Sandy

“Want to buy a horse?”

It was April, 2007. I was in Battle creek, MI at Wind Song stable. We had just gotten done with a successful vaulting competition with the Cedar Lodge vaulting team and I was packing up the trailer. The question was posed by Sandy, the barn owner. Sandy and I went way back. Her stable, Wind Song was a beautiful facility that hosted 4 approved and numerous schooling shows every year. It was an hours drive away from Cedar Lodge and Chris and I often came up here with horses and riders during the show season. Sandy’s clientele often went to the “A” circuit as well, and I couldn’t imagine anything that she would have for sale that I could afford.

I smiled and laughed. “I don’t have any clients looking right now.” I answered.

“No, it’s a school horse.” My ears perked up. We were indeed, always looking for good school horses. I knew that anything coming from Sandy’s would be well broke and quiet. That was a plus. I had decided that I didn’t have time to do a trek down to any horse auctions, and Chris had been unsure on whether she thought we needed any additional horses, so up to now we had done nothing. As luck would have it, Sandy had decided to get out of teaching lessons on her horses and was looking to sell off the horses that she used for lessons. She had one left, and knew of our program.

“Let’s see what you have.”

The horse presented me was a tall, slight built roan that looked more like a thoroughbred than the Quarter Horse that his papers promised. He was quiet and stood contently grazing while we discussed his background. “Walk, trot, canter. No jump. Good for beginners.” Sandy offered. I had her trot him out. He was not sound, but that was not unusual for a horse of his age. Many miles had been put on those joints and for what I was interested in, he really wouldn’t need to be totally sound. His price was right and I was tempted. I certainly had room in the trailer.

“Let me call Chris and make sure.” I tried four numbers as we stood there on the driveway. The roan horse quietly grazing. Earl, our vaulting horse pacing impatiently wanting to get in the trailer, my vaulters whispering excitedly at the thought of a new horse. None of the numbers proved fruitful at talking with Chris so I left Wind Song that day with just Earl in the trailer and a promise to Sandy to talk to Chris when I got home.

That was April. I did talk to Chris and was relieved at my decision when she made a face and adamantly declared that we were fine on beginner through beginner canter horses and did not need anymore. She was just as adamant at the end of May when I sat down with her again and informed her that this was make or break and she needed to make a decision on horses for the summer, as that was my last free weekend to venture to a horse auction. She had emphatically changed her tune by mid June, when our camp numbers went up by 104 camper weeks and our camper enrollment was close to full on most weeks.

“I need beginner to beginner canter horses.” Chris had plopped down on a bucket next to where I was preparing a horse to ride. I looked over at her with a raised eye brow and thought of all the things I could say along the “I told you so.” line. It was too late for auction horses to be of any use and all of us were wayyyyy too busy to go searching the country side for school horse prospects. I suggested the horse of Sandy’s. It was a long shot. Two and a half months had passed. I doubted he would still be for sale. Chris asked me to call her.

“You call her. It’s your decision. See what Sandy says about him and whether you think he will suit your needs.”

Sandy in class

Chris must have liked what she heard, because the very next day I was hooked up to the trailer and on my way back to Battle Creek. This time, I pulled back out of the trailer with the roan gelding in tow. As I unloaded him back at Cedar Lodge, Chris asked what his name was. I shrugged. I had forgotten to ask. We could certainly call Sandy and find out, but the perfect name was right in front of us. We renamed him Sandy. He was just the color for the perfect name.

Sandy settled in quietly, except for one disturbing fact. After years of box stalling, Sandy preferred his box stall to turnout. He was never mean or aggressive to other horses in pasture. He stood a respectful distance, but instead of going out to pasture with the herd at night, he stood patiently by the gate all night, not eating, not grazing and waited for us to open it in the morning so he could return to his stall. Sandy came in slight on weight and through the summer, with constant work, summer heat and his insistence that he was NOT a camp herd horse, Sandy certainly did not gain weight and might have lost some. He turned out to be the perfect camp school horse. Patient, kind, no flappable. He became an instant hit with he instructors. “I love Sandy!” my niece, Kendra exclaimed after teaching on him the first time and her feelings were shared by all. Sandy had a mysterious burn mark on his shoulder that owner Sandy had said he came to her with. It became problematic with constant work and a challenge to find saddles and pads to fit him without rubbing. There was a week or so rest to heal that problem area mid summer, but besides that, Sandy worked a full summer and a full load. Quite remarkable for a horse that had just been bought.

End of summer 2007 came, and there was no doubt that Sandy was a great addition and no talk of getting rid of him in the fall. Chris and I however were concerned about his weight. With winter coming up, Sandy would need to bond with the herd. He would need to stay with them and eat at the round bales to keep his weight on when he was turned out in pasture. In September, he was still standing all night at the gate, while everyone else went out to pasture. On the rare occasions that he did go to the field, he mainly just stood there, like he had no concept of the idea of grazing for his meal. Chris and I decided to add Sandy to the group of camp horses on vacation up at good neighbor Karen’s house. There, Sandy would have no inside box stall time. It would be grazing all day and all night. Because Karen’s fields laid with no horses for the majority of the year, when we added horses to the fields, the grass was ample and rich and most horses we put there gained weight (some too much, like fat Moffit), even though they were on no grain. You could call it Chris and my “tough love” approach to Sandy, but we hoped it would pan out.

Daily and weekly monitoring showed that Sandy was no longer standing at the gate (I don’t think he could figure out which gate would lead to a box stall) but by early November, we decided to bring him home. He had lost weight at Karen’s and Chris and I were worried about how he would do at his low weight all winter. We also brought home Sam, Hattie, and Jasmine and decided that now that grazing season was over, we would keep these four, along with Star up front in the paddock next to the barn. This way, we could give them more hay and they would only have to fight each other, not the younger more aggressive members of the herd to get to the round bales to eat. When spring came, and with it the new grass growth we would reintroduce them to the big herd with access to the good grass fields. We affectionately referred to this pasture as the “Senior” herd.

By January and February 2008, Chris and I both noticed something about the same time. First, Sandy had adopted his new family. He was absolutely in love with Jasmine (the feeling seemed to be mutual) and spent most his days and nights out with her at the round bale. Second, he had a buddy (though Sam would never admit it) in Sam, and would nicker for him when he got to his stall in the morning (Sam was his left hand stall mate and Jasmine, his right). Third, he NEVER came and waited at the gate to be brought in. Rather he was content to feed on the round bales or attempt to graze if the snow was off the ground. Forth, SANDY WAS GAINING WEIGHT!!!! A fact almost unheard of during the winter months, yes Sandy was accomplishing the impossible.

With spring of 2008 right around the corner, we have high hopes for Sandy. He seems to have adopted not only pasture life, but herd life as well. With his new found friends and his new found abilities I have no doubt that he will be here for years to come. It wasn’t so much that Sandy had to discover how to be a good school or camp horse, it was more that Sandy had to learn once again how to be a horse. With that done, I think Sandy will do just fine.

CEDAR LODGE