I'm slightly embarrassed to be sharing the photos I'm about to share but they're worth it to inspire some other rider out there, which is my sole goal here.
When I bought Sophie I had only seen the ad because the seller was my friends farrier. I trusted him unfortunately. I was told Sophie was a Friesian/Morgan 10yo mare they had for western pleasure but it just wasn't working. She came off the trailer and looked NOTHING like the ad. She was underweight, ribs showing through her winter coat, and no muscle tone at all. I almost said to take her back but they were allowing a two month trial so I figured why not. Initially I thought she'd be a resale project. I couldn't tell you if her breed is accurate (although she does have some traits of both) but she was most definitely not ridden as much as they let on and the vet guessed her age at 7.
Sophie was scared of having a rider but didn't try to get you off so we quickly worked through it. She was exceptionally stiff and hollow and her response to anything was to trot faster. No steering, no brakes, no walking. Just trotting the ring track and a ground person to whoa us!!! Sophie didn't know how to canter, even loose in the field wih the other horses she never cantered with them. No joke! During that two month trial we made it out on trails, learned to canter in the open field, (had a pulled ligament in my shoulder from trying to whoa once!), and even awkwardly popped over a few jumps! The try this mare had was exceptional, so I fell in love. I was told by many she wouldn't be worth it. My dressage trainer almost didn't come back after the first lesson lol. And that was after I did a lot of work and was even getting around BN and 2'6 jumpers with ribbons. $750 and a couple years of hard, dedicated, sweat and tears later, I have a horse ready to go 2nd level dressage and has schooled over some Training level jumps! My diamond in the rough. It's been a long road, and we still have a lot of work to do, but where she started and where she's at need to be shared for inspiration. Where there's a will, there's a way. Keep believing and keep working hard.
When I bought Sophie I had only seen the ad because the seller was my friends farrier. I trusted him unfortunately. I was told Sophie was a Friesian/Morgan 10yo mare they had for western pleasure but it just wasn't working. She came off the trailer and looked NOTHING like the ad. She was underweight, ribs showing through her winter coat, and no muscle tone at all. I almost said to take her back but they were allowing a two month trial so I figured why not. Initially I thought she'd be a resale project. I couldn't tell you if her breed is accurate (although she does have some traits of both) but she was most definitely not ridden as much as they let on and the vet guessed her age at 7.
Sophie was scared of having a rider but didn't try to get you off so we quickly worked through it. She was exceptionally stiff and hollow and her response to anything was to trot faster. No steering, no brakes, no walking. Just trotting the ring track and a ground person to whoa us!!! Sophie didn't know how to canter, even loose in the field wih the other horses she never cantered with them. No joke! During that two month trial we made it out on trails, learned to canter in the open field, (had a pulled ligament in my shoulder from trying to whoa once!), and even awkwardly popped over a few jumps! The try this mare had was exceptional, so I fell in love. I was told by many she wouldn't be worth it. My dressage trainer almost didn't come back after the first lesson lol. And that was after I did a lot of work and was even getting around BN and 2'6 jumpers with ribbons. $750 and a couple years of hard, dedicated, sweat and tears later, I have a horse ready to go 2nd level dressage and has schooled over some Training level jumps! My diamond in the rough. It's been a long road, and we still have a lot of work to do, but where she started and where she's at need to be shared for inspiration. Where there's a will, there's a way. Keep believing and keep working hard.