Why the Saddlebred?
My OTTB Satin
There are plenty of websites out there that will list the long and amazing history of the American Saddlebred. Rather than go over it I will simply point you to here. Needless to say Saddlebred fought in wars and helped build our country. They worked on farms and pulled carriages in cities. They took the children to school and the family to church.
While I find the history of the breed astonishing and can recite much of it if you ask, (or even if you don't ask!) I wanted to tell you why I fell in love with the Saddlebred.
I started riding at age 12 at an Arabian stable called Sorenson Equestrian Park. They taught dressage and were great horsemen. At the time I rode with them they were renting a facility. They eventually moved and built a much bigger and gorgeous stable that was too far away for my parents to drive me for lessons. I still give thanks to them for the foundation of knowledge they gave me! They had us on all sorts of Arabs and even a Shetland pony to make sure we could ride anything that came our way. After they moved I bugged my parents for lessons until my dad asked some of his friends at work and got the name of a local farm. Kettle Ridge Farms taught hunt seat and had a huge 4-H club. I rode at that stable for many years, mostly on Quarter Horses.
When I was 15, I got a job at a local Burger King and met co-worker Tiffani who had a Saddlebred. We became friends and she had me come out and take a few riding lessons at the farm she boarded and rode at. I fell in love with the beauty and presence of the Saddlebred. So I blame my Saddlebred passion on her! We are still friends and both still involved with the breed to this day.
At 18 or 19 years old I finally had the money to purchase my first horse. I listened to my hunt seat instructor and everyone I rode with and got a young OTTB (Off the track Thoroughbred) named Satin, instead of a Saddlebred. I was told that Saddlebreds couldn't do hunt seat or dressage and that they were too hot to do anything with. Unfortunately Satin was well put together and sweet but was way too much horse for me. I struggled to ride her and not have her run away with me. I nick-named her Satan and put her up for sale after just a few months. She went on to be in a breeding program for Oldenburgs and produced lovely babies with good brains and work ethics. Satin wasn't a bad horse, she was simply a bad horse for me, I was not experienced enough for her.
After that I was determined to get the horse I wanted instead of the one everyone else told me I should get. I found a horse named Stoney Hill's Supreme, aka Friday, at Stoney Hill Stable. He was huge and snorty and high headed and quite intimidating. Pretty much everything my Quarter Horse friends warned me about Saddlebreds. But I sucked it up and got on him and fell in LOVE. He was a powerhouse but totally controlled. Their arena was 200' long and we did canter serpentines down it. We stopped in the middle and cantered off on the opposite lead. I barely moved my fingers or my legs and had prompt responses. He was a dream to ride while still looking and sounding snorty and big and scary.
While I find the history of the breed astonishing and can recite much of it if you ask, (or even if you don't ask!) I wanted to tell you why I fell in love with the Saddlebred.
I started riding at age 12 at an Arabian stable called Sorenson Equestrian Park. They taught dressage and were great horsemen. At the time I rode with them they were renting a facility. They eventually moved and built a much bigger and gorgeous stable that was too far away for my parents to drive me for lessons. I still give thanks to them for the foundation of knowledge they gave me! They had us on all sorts of Arabs and even a Shetland pony to make sure we could ride anything that came our way. After they moved I bugged my parents for lessons until my dad asked some of his friends at work and got the name of a local farm. Kettle Ridge Farms taught hunt seat and had a huge 4-H club. I rode at that stable for many years, mostly on Quarter Horses.
When I was 15, I got a job at a local Burger King and met co-worker Tiffani who had a Saddlebred. We became friends and she had me come out and take a few riding lessons at the farm she boarded and rode at. I fell in love with the beauty and presence of the Saddlebred. So I blame my Saddlebred passion on her! We are still friends and both still involved with the breed to this day.
At 18 or 19 years old I finally had the money to purchase my first horse. I listened to my hunt seat instructor and everyone I rode with and got a young OTTB (Off the track Thoroughbred) named Satin, instead of a Saddlebred. I was told that Saddlebreds couldn't do hunt seat or dressage and that they were too hot to do anything with. Unfortunately Satin was well put together and sweet but was way too much horse for me. I struggled to ride her and not have her run away with me. I nick-named her Satan and put her up for sale after just a few months. She went on to be in a breeding program for Oldenburgs and produced lovely babies with good brains and work ethics. Satin wasn't a bad horse, she was simply a bad horse for me, I was not experienced enough for her.
After that I was determined to get the horse I wanted instead of the one everyone else told me I should get. I found a horse named Stoney Hill's Supreme, aka Friday, at Stoney Hill Stable. He was huge and snorty and high headed and quite intimidating. Pretty much everything my Quarter Horse friends warned me about Saddlebreds. But I sucked it up and got on him and fell in LOVE. He was a powerhouse but totally controlled. Their arena was 200' long and we did canter serpentines down it. We stopped in the middle and cantered off on the opposite lead. I barely moved my fingers or my legs and had prompt responses. He was a dream to ride while still looking and sounding snorty and big and scary.
Stoney Hill's Supreme aka Friday the Saddlebred wonder horse!
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My wonder horse, Friday!
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As I have since learned, Friday was everything you should expect in a Saddlebred. He wanted to work for you and worked hard, no matter what you asked. Everything he did, he did with a presence that couldn't be denied. I retrained him to jump and do dressage and he took to it like a duck to water. My friends loved riding him because you felt his power and all you needed was a feather soft touch to cue him. But he was a total court jester and really found himself to be quite funny, he introduced me to the saddlebred sense of humor.
Friday was a total ham in his stall and would taste and probably eat anything you gave him. If he got loose he wouldn't run away, or gorge on grain, he would go visit the horses he hadn't met yet. If you put a little kid or an unexperienced rider on him he would simply walk to the middle of the ring and park out. No matter what they did he wouldn't move, because he figured out real quick they were beginners and didn't know how to make him do anything.
I spent the first year or so I owned him thinking he didn't know how to lunge. Every time I tried he got all confused, tangled up in the lunge line and it was a mess. What finally changed my mind was when he ended up with an injury that required work outs on the lunge. We started off with his typical thing of looking confused and getting tangled up, I got frustrated and yelled at him and cracked the whip, how could a 14 year old well trained horse not have been taught how to lunge?! As soon as I got serious he straightened up and lunged like a pro! I then realized that he was playing with me all the times in the past. From then on out we never had an issue with lunging. There were many times over the years that I found that if I got real serious he would straighten out and work, if I didn't he would have his ears all perked and happy and play games to see what he could get away with.
Over and over I see the same work ethic and sense of humor in the Saddlebreds I have had the honor of owner, being around or hearing about. I see them out in hunt seat, dressage, eventing, moving cattle, endurance, saddleseat, gaiting, etc.... There truly isn't anything they cannot do and anything you ask them to do they will give you 110%. They are bold, curious and goofy horses that have stolen many a heart.
