Member - Lori
I have loved horses as long as I can remember, and where I got that affinity, no one is really certain, because my
parents like animals, but were never horse people. I do have a wee bit of Irish heritage, so my family always
chalks it up to that.
Forgive me if this profile strays into descriptions of the horses in my life. I’ve grown up with them and it’s
impossible to talk about my life without mentioning those special ones.
I got my first pony when I was 5. My grandfather bought her for $50, in 1976. I remember first meeting her in a
calf stall in Grandpa’s dairy barn. I was enthralled. Sorrel, with four white socks, a wide blaze, and copious
amounts of flaxen mane and tail, she was a beauty, and that’s the name we picked for her. She was not trained,
so at first all I got to do was sit on her while Grandpa led me around. She never really got any formal riding
training and she lived up to the ornery reputation that many ponies attain. Beauty would buck if she thought she
could get away with it, then act surprised that I would be on the ground. She never ran away, but always stood
there gazing down at me with a mixture of pity and gratification.
Beauty wasn’t the only one with no formal riding training. My early years were spent climbing on bareback,
maybe riding with a halter and bailing twine for reins. I probably didn’t learn much at all that wasn’t hard knocks,
until I joined 4-H when I was in fifth or sixth grade. Beauty was no 4-H pony. She would always embarrass me,
like the time she laid down during a workshop, or the time she refused to go past a walk in the class and bucked
out resentfully when I suggested as much. Someone actually handed me a stick to try to get her to go. She
would sometimes squeal in a fury as other riders on big horses would pass us in the arena. In spite of her
orneriness, I still adored her. I discovered far too late in her life, that she actually made an excellent driving
pony. Wish I had been enjoying that all those years.
I kept Beauty until she passed away back in 2001 at age 27. I still have Jenny and Missy. Jenny is 25 this year. I
actually trained Missy to pull the same cart Beauty did with such pride, just a couple years ago. She’s following
in her mother’s hoof prints.
Grandpa saw to it that I had a little better trained horse for the next year and that’s when I got Molly, a 14 hand
QH/Welsh mare. We didn’t necessarily mesh that well. I still wasn’t a very good rider. The mare could take
your breath away at the trot, and I don’t mean in a good way. I thought she didn’t know anything or was just
stubborn, but really now I believe I was the one who didn’t know anything, because I later discovered she could
do leg yields without my ever having taught her. After a year or two together, we did quite well in the 4-H show,
though some of that I attribute to the fact that she measured as a pony, so I was in senior pony division where
there were barely more than 3 or 4 competitors at the most in many classes.
About the time I was showing Molly I met my friend Mindy. She taught me a lot. She had taken many riding
lessons and showed on the Appaloosa circuit for a couple years. She is my horsey buddy to this day.
When I went away to college, horses were really missing in my life. I struggled with depression and other
issues. College would have been far more bearable had I had Molly with me at a boarding stable. It would have
been worth the money for the good it would have done my spirit.
In 1995 I married Todd, my high school sweetheart. I warned him before we married that it wasn’t only me he
was getting in this bargain. I had the five girls to consider. Just recently he said he remembered how I told him
that, but at the time, didn’t know just to what extent I meant it. We moved just down the lane from my
grandfather's place and the horses have been under my care since.
In 1996 I decided to breed Molly to my friend’s QH stud. That was quite an adventure. Molly was 19 when she
gave birth and we weren’t sure but what this was her first baby. Luckily I was well prepared and the birth went
textbook. Molly was a model mom and always adored her son, even to the last. Honestly I had been hoping for
a filly, but I took what I got. He is the QH/Welsh gelding I am always mentioning. Sundance is quite a character.
My horses get a solid place in my heart. I find it difficult to let go. When I was about 12 Grandpa sold Jenny. I
knew nothing about it. I just came over and he explained to me that a man came and wanted to buy her. He
knew after he sold her he had made a terrible mistake. I was devastated and cried buckets of tears for my
Jenny. I probably spent the first hour wandering around in a bleary-eyed shock. I remember crying out by a big
oak tree that used to stand in the field. Molly knew something was wrong and proceeded to run up and down the
fence line yelling her head off as if she were trying to get someone to come help. My lamenting made Grandpa
feel so bad, he bought Jenny back, and I was never so happy as when I saw her back in that pasture.
The last few years have not been kind to my aging herd. Beauty succumbed to a fatal colic in 2001, her daughter
Candy to complications from Cushing’s Disease in 2003, and then I had to put Molly down in 2004 when she
collicked severely. They were not meant to live our lifetimes, but it doesn’t stop a person from wishing they
could. Their losses came far too close together, but seeing them through to the end is what I committed to.
