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<\/p>\nLady Be Good was a retired hunter jumper, and I was over the moon to call her mine.<\/p>\n
Lady and I rode every trail we could access on four hooves and also made the local show
\ncircuit, racking up a rainbow of ribbons, which I proudly hung on my bedroom wall. With Lady,
\nriding was easy.\u00a0I knew I was fortunate, but didn\u2019t grasp just how much so at the time.<\/p>\n
Lady taught me that horses were the most wonderful creatures on earth. It\u2019s because of her that
\nI fell in love with them.<\/p>\n
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Next came Dee, a powerful mare who tested my newfound abilities. She was an ex-race horse
\nwho only ran away with me once, luckily within the confines of a pasture.<\/p>\n
Dee was no show horse, but together, we learned two sports she could excel in\u2014barrel racing
\nand pole bending. She was especially talented at the latter. Dee taught me that if I worked hard
\nenough, anything was possible.<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/yourhorsefarm.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/Me-Dee-Rodeo.jpeg\")
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P.K. taught me a different sort of lesson: patience. After Lady and Dee, I was accustomed to
\nhorses doing what I asked. P.K., however, had her own ideas. Though she was extremely quick
\nand could make a nice barrel pattern, this wasn\u2019t what she cared to do. I was frustrated more
\noften than not when it came to working with P.K. And in time, she learned she could get me off
\nwith a few well-placed bucks.<\/p>\n
P.K. taught me that my ideas aren\u2019t always the right ones. She also taught me to pay attention
\nwhen a horse displays negative behavior. Oftentimes, it means they are hurting.<\/p>\n
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![\"\"](\"https:\/\/yourhorsefarm.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/PK.jpg\")
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When Hershey came along, I realized he might be my toughest challenge yet. He didn\u2019t buck,
\nbut he would spook at nearly everything imaginable. After hours and hours of riding, he
\nimproved, but I could never completely let my guard down.<\/p>\n
Training Hershey for barrels was a task. At first, he didn\u2019t appear to have an athletic bone in his
\nlong, lanky body. However, Hershey taught me that perseverance pays off. We started slowly,
\nbut continued to improve over the years. Hershey made my barrel racing dreams come true,
\nwinning numerous buckles, a trophy saddle, my hometown rodeo, and even a horse trailer.
\nThere have been other horses in my life, but when I think back on the ones who\u2019ve influenced
\nme the most, it\u2019s been these four.<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/yourhorsefarm.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/hershey-2-copy.jpeg\")
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As riders or trainers, we may believe that we\u2019re the ones teaching the horse, but I happen to see
\nit the other way around. Each of my horses has been a teacher, and they\u2019ve taught me some of
\nlife\u2019s most important lessons. They\u2019ve shown me what kind of person I am, but more importantly,
\nwhat kind of person I want to be.<\/p>\n
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<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Lady Be Good was a retired hunter jumper, and I was over the moon to call her mine. Lady and I rode every trail we could access on four hooves and also made the local show circuit, racking up a rainbow of ribbons, which I proudly hung on my bedroom wall. With Lady, riding was…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":38558,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_exactmetrics_skip_tracking":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_active":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_note":"","_exactmetrics_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[63],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-38554","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-riding"],"yoast_head":"\n