A Horse Tale – He was a Hell of an Adventure
He Was a Hell of an Adventure
Jamie and Blue prove everyone wrong – A story of Grit, Hope, and the Bond Between Horse and Rider
I remember once, when I was younger (probably too proud for my own good, and surely too stubborn), that owning a horse would be “too much work”, and that “I wouldn’t want to get up every day to feed that animal”. I was too young at the time to buy my own horse, but when I was finally able to, I did just that. I purchased an untrained thoroughbred and worked with him every day. He became a wonderful, beautiful partner for me, and I kept him through thick and thin until I just couldn’t give him what he deserved anymore after my second child was born. He deserved a job, and stimulation and so I wished him well on his next chapter with tears pouring out of my eyes and my daughter running after the trailer as he drove away.
I recently ran across a similar story of grit and inspiration. When those words “He will never be any good in the show ring,” were uttered about Ride a Blue Comet, owner Jamie faced off with the horse of a lifetime to prove everyone wrong once and for all.
Jamie paid $600 for an aggressive, dangerous horse that everyone had given up on. But she saw something in Ride a Blue Comet, or Blue, that no one else did.
“The people I bought him from were terrified of him and for good reason!” Jamie remembers the beginning of an adventure of a lifetime. “When I started training him, he would rear up and fall over backwards. He would attack me if I went in his stall, and run me down in the pasture if I wasn’t carrying a whip.”
But Jamie didn’t give up on him. Instead of giving up, a little nagging idea started to blossom. Blue was destined for the show ring, and Jamie was the woman to get him there.
She worked with a trainer and took lessons, but did all the riding herself. “I rode my ass off!” says Jamie.
Blue was her constant companion, and they worked every day. Money was tight, so Jamie bartered, bought used tack and show clothes, hauled other people’s horses to shows… anything to give them a step up and closer to their goal.
They worked through basics, like standing nice for a farrier.
“You couldn’t put shoes his back feet without getting your face kicked off, and I really needed shoes on him. So one night, I took a shot of bravery (whisky), put him on a lunge line and roped one of his back feet. I figured I’d either cure home, or kill him and me both. That horse ran and bucked and kicked for a long time and I remember thinking ‘What in the hell have I done!’ But he finally calmed down after a LONG TIME and I was able to lift his back feet with the rope. I continued working with him and the next time the farrier came out I asked him to shoe that horse for me and he said, ‘OH HELL NO!’ So I made a deal with him. I told him that if the horse gives him any trouble at all he could stop wherever he was with the job and I’d still pay the full amount. The horse stood like a statue while he shod him all the way around. The farrier said ‘I have no idea what you did but whatever it was it sure worked!’”
Blue and Jamie won everything they entered. They never gave up, never batted an eye, and proved to everyone that hard work, sweat, and a lot of love can take even the most aggressive of horses to the top.
“I won everything I could possibly win on that horse and achieved my lifetime goal of going to a world show and we even won a buckle. Damn, it was hard! But I did it on a no name bred horse that tried to kill me from day one! And I wouldn’t change anything about it!”
Blue gave Jamie more than blue ribbons. He taught her confidence. “I knew that if I could do that well with him I could do anything I wanted.”
And it’s true.
As for Blue, he has moved on to bigger things… the Walk Trot show ring for kids! Thank’s to Jamie’s dedication and love, his aggressive days are behind him, and he is full of love to share.
Here’s to you Jamie and Blue, for being an inspiration, never quitting, and showing the world what you are made of!
Stay tuned for another Horse Tale next week!
If you would like to be featured in A Horse Tale, you can submit your story for review! To submit a story for the “A Horse Tale” blog series, contact me here and click “Other” when you fill out the form.
No Comments