Let's face it, each of our horses has a story.  So, I thought I'd share one of mine.  I'll add the other ones as we go.  I'd like to hear yours.

Cass (Casablanca)

I'd been out of riding for about 5 years, finishing my degree and my CMA.  So, I got back into riding with my friend's horse that I leased.  He didn't work out, so we started looking for a horse for me.  I'm a big girl, so I needed a horse that could deal with that, and that jumped.  And I had a budget.

We looked about, not finding much, when Anne Taylor told my trainer about this mare she knew about, sitting in a field, with the owner breeding her (not successfully).  So, she talked to the guy and on February 14th, just before the snow storm, she brought her in.  She was fat, hairy, out of shape and a bit on the nervous side.

In the arena, she didn't want to canter right, she was spooky, but she was dead honest to the jumps.  So, I bought my first horse, a month after I bought my first house.  She's a Clyde x TB, no stride to speak of, but she could jump.  One of the girls had her over a 4' oxer about 6 months after I got her.  I took her to 3'6".  I remember one day, at a show in the grass ring, it was icky and rainy and cold and gross, and I missed a distance and moved.  So, she put in the extra stride and jumped anyway, which left me kinda laying on her neck, looking down at the mud which I was probably going to land in.  She has a HUGE neck.  So, she threw me back into the saddle and we continued on...

Once I lost my nerve for jumping, when she was 19 years old, she gamely switched to dressage.  Now, she has no stride to speak of and her back could not possibly swing (great to sit, but...).

I can't continue her story without moving into Snip's story, so I'll do that later.

Cass is our elder stateswoman and a sweetie.