CEDAR LODGE

Auntie Em 

“Connie called” Chris, Reggie, the barn guys and I were in the middle of bringing in horses. It was 15 degrees, 15 mph winds making it feel more like 0. It was snowing furiously and more snow was in the forcast. Our stable had gone up by several new horses over the last month and it had caused our barn to burst at the seams. I do believe that I audibly groaned. The last thing I wanted to discuss was more horses and when Connie called, it was always about buying horses. 

Connie had called just last month and Chris and I had wound up buying Joe from her. It was a great deal, and I didn’t regret it at all, more winter is the last time you want to add to your string. I knew Chris felt at least as strongly on the subject as I did, perhaps more, so if she was even letting me know that Connie called, it must have been tempting. 

“What does she have?” I asked resignedly 

“Not one, three.” Chris answered. “She has a three year old thoroughbred that she had mentioned before, a 9 year old quarter horse, that might make a school horse and…..” Chris paused, “a percheron, quarter horse 4 year old draft mare.” 

I winced. I wasn’t that interested in the school horse and I could certainly do without another young show horse, but Chris and I had been looking for a couple of years for a young prospect to add to our vaulting program. The draft mare sounded promising. I nodded my consent. 

Chris and I arranged to go on the following Monday to see the horses. Connie lived an hour’s drive from camp and any trip to her barn took some maneuvering on Chris and my schedules. Monday wasn’t early enough. Connie counter offered to bring the horse two days earlier on Saturday. She agreed to bring all three and having them at Cedar Lodge would give us a chance to try them in the indoor arena. Connie coming to CL, though way more convenient then trekking an hour away, presented its own problems. Our current horse expansion, had lead us to a stall crunch. We currently had only one free stall, and we had no idea what we would do if we actually liked more than one of Connie’s horses. 

Connie was here by noon. We had decided to toss one horse in the extra stall, ride one and throw the other in the front paddock, so right off the trailer, the 3 year old thoroughbred was marched to the extra stall, the school horse was tacked up in the middle aisle, and the draft mare was taken straight to the paddock. As we were tacking up the school horse, things became a bit chaotic and I found myself talking to both our hay dealer and several clients at the same time. I turned around and Connie, a stable man she had brought with her, and Chris were gone. 

 “Where did Chris go?” I asked Edgar.

“They’re out chasing that draft mare. She jumped out of the paddock.” I was impressed. The paddock is 4 foot high. In truth, when all was caught and discovered, the mare had NOT jumped the 4 foot fence. She had jumped only the bottom two boards (2’6”) and broken through the top board. Still, not a bad jumping effort. The draft mare ended up standing in the middle aisle with Connie’s barn man, and we rode and switched the other two horses. 

When we came to watching the draft mare, there really wasn’t much to do. She wasn’t broke really to be ridden. Connie said her previous owners used to take her down trail bareback with a halter and lead rope, following her mom but she really didn’t know much. We turned her lose in the indoor and chased her around. We took a look at her conformation and liked her personality, so the draft mare was a decidedly “yes” from both Chris and I. Kendra, who came in as we were watching her trot around the indoor, gave her seal of approval as well. 

By the time Connie drove out the driveway her trailer was considerably lighter. She came with three, but went home with one. Not only did we keep the draft mare, but we kept the 3 year old thoroughbred as well. Not for us, but to try out for Taylor to buy. The additional two horses left us scrambling in the barn, and by the end of an hour, the draft mare had a new stall in the sawdust room. She seemed happy, it was the size of a brood mare stall and had access to three horses to talk to. 

As luck would have it, the following day Kali came home for winter break and Kendra and her went to work on the draft mare. She was name “Auntie Em” but the end of the week, and over the next couple of weeks she learned how to walk and trot on the lounge line, she wore a surcingle and a bridle and she had her mane shorten. By winter camp, Auntie Em was quite a favorite of Kali and Kendra, and by the end of the week, she was a favorite of our Cedar Lodge vaulters as well. 

We have great plans for Auntie Em. We hope that during her first winter with us she will learn how to ground drive, be ridden and continue with her vaulting education once spring comes. We hope that she will put on about 300 pounds (she is significantly under weight) and that by her first summer she will not only be ready for a summer of vaulting, but she will be fat and shiny and look loads better than she does in these photos. We hope for a long lasting relationship with Auntie Em. Who knows what the future will hold?