Here we are, the post that takes us to present day, the post about last year. Bear with me - I'll try to keep it short and to the point. I'll try to get this done in a timely manner but I'm going to find this the toughest episode of all. You know, when they hand you the tiny little bundle of joy in the hospital everyone tells you to treasure every moment because it goes by so fast. Then you go home and the sleepless nights begin and you think, liars! It's going to take forever before she even walks! And then you blink. And they are off in college and you're Facetiming them because you miss seeing their face. It's not an exaggeration as any mother will tell you. They've even written songs about it.
So I'm going to try to keep this short and sweet - but I'm gonna have to brag a little too. Episode 8 isn't just going to be about 2022, I have to back up a little because Episode 8 is about Pepper and Pepper starts in 2019. In 2019 we got our favorite little broodmare with Pepper at her side.
Right before weaning Pepper decided to impale her shoulder on something, possibly part of the round pen. I think that's when Sophie decided Pepper was hers (and maybe when she decided the medical field was for her.) She was fascinated by the whole process of stitching her up. Good thing because it grossed me out. Of course Sophie was deep into the show, Grey's Anatomy, so was right down by the vet's side asking her about what kind of stitches she was using and what she was doing. Meanwhile I was trying not to look. The vet told us Pepper would be fine after all that and she was right. She's been more than fine, she's been amazing.
The next year Sophie spent some time teaching Pepper how to be a respectful young lady. It was 2020 so we had plenty of time at home to get the basics down with Covid putting life on hold. Sophie wasn't allowed to spend time with friends due to quarantine so Mercy and Pepper got all her attention. She did all the desensitizing/training from the ground up with Pepper. I don't know who learned more that year, Sophie or Pepper.
Sophie asked for lot of help/advice but did a great job getting Pepper ready for the next step. By that fall she had Pepper saddled and ground driving. After ground driving came that first time Sophie got to sit on her pony, the first pony she had taken from ground zero to first ride. As you can tell from the smile - being the person who gets to sit on a pony when you've done all the work to get them there is an incredible feeling.
The next year was our first year POA showing. Sophie was not able to show Pepper in POA classes since we didn't want to lope her yet as a 2 year old. We like to start our young horses slowly and give them time to mature. Since she was showing Mercy in lope classes she couldn't also show in walk trot classes. So.... Pepper got to show in open classes. It was Pepper and some other ponies and a whole lot of big horses. Pepper was amazing. She got to get used to a lot of traffic as the classes were always large. She got to get used to a lot of different levels of riders and horses all around her.
The only "moment" she ever had wasn't even her fault. The hard part of showing a broke horse, Mercy, and a green pony, Pepper, is that sometimes your brain forgets which one you're riding. Pepper was jogging along and got a little too slow and broke down to the walk. Sophie forgot which pony she was on and gave her a little too much spur. Pepper hopped straight up in the air and then came down jogging. We all laughed about it after as it was one of the only times we saw Pepper have a "moment". Sophie did amazing job with her wicked talented little lady. When Mercy was sold late in the summer, we didn't worry about Sophie's heart healing because we knew that she had the best little unicorn waiting for her at home.
Here came 2022, rolling in like a freight train. Ready or not, Sophie had to step up with another young pony to show the ropes to. She started the year showing only a few of the lope classes and still allowing Pepper to find her confidence in open walk trot. I'm so proud of how patient Sophie was with Pepper. Who doesn't love riding a great lope? But she was patient and worked her way slowly into adding classes here or there. They went back to Pepper's comfort zone for Pepper's first Congress and took home two Congress championships in W/T English Equitation and trail.
If I had to pick a favorite funny moment from Congress 2022 it would have to be watching Tim, who doesn't have an angry bone in his body, try to be stern with Sophie and I. We started bickering and he got his "teacher" face on and said, "we're not starting this now." It was so out of character that we both got the giggles. I don't think it quite worked the way Tim thought it would, but it did stop our argument in its tracks. Even if it was because we were laughing at him.
They came back from Congress and kept up the great work. They started competing in our state futurities and did amazing. If I had to pick a favorite moment from 2023 for the duo it would be the 3 year old western pleasure futurity class for WI. It's always fun to watch the realization on your child's face when the third judge announces their placings and they realize they have won a class. That moment was amazing and another time when I got to see tears of happiness and pride. That wouldn't be her only win with Pepper at that futurity. They also won the 3rd year futurity trail class.
Pepper helped Sophie through a roller coaster of a senior year. Growing up isn't easy, but having Pepper as a steady eddy always centered Sophie. She helped her through a tough summer emotionally, probably one of the toughest times I have ever watched our strong Sophie go through and then this winter... there was one day when Sophie finally managed to squeeze a ride in between weight lifting, classes, basketball practice, work and other adult responsibilities to come home and hop on her little unicorn pony. They rode around for a few minutes and Sophie stopped and threw her arms around her pony's neck. She paused and her words went straight to my heart. She told Pepper what a good girl she was before commenting that she had needed that ride so much. Pepper is an easy one to have around anyway, but moments like that make all the cold, wintery or rainy days of doing chores worthwhile.
Cannot wait to see what 2023 will bring for this amazing team. Sophie's last year as a POA youth. Hence the reason for this series of blog posts. Here's mom choking back the emotions...
I'm going to have one more pony to share in episode 9 and then maybe will have to do a catch up episode with sharing some Sophie stories we have forgotten. ("Whoa - mean it") Anyone else that has stories they want to add can feel free to send them my way.
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