Two years in the making; our anniversary post.

April came and went and I never made mention that just a couple weeks ago marked mine and Steady's two year anniversary.  Two years since Steady Smiler first owned me.  It is crazy to look back and see where we started and to see where we are now.  I have changed in many ways.  We have both changed physically.  I was just ignorant enough to have taken a chance on a horse that I am fairly certain 9.9 people out of 10 would pass up with not as much as a second glance.  He came straight from the track after racing for 8 years.  He was not much to look at, ewe necked, dirty, the fact that he acted like a complete psycho when we went to load him on to the trailer, not to mention that with so many years on the track what did that mean for his legs and soundness?  None of that was enough to deter me.  Why?  I really cannot tell you why, I just knew I wanted him.  Little did I know where the next two years with him would take me.  I will let the pictures tell the story.

Here we are the day I first met Steady Smiler.

A year later.  I shrank by 55 lbs and he still has his ewe neck and hasn't come out of his track adjustment process.

And here are a couple photos from this past weekend.  Notice any differences?

We don't really look like the same person and horse.  We are both healthy fit and have worked SO incredibly hard on our training to get where we are.  It was countless hours studying, reading and learning anywhere I could.  It took countless hours in the saddle working, making mistakes, fixing them and working some more.  It was restraint to loose weight, determination to not quit.  A horse that is hard working, athletic and has an incredible amount of heart.  I feel priviledged just to have had him be a part of this journey with me.  He didn't come to me ready to please me but once I proved to him that he could trust me he gave me every ounce of his heart.  He will do anything I ask of him and doesn't second guess me (well unless I am second guessing myself, he knows it).  I just don't know many people that would have taken a chance on a horse with so many strikes against him but he sure has taught me that heart can make up for 90% of those 'strikes'.  So here we are two years later and it just seems the right time.  We have officially entered our first Horse Trial ever for either of us.  I went last year as a volunteer and watching horse after beautiful, healthy, fit horse go I just kept thinking, "I want to do this one day".  At that moment I never dreamed that day would have come so soon for us but here we are.  May 31st we depart for a weekend at Hoosier Horse Park competing in our first Horse Trial!