After Molly was gone it was time to start thinking about another horse. I had Sundance to ride, so this horse was
to be for my husband who likes riding, but does not enjoy the hard trot. I had never forgotten my encounter with
the Fox Trotter one year at Hoosier Horse Fair. It was several years ago, but I was impressed with their fox trot
and canter during the breed demos. I always told myself I would look into the breed someday. Never
underestimate the importance of exposing the public to the breed. I started doing online research and then
discovered the IFTA message board. It was a good place to come to make some contacts and everyone was
friendly and rooting for us to find a horse.
Sherry Gray is the one who told us about Mike and Kathy Shaner. They were reducing their stock. Maybe it was
the palomino factor, but we liked Goldie’s looks right away. What really clinched it was going down and riding
her. Kathy took us on a mini-trail ride. Goldie and I crossed a small stream, and rode through the woods. It was
a gray, windy day, but the mare did very well. My friend Mindy rode her too and said she was smoother than any
Walker she had ever ridden.
Goldie could never replace my little bossy mare. Goldie is a very different horse and has a different place in the
herd here. She is second in command, but only by virtue of size. She is benevolent to my ponies and the most
she does to them is bump them out of the way if they get too pushy. She is very respectful of people and rather
timid.
Todd’s back has been giving him a lot of trouble so that he doesn’t want to ride much lately. When given the
choice I prefer to ride Goldie. I am loving gaited horses. Poor Sundance doesn’t get ridden unless there is
someone else to ride Goldie. She is just much easier to deal with. I always feel like I need someone around if I
am riding Sundance, probably to be a witness in case he does something heinous and dumps me. Anyway, I
am stealing my husband’s horse!
I would say as far as my riding skill goes, it is less than it used to be. My confidence is not what it used to be.
That is due to a deeper sense of my own mortality, and then there are my weight issues, which have hindered
me in riding. I would like to improve that situation for my heath and so I can be a better rider.
In addition to being horse-crazy, I also love to sing. I have tried learning the mountain dulcimer, but have not
gotten beyond a few basic chords. I enjoy writing poetry when the inspiration hits me and I have many poems
about horses in my collection. It seems I have become a bit craft-oriented in just the last couple years. I have
tried my hand at calligraphy, wood burning, knitting, horsehair braiding, and then there are the rhythm beads,
which are easy and fun to make and use.
I am enjoying being in the club this year. I especially had fun being a part of a booth at Hoosier Horse Fair and
am really looking forward to the gaiting clinic coming up and the trail riding opportunities this year.
parents like animals, but were never horse people. I do have a wee bit of Irish heritage, so my family always
chalks it up to that.
Forgive me if this profile strays into descriptions of the horses in my life. I’ve grown up with them and it’s
impossible to talk about my life without mentioning those special ones.
I got my first pony when I was 5. My grandfather bought her for $50, in 1976. I remember first meeting her in a
calf stall in Grandpa’s dairy barn. I was enthralled. Sorrel, with four white socks, a wide blaze, and copious
amounts of flaxen mane and tail, she was a beauty, and that’s the name we picked for her. She was not trained,
so at first all I got to do was sit on her while Grandpa led me around. She never really got any formal riding
training and she lived up to the ornery reputation that many ponies attain. Beauty would buck if she thought she
could get away with it, then act surprised that I would be on the ground. She never ran away, but always stood
there gazing down at me with a mixture of pity and gratification.
Beauty wasn’t the only one with no formal riding training. My early years were spent climbing on bareback,
maybe riding with a halter and bailing twine for reins. I probably didn’t learn much at all that wasn’t hard knocks,
until I joined 4-H when I was in fifth or sixth grade. Beauty was no 4-H pony. She would always embarrass me,
like the time she laid down during a workshop, or the time she refused to go past a walk in the class and bucked
out resentfully when I suggested as much. Someone actually handed me a stick to try to get her to go. She
would sometimes squeal in a fury as other riders on big horses would pass us in the arena. In spite of her
orneriness, I still adored her. I discovered far too late in her life, that she actually made an excellent driving
pony. Wish I had been enjoying that all those years.
I kept Beauty until she passed away back in 2001 at age 27. I still have Jenny and Missy. Jenny is 25 this year. I
actually trained Missy to pull the same cart Beauty did with such pride, just a couple years ago. She’s following
in her mother’s hoof prints.
Grandpa saw to it that I had a little better trained horse for the next year and that’s when I got Molly, a 14 hand
QH/Welsh mare. We didn’t necessarily mesh that well. I still wasn’t a very good rider. The mare could take
your breath away at the trot, and I don’t mean in a good way. I thought she didn’t know anything or was just
stubborn, but really now I believe I was the one who didn’t know anything, because I later discovered she could
do leg yields without my ever having taught her. After a year or two together, we did quite well in the 4-H show,
though some of that I attribute to the fact that she measured as a pony, so I was in senior pony division where
there were barely more than 3 or 4 competitors at the most in many classes.
