I never had a toy horse. Wonder why? My family always had horses and I rode them from the time I was six months old. My first horse was a grade stock horse mare named Penny. She was rock-solid and sweet to a fault. We had many adventures together.
She had a colt named ToeJoe. It was on this fantastic pony I started my endurance career. He was 13.3 hh and I am 5'10"...but neither of us seemed to notice. When I first started him under saddle as a 2 year-old, he had only 1 of Julie Shur's 3 "S"s in that he was SHORT. He was a far cry from smooth and no where near SAFE (yet)! At this time, it was a toss-up between his dam's sweet personality and his sire's fire. His sire was the fantastic QH flat-track star, Triple Chicks! Eventually he became safe; two out of three ain't bad.
ToeJoe and I had a great first time out at the Robber's Route endurance ride. Granted, we were doing the 15-mile introductory ride but it was all the same to me. I couldn't imagine riding 15 miles so we were doing the near-impossible as far as I was concerned.
Our second ride was also a 15 miler. Something, however, was different. I had "the racing bug" and had gotten ToeJoe a racing "D" bit (HA! I got what I deserved!) and an English saddle. We watched as the 50-milers raced away followed 30 minutes later by the 25-milers followed a few minutes later by the 15-milers. ToeJoe took off like he was in the KY Derby! We overtook the front runners of the 50 within 35 minutes!
Semper Obliquo (Always aside), Susan Young, ISSO Secretary, ISSO Points Secretary, Regional Representative
Your Independent Mary Kay Beauty Consultant Glenndale Grace Farm, Ft Gibson, Oklahoma U.S.A. "Ride on! Rough-shod if need be, smooth-shod if that will do, but ride on! Ride on over all obstacles, and win the race!" - Charles Dickens (1812-1870)
