We all have them, the horses that whose personalities stick with us in some way. Whether it's that one pony who hated cows or the gelding who liked grape soda, some horses are memorable. I like sharing the stories of some of the horses that I've met who were characters.
A good friend of mine has a hony mare. What is a hony? The result of a quarter horse x welsh pony cross. Part horse, part pony, all awesome.
She's 15.3 on a good day, but woe betide anyone who tries to convince her of that fact. She is pure white with a big fluffy mane and the sweetest kindest, most feminine eye that I've ever seen. Sometimes I call her "Hoover" because of her thorough grazing habits. Unfortunately for her, 5 minutes of grazing and she puffs up like a balloon.
But none of that comes anywhere close to why I love this hony mare.
It's her attitude. She has the heart of 18 hand charger and the brains of a mastermind. She loves to jump and cruises around any course with ears forward exuding confidence. I have never had this mare take a wrong step with me. One time during a show, half of the ring -including the first fence- was partly underwater. The Hony Mare did not even pause. She charged right through the water as if it were a puddle, didn't even give the jump a second look, despite not being able to see the base, and sailed right over.
In short (no pun intended) she gets it done. Instead of "I think I can, I think I can," the little hony engine that could seems to say "I got this, I got this." She is spunky, occasionally stubborn, spoiled to high heaven, and utterly dependable.
When I ride the Hony Mare, her confidence washes over me and makes me feel nigh on invincible. She is a good partner for every one that rides her and I feel very grateful that her generous owner has let me be one of those people.
