I know that some of Pepper's story was shared with my blog about Fi. However, Pepper deserves her very own blog post because, if Sophie has anything to say about it, Pepper is probably a lifer here at Berry sweet Acres. So yes, as the earlier blog said, Pepper came to us as a month old filly on the side of her dam. When she was born, she was so dark that she looked black and was registered as such. However, that was a magic trick that gray and LP were playing on her color. She is a red mare, but she is about as opposite of the stereotypical red mare as you can get.
When Pepper was just about ready to wean she tried to kill herself. I came out in the morning to find her on the wrong side of the pipe panel dry lot with a giant gaping would on her chest/shoulder area. We were sure that even if she survived she would never make a riding pony. The sedation to fix her wound caused her a partial face paralysis and we resigned ourselves to the fact that she would be a broodmare for life. Were we ever surprised when she healed up 100% with only a small scar to show for it.
When Pepper was a yearling, Sophie decided she wanted her first project to start on her own from the ground up. Pepper was the perfect candidate for the job and the rest, as they say, is history. Pepper spent a year doing walk trot as a 2 year old and then she and Sophie started wowing everyone her 3 year old in the regular POA classes WTL. They won their first state futurity classes, regional classes and we were so impressed with their growth throughout the year.
As a 4 year old, Pepper continued to amaze us all. She did a full slate of classes and then some at every show. She dominated the trail classes at every show, including East World, Congress youth 4-5 year old stakes and at the WI and IA futurity shows. She's a western pleasure machine, placing 5th against the big trainers in the McClaren Futurity in 2023. She does a fair impression of being a hunt seat pony too, despite her smaller size at only 53.5". Pepper has surpassed all of our expectations and we hope to continue to see her show this year after Sophie recovers from her knee surgery.
The big news for Pepper happened literally 2 days before the yearling BCF stallion auction. I mentioned to Sophie that since she was going to be laid up and Pepper was going to be just hanging out, maybe we should move up her breeding dreams. She has always wanted her own RPRs Impulsive Superman baby and we added him to our stallion list of bids for the auction. You should have seen the tears of joy when she won the bid. Pepper is in the process of being bred to Manny this week. Fingers crossed that we can make this happen for Sophie and Pepper. That baby will be fantastic!
Pepper's story is just beginning to be written and again, we are so thankful for Meg to allowing her to come home with us and being a part of the journey. None of these dreams would be possible without Meg. We are every so thankful for our ponies and her friendship.
Now start crossing your fingers!
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