A short while back I was given a 15 y.o. QH mare. I wasn’t exactly looking for a horse but the owner was in a bad situation financially and desperately needed to find this mare a home. I decided to just go and take a look at her – maybe I could keep her in mind if I knew of anyone looking for a horse – but after seeing her I decided she might be a nice fit for my youngest daughter, Ralen…eventually. The mare hadn’t been ridden in 5 years, was extremely fat, prior to the 5 years had only been ridden here and there, and was basically green broke. When I got on her she was bratty, had a hissy fit and tried to buck when I asked her to move forward. So why did I say yes to taking her?? Was I crazy? Was this mare some spectacular color I just couldn’t pass up? Did she have amazing blood lines?

Our first day with Rain

No to all (bloodlines were so-so and her color was just bay). I made some observations, went with my “feel” of the horse and decided to take a chance. So what did I observe?

The mare ran right up to us when we arrived, eager for attention and curious. She was easy to catch!

She had no problem with all of us crowding around her (there were 5 of us), I could rub my hand all over her body without her being testy, and, she quietly stood while being saddled, never once pinning her ears or looking frightened. She had a lot of trust in people.

When I lunged her first without the saddle she was resistant by planting her feet and refusing to move and then kept trying to move into me. She DIDN’T pull against me, run around madly or try to run out. This told me that although she was refusing what I was asking, she was still looking to me for the next direction or the next bit of attention (she just wanted to pick what she would or wouldn’t do – she wasn’t looking to LOSE the human interaction). When I got after her with the lunge whip, at her shoulder to drive her out of the circle and at her hip to drive her forward, she complied quickly, without fear and never once pinned her ears or acted angry.

When I first got on the mare, she started humping her back and having a hissy fit as I asked her to move out. I reprimanded her by pulling her around in a circle while applying a strong spur. She spun fast, gave up the mild bucks and hissy fit quickly and started listening to what I asked right after. I had to do this a couple of times and after only a few spins and spur pokes she immediately started complying with my original “asking” of her to move forward. But it was her attitude in which she complied that impressed me.  It was as if she was saying “Oh, okay…I’ll do what you want if you keep giving me attention….gee, this isn’t too bad.” She just seemed so happy to comply after she gave my request a quick test to see who was really the leader in the situation. And since I was a firm leader, she decided she’d be a content follower…once we established that and with no ill-will!

My daughter with Rain in the first week

The clincher came when I unsaddled her and handed her to my 11 year old daughter to lead around. The mare licked Ralen’s hand, would have licked her face if she allowed it and followed her around like a puppy dog. We put Ralen up on the mare bareback just to see her reaction and it was almost like a happy little sigh escaped her. We realized this mare loved kids.

Ralen renamed the mare “Rain” and we picked her up a week later. Its been almost a year since we got Rain. There were some kinks we had to work out as she really was a green horse who hadn’t been exposed to a lot. But her trust in people, her eagerness for attention and her more mature age helped our job a lot.

The early days of me riding Rain to tune her up

My older daughter and I had to ride her through a few more hissy fits and her “humping” bucks became more “true bucks” the more fit she got but she was always quick to comply after a firm reprimand. It was like she had to test everything at first, just to see if she really had to do it.

The funny thing is, Rain has never tested Ralen’s requests. She’ll do whatever Ralen asks! Last week I watched in amazement as Ralen galloped her in figure 8s around the arena and Rain did these beautiful flying lead changes every time – just like a seasoned gaming horse. I doubt she was ever taught that….

Ralen riding Rain in the early days

Since we brought Rain home she has been ridden on Poker Rides, taken horse camping, ridden on the beach, in the waves and on rugged mountain trails, done 10 and 20 mile rides for several days straight, gone swimming (look for Rain’s Water Training post coming soon!), been ridden in busy traffic, done jumping trails with eagerness and has packed a number of our friends on day rides.

A friend riding Rain on the beach

And although she now does this with all of us (and even our riding friends), she does it the best, with the most heart and with the most talent, for Ralen. So, our free horse has been worth her weight in gold and I’ll be forever grateful I trusted my gut and my horse sense and took a chance on the little bay mare.

Ralen and Rain at Sisters Wilderness Area

Ralen and Rain on a poker ride at the Flying M Ranch