A year of Indigo

No, shes not the only horse I own, drive, ride or work but shes my girly and my best friend. I've always had a thing for mares where a lot of people like geldings. I find they have a more complex personality, may take you longer to get to know but are generally one person horses. When I first viewed Indigo and her ad I thought it was funny she was described as "not husband safe" hahah. Shes truely a womans horse.

Looking back at 09 we accomplished a lot of things even though we did not make it to our planned shows due to a little accident on her part.


After all, Indigo always knows best

She seems to always put a smile on peoples faces

With her silly antics of sticking out her tongue, that mouth of hers is always going.

Shes a good horse there to lean on (or put your beverages, coats, gloves, brushes etc on)
We did a lot of driving and made it to a couple clinics.

However she did have a mishap and get hurt before our two big shows. You can't even see the scar now it healed so nicely. She was really pissy about me fluffing the hair there for a wile but shes fine now. I would have been pissy too if someone prodded a sore twice a day putting ointments and hosing it for a two+ months on end. We did have some fun bobbing for apples.

I also accomplished the goal of riding bridleless. As most horse people will regognize is quite the feat because horses have a pretty good flight over fight instinct and a mind of their own that tells them to RUNHORSEEATINGOBJECTDEMON!!! Indigo did not know how to do this just like she did not know how to drive when I got her. I just had a whim one day that I could teach her to follow my seat and legs without touching the reins. She caught on surprisingly quick and I have been using it on every horse since then, of course most of them I do not have as much faith to take their bridle completely off. I just ride with my hands on the buckle of the reins.
I feel it was my biggest accomplishment as a horseperson this far because I did it all of my own ideas. No fancy training DVD's, special tools, or coach. Just my horse and I. Something most horse people just daydream about doing with their horse, I accomplished just Indigo and I.
She learned some new tricks and got me a 98% on my final paper for my diploma in equine sciences.

We shared sacred days with people of another ethnicity doing Indian and Sikh weddings.
(must still burn those pants!!!)I don't think I could be selfish and keep a horse all to myself. I want others to experience and enjoy the phenomenon that is equus. Unlike any other animal horses have the power to heal old wounds, prevent future ones and make a responsible human being out of any person.

Indigo had many more good rides than bad last year, which was not the case of previous years as she pulled her tricks and stunts. Through it all I have only parted ways from her twice, both times I was riding bareback and she teleported sideways. The one time I landed on my feet, the second my helmet (why you always wear a helmet) got cracked on a rock. Both times I got back on and rode home. Even though she can pull some pretty fast moves on me I trust her and because of it, I have become a better rider.

I owe our partnership to, you guessed it, bitless. Bitless is for every horse, but not every rider. Indigo will never know the feel of a bit in her mouth again. It is safe to say she will have a forever home with me.
Looking back at the year we did so much even though it felt like a teeny grain of sand on the horsemanship beach. I hope eventually I can look back at rides that may not have seemed important and realize the lesson this horse has taught me. I don't think anything else could have given me this experience.