About the time I was showing Molly I met my friend Mindy. She taught me a lot. She had taken many riding
lessons and showed on the Appaloosa circuit for a couple years. She is my horsey buddy to this day.
When I went away to college, horses were really missing in my life. I struggled with depression and other
issues. College would have been far more bearable had I had Molly with me at a boarding stable. It would have
been worth the money for the good it would have done my spirit.
In 1995 I married Todd, my high school sweetheart. I warned him before we married that it wasn’t only me he
was getting in this bargain. I had the five girls to consider. Just recently he said he remembered how I told him
that, but at the time, didn’t know just to what extent I meant it. We moved just down the lane from my
grandfather's place and the horses have been under my care since.
In 1996 I decided to breed Molly to my friend’s QH stud. That was quite an adventure. Molly was 19 when she
gave birth and we weren’t sure but what this was her first baby. Luckily I was well prepared and the birth went
textbook. Molly was a model mom and always adored her son, even to the last. Honestly I had been hoping for
a filly, but I took what I got. He is the QH/Welsh gelding I am always mentioning. Sundance is quite a character.
My horses get a solid place in my heart. I find it difficult to let go. When I was about 12 Grandpa sold Jenny. I
knew nothing about it. I just came over and he explained to me that a man came and wanted to buy her. He
knew after he sold her he had made a terrible mistake. I was devastated and cried buckets of tears for my
Jenny. I probably spent the first hour wandering around in a bleary-eyed shock. I remember crying out by a big
oak tree that used to stand in the field. Molly knew something was wrong and proceeded to run up and down the
fence line yelling her head off as if she were trying to get someone to come help. My lamenting made Grandpa
feel so bad, he bought Jenny back, and I was never so happy as when I saw her back in that pasture.
The last few years have not been kind to my aging herd. Beauty succumbed to a fatal colic in 2001, her daughter
Candy to complications from Cushing’s Disease in 2003, and then I had to put Molly down in 2004 when she
collicked severely. They were not meant to live our lifetimes, but it doesn’t stop a person from wishing they
could. Their losses came far too close together, but seeing them through to the end is what I committed to.
After Molly was gone it was time to start thinking about another horse. I had Sundance to ride, so this horse was
to be for my husband who likes riding, but does not enjoy the hard trot. I had never forgotten my encounter with
the Fox Trotter one year at Hoosier Horse Fair. It was several years ago, but I was impressed with their fox trot
and canter during the breed demos. I always told myself I would look into the breed someday. Never
underestimate the importance of exposing the public to the breed. I started doing online research and then
discovered the IFTA message board. It was a good place to come to make some contacts and everyone was
friendly and rooting for us to find a horse.
Sherry Gray is the one who told us about Mike and Kathy Shaner. They were reducing their stock. Maybe it was
the palomino factor, but we liked Goldie’s looks right away. What really clinched it was going down and riding
her. Kathy took us on a mini-trail ride. Goldie and I crossed a small stream, and rode through the woods. It was
a gray, windy day, but the mare did very well. My friend Mindy rode her too and said she was smoother than any
Walker she had ever ridden.
Goldie could never replace my little bossy mare. Goldie is a very different horse and has a different place in the
herd here. She is second in command, but only by virtue of size. She is benevolent to my ponies and the most
she does to them is bump them out of the way if they get too pushy. She is very respectful of people and rather
timid.
Todd’s back has been giving him a lot of trouble so that he doesn’t want to ride much lately. When given the
choice I prefer to ride Goldie. I am loving gaited horses. Poor Sundance doesn’t get ridden unless there is
someone else to ride Goldie. She is just much easier to deal with. I always feel like I need someone around if I
am riding Sundance, probably to be a witness in case he does something heinous and dumps me. Anyway, I
am stealing my husband’s horse!
I would say as far as my riding skill goes, it is less than it used to be. My confidence is not what it used to be.
That is due to a deeper sense of my own mortality, and then there are my weight issues, which have hindered
me in riding. I would like to improve that situation for my heath and so I can be a better rider.
In addition to being horse-crazy, I also love to sing. I have tried learning the mountain dulcimer, but have not
gotten beyond a few basic chords. I enjoy writing poetry when the inspiration hits me and I have many poems
about horses in my collection. It seems I have become a bit craft-oriented in just the last couple years. I have
tried my hand at calligraphy, wood burning, knitting, horsehair braiding, and then there are the rhythm beads,
which are easy and fun to make and use.
I am enjoying being in the club this year. I especially had fun being a part of a booth at Hoosier Horse Fair and
am really looking forward to the gaiting clinic coming up and the trail riding opportunities this year.