilliums planted all around.
I'll never forget the fire, and the friend, I found in a horse named Fiery Spirit.
The phone rang. The exact words I don't remember, I knew from the tremble in the caller's voice what they were trying to say, although I didn't want to believe it.
And for years, I tried to convince myself that Spirit was NOT gone, this was some horrible nightmare, and one day, he would come galloping again at my whistle.
It wasn't until I searched the farthest reaches of the woods in the back forty in 1992 and found his weather-whitened bones that it finally became "real" to me that he was gone forever.
An accident that no one could have foreseen took my best friend's life at the age of 5-1/2 (in terms of horse age, just reaching the prime of his life), and a tremendous part of my heart and soul as well.
In my memories and heart he will be forever young. A few of his bones, specifically his skull and a hoof bone (my attempt at a proper Thoroughbred racehorse burial), now rest in a circle of pines, under a bog ore marker (if you don't know what bog ore is, it is a big, bulky, ugly, heavy, basically worthless rock ... it's an inside joke!) with trilliums planted all around.
I'll never forget the fire, and the friend, I found in a horse named Fiery Spirit.
Avoid your own tragedy.
-
What type of fence should I use for horses?
-
Horses find inventive ways to harm themselves. Even the most safety-obsessed stables where all bits of wire and horseshoe nails are picked up, and where all stall connections and feed bins have rounded corners, horses still get hurt. One of the eas...
Spirit's Flickr Photoset
curated content from Flickr
Words thingie.
Say anything. (Nice.)
submit
-
Reply
- nicoledm nicoledm Mar 20, 2009 @ 2:52 pm
- Oh...my gosh. I'm sorry for your misfortune! He was indeed gorgeous.
-
Reply
- AllHorses AllHorses Jul 16, 2008 @ 9:24 am
- I also hope for my story to get people to rethink their horse fencing options. While I discourage the use of barbed wire with horses, it was actually common stock fence that was responsible for the injuries that ultimately ended his life.
-
Reply
- AllHorses AllHorses Jul 10, 2008 @ 3:02 pm
- Thank you ... it has been a long, healing time since he passed, but that just allows for the better memories to rise to the top.
-
Reply
- animal_lover79 animal_lover79 Feb 27, 2008 @ 5:53 pm
- What a gorgeous animal! I'm so sorry for your misfortune.
Little reminders
Someone I have "known" for many years online recently was involved in the Extreme Mustang Makeover challenge, and when I saw the horse that they received for the project, I got a little lump in my throat.Check out Amigo's story at the Rockin' N Ranch blog for last season's challenge.
A few good books.
Related pages.
-
Gaited Horse Breeds
-
All horses are "gaited" in the sense that walk, trot and canter are all considered gaits. So, what is a so-called gaited horse, and what makes it different from other horses? Horses that perform a gait separate from the standard three list...
-
www.AllHorses.us ... this group is ALL about HORSES!
-
Have a horse-related lens? Add it to www.AllHorses.us ... THE group for horse lovers on Squidoo!
-
Horse Profile Lenses
-
Profiles of special horses: fiction, friends or famous ... plus jockeys, trainers, authors, etc. You can ADD your horse-related profile lenses to the Plexo and the ALL HORSES Squidoo Group. Find suggestions for new topics at /horseexpert.
horsey stuff
borrow wings Women's Long Sleeve T-Shirt
Price: 26.99 
borrow wings Light T-Shirt
Price: 20.99
borrow wings Baseball Jersey
Price: 23.99
borrow wings 2.25" Button
Price: 4.99
borrow wings Framed Tile
Price: 11.99
Now, the advice ...
I hope you enjoyed this trip through memory lane with me. If you have any questions about Tennessee Walking Horses as pleasure riding and trail horses, feel free to contact me! I highly recommend the breed, but it is more important to carefully select an individual of ANY breed that has the attitude and abilities you need!Young inexperienced horses and young inexperienced people usually do not make a good mix. It is often recommended that a person's first horse is an older, well-trained animal. It is dangerous for both human and horse to assume that you can 'learn together'. However, few experiences can equal that of bonding with a young equine and being the first to sit on its strong back and knowing when you become 'one' that no other person could share that feeling. Please be sure to consult a large animal veterinarian before you make any horse purchase. If you will be taking riding lessons, find your instructor first -- he/she can be very helpful in finding the best horse for you!
TWH Pros: Wonderful smooth gait, good temperament, fun to ride!
TWH Cons: Individuals within a breed can be very different, be careful choosing!
The Bottom Line: Horse ownership is a responsibility that must be taken seriously. The horses' temperament and ability must be compatible with that of the rider, or both will suffer.
Please click here and rate this lens:
(4-5 stars is the BEST!)
Join us at All Horses!
-
ALL HORSES Headquarters
-
All horses, all the time. Riding disciplines. Horse breeds. Horse training. Raising a foal. Trail riding. Competitions. Jumping. Feeding. Hoof care. Breeding. Fencing. Equine vets. Horseback games. Horses as therapy. Ponies. Drafts. ALL horse-related t...
-
Get paid to write about horses! www.AllHorses.us
-
Join the All Horses group on Squidoo, and write about what you know! You choose the topic. The ideas below are simply suggestions. You are always free to write about whatever topic you wish. Top lenses earn money for the author. Join through my ref...
by AllHorses
Explore related pages
Spotted Saddle Horses | Gaited Horse Breeds | www.AllHorses.us- A relatively new horse breed, a Spotted Saddle Horse can descend from many diffe...
All Horses | Gymkhana | Indiana Flag Race
- The flag race is a fun event for all ages. Combining horse speed and rider skill...
Tennessee Walking Horses | Gaited Horse Breeds | www.AllHorses.us- A well bred and trained Tennessee Walking Horse does not trot under saddle. Ins...
Walkaloosa Horses | Gaited Horse Breeds | www.AllHorses.us- What do you get when you cross a smooth gaited horse with lots of spots? The st...
Horse Racing Betting System- The Only Scientific Horse Betting Racing System That Has Already Proven To Make...
Titan the one-eyed wonder horse, aka Fatty McFurball
- He isn't perfect, but he's perfect for me. I love my fluffy old buddy. He's in...
