About Me

My name is Haley and I am 14 years old. I have been riding horses (American Saddlebreds) for six years and I have been showing American Saddlebreds for three years. We have owned nine horses total (7 currently): Charlie, Polo, Sophie, Rose, Ricardo, Chocolate, Chloe, Mia, and Patty. Charlie was my first horse-We bought him after I had been riding for a year and a half. Charlie was the sweetest horse with the cutest personality, and he was a great teacher. About three years ago, on my Mom's birthday, he died from a bad colic. I still think of him every day and I still treasure every moment I had with him. We may have only had a year and a half together, but he changed my life. Without him I wouldn't be showing today and I wouldn't be the rider I am today. Six months after we bought Charlie, we bought Polo, who is now my brother's horse. Polo is the our only horse that is not a full American Saddlebred. He's a National Show Horse (Half Arabian, Half Saddlebred. Polo is the horse that our guests will ride and that my brother will ride. He may be twenty years old, but he doesn't act like he's twenty. He still has a lot of spunk and life in him, yet he always has to be treated like a king;) We bought Sophie only a month after we bought Polo. She was my mom's birthday gift. She was only 4yrs old and though we didn't know it at the time, had only been broken for six months and my mom had only had two riding lessons! But surprisingly they get along great and they both have taught eachother amazingly a lot. A year after we bought Polo, we bought Rose, who is now my Dad's mare and the mare we use most for breeding, and Ricardo, our show horse who we recently sold, on the same day. Rose is the sweetest horse out of all of our horses and she is the one we breed the most. She has had three foals, two of them that are ours. A year ago she had a very bad accident caused by the caretaker, ripping off the whole side of her face, tearing out her bone, crushing her sinus cavities, sevoring nerves, etc, and she was only a few weeks away from having her foal. We were't sure if either would survive, and we knew that if Rose did survive she would never be able to run again or be ridden again, and probably wouldn't be the same horse ever again. Miraculously, though, she healed up amazingly with barely a scar at all, and she can run and be ridden with no problem. She's one of our miracle horses. Next, we have Ricardo. He was my first show horse and my best friend after Charlie died. I have never had a horse treat me--or seen a horse treat anyone else--like he treated me. If he saw me, he would get so excited that he would paw and paw and move and move until he wore himself out, and at the shows he had to be at the back of the barn where he couldn't hear or see me until it was time for the show. If he saw or heard me he would wear himself out before the class and be tired for the class! He was an amazing horse and though I was heartbroken because I had to sell him for multiple reasons, I now know that it was the right thing to do. I had outgrown him and it wouldn't be fair for me to hold him back, and though I love him with all of my heart, it was best for all of us. I can only hope that he is as happy with his new owner as he was happy with me, and that his new owner will love him just like I love him. The next horse we bought was Chocolate, who was the horse that would replace (physically, of course) Charlie. I think I was expecting another Charlie, and boy did I get a big surprise when I got Chocolate instead! The people who my trainer had bought him from lied to him, saying he had been gelded as a colt, was a great lesson horse, completely broke, etc. Yeah right. He had recently been gelded before the horse show and most likely has a foal out there somewhere (he acts like he's had a foal before). So he's basically a stallion who can't have kids. He only knew how to have someone on his back, and he was almost impossible to ride. I wasn't that experienced then and I was going through the afraid-of-horses stage, so between him acting like a jerk-stallion and being a jerk-hard-to-ride-riding horse, I hated him and didn't want anything to do with him. Even for a couple of years I still wasn't completely fond of him, and though I was becoming more experienced in riding and I wasn't afraid anymore, I still had Ricardo and I would prefer being with him over Chocolate any day. When I found out that we were selling Ricardo, I sort of detached myself from Ricardo and attached myself to Chocolate. From then on I have figured out how to handle him and what he responds best to and what he doesn't. We have become best buds and he is willing to do anything for me. I have enjoyed being with him soooo much more now, and I look forward to going out to the stable to ride him. Rose's first foal with us was Chloe, and she was big right from the start! She has always been independent and very strong willed, and if it hadn't been for that she would not be alive right now. She had many health issues when she was born and the vets only gave her a %40 chance of living. She pulled through it all, though, and today is large, spunky, and as independent as ever! Mia was Rose's second foal with us, and she is the most promising out of all of Rose's foals. We have had many well known trainers, vets, and breedings oohing and aahing over Mia, and Mia is proving herself to be more and more of a show horse every day. She and Chloe will both be starting training this fall, and there's a high possibility that Mia may show starting next year:) Finally, we have Patty, who is the newest member of our family. She is a four-year old filly who is also extremely promising. Our trainer has already been talking Louisville, and they don't say something unless they really mean it! My dad is very excited about showing her next year, and we're all excited at how this new pair will turn out. I live with my mom, dad, and brother, and our two dogs, Avalanche (4), Apollo (12wks), both Bernese Mountain Dogs. Besides riding, I enjoy writing and sports. I have been writing since I was in 2nd grade, and I now write for a magazine ( Saddle and Bridle) and I have written several books that I hope to get published someday soon! For sports, I am a big football fan (Gooo Colts and Packers!!), and I love playing basketball, tennis, golfing, and tennis. I will be a freshman next year, but I don't know where I'm going to school. I would like to go back to school, but my parents would like me to be homeschooled with more advanced schooling programs, so I don't know where I'm going. I have this blog so I can write out my thoughts and tell you about my life. Please feel free to comment on each blog and tell me what you think---I always love to hear feedback:-)