Sophie says to this day that the divorce pulled her in two directions and she struggled with how to make everyone happy. People don't understand how their body language, words and passing comments can weigh on a young person's heart and mind. Sophie's dad was very against the idea of the girls still being involved with horses after the divorce. It was, in his mind, "their mom's thing". Libby wasn't going to have horses taken from her, but Sophie was eager to please her dad. It would take several years and severing ties with her dad, the second time, before she would come back to horses.
It happened quite by accident. There were a few times over the years when she would hop on either her sister's horse or mine just for kicks. There was the time she hopped on my palomino gelding and almost ended up getting dumped. (Oops) She even hopped on and showed Zippy to some trophies at a couple of shows in the middle of that time. But as fast as she would get on, she would be right back out. There was no urgency or push to make her come back to the world of showing. She had her sports; volleyball, softball, basketball, track. She had enough on her plate. But then, then we got a family favorite back from a sale home that didn't work out.
Dutch Major Cutie showed up back in our pasture in 2018. We had just moved into our new farm and the timing was perfect to add her back to our family. It was one beautiful summer night when I caught Sophie out on that beautiful girl, in a halter and a lead rope just jogging around. Cutie hadn't been ridden in forever and just jogged off like she was ready to win the next class. It has been a long time since Sophie had handed off Cotton's lead rope in 2013. Bring home one big rat tailed pony and Sophie was hooked again.
She started working with Cutie and riding again. Cutie needed a bit of a refresher and had to prove to us she was ready to go one handed. Sophie dug into her dusty training toolbox and got to work. Our trailer was full for the next show, but unbeknownst to Sophie, a friend hauled her chubby pony to the show for her. I'll never forget the moment when we told Sophie, who had come along to help us show, to go out and help our friend Lynelle unload her horses. There were tears shed when she opened that door and saw Cutie's big booty waiting to come out. They had a great first show, picked up a few ribbons and a lot more laughs.
We only had one more show left in the season. This time we made sure she had Cutie there again. I'm not going to lie, it sure was an amazing feeling having both my girls in the show pen with me, even if it was in the exact same class. They are tough to beat! Too tough for me as it would turn out. Sophie was very shocked to hear her name announced in first place in that huge class with Cutie. It's not the first time I've seen her break into tears of joy about a class, but I can tell you that each of those moments holds a special place in my heart. This wasn't a big Congress championship or a futurity win, but it was her first win back after missing horses for so many years. Sometimes it's the little things that bring us the most joy.
Cutie didn't have lush flowing hair on her mane and tail. She wasn't the prettiest pony in the pasture. But that didn't stop her from making Sophie's dreams come true. Her beautiful heart and kind nature took Sophie from sitting and watching to kicking butt in just a few weeks. Sophie was ready for the next step - training her own. As luck would have it, one was on the way to her before she knew it.
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