Well, we have come to Sophie's final pony project of her youth career. It would take us a year to make it happen from the first time she asked, but Reba did finally come to join our family in 2021. From the minute that she was born and Sophie saw her posted on Facebook, she started asking us to bring Mercy's little look alike sister home. We couldn't justify buying another weanling when we were raising our own so put her off.
And then the next year Sophie sold her little red mare and no born feral child should be without a little red mare. With Mercy sold we hooked up the truck and drove to bring home Dutch Country, aptly nicknamed Reba. Loading her in the trailer the first time was a trick and I earned a broken toe out of the deal. Sophie wasn't even sorry! She was a lanky little yearling who was sweet but sassy and just what Sophie needed for her first in hand project.
Due to her smaller build and size as a 2 year old, we decided to take it even slower with Reba. Sophie stepped WAY outside her comfort zone to show in the in hand events for the first time. I know slightly more than nothing about in hand events so we relied on the little we knew from watching in hand events and watching videos. Sophie did an amazing job getting Reba to the first couple of shows but she owes a great debt to Sara Gronski who stepped in with advice and a mini lesson after a show in IA. Sophie is so thankful for that mini lesson which brought Reba and Sophie from okay to great.
After that show in IA they just got better and better. Reba was working really hard at growing up and forgot to grow out at the same time. She was looking more like a string bean and less like a barrel all the time so Sophie made the tough choice to leave Reba at home for Congress 2022. They had come so far and they could have done so well, but there was the chance that the heat and stress of the show in OK could have made her slide backwards and lose more weight. Reba got to stay home but once we came home it was game on. She got a couple first rides under saddle and then back to work on in hand events.
Many things I will remember about Reba that first season showing with our family, but something that I will always remember about that little red head is what a precocious little stinker she could be. She's not naughty - there isn't a mean bone in her body. But... sometimes that little stinker. She has two annoying things that she does.
One - She chews on everything. I swear she's part 6 month old puppy. I'd tell you it's just annoying but she has wrecked things too. Ask her what happened to the chest pad in the first stall of our trailer. Yeah, shredded that in the half hour drive home from Winona. Shredded. We can't put Reba next to the tack stall. One day in West Salem I was putting my English saddle in the bag on the saddle rack when Sophie came in the stall holding her saddle. She looked at me angrily and went, "nice" in a very sarcastic and snide tone. I asked her what was "nice". She snapped back that it wasn't very nice of me to move HER saddle bag off the saddle rack when she had put it there so she could put her saddle in it. I told her I hadn't moved a dang thing and there wasn't a saddle bag on the rack and at that moment it dawned on us. We both looked at each other at the same time and then at Reba shouting, "REBA!" Yep - once we glanced in her stall we saw it; Sophie's saddle bag in the stall at Reba's feet and one very adorable little red head pony staring at us innocently. I'm hoping she will outgrow this one.
Two - She cannot eat her grain like a normal horse. Seriously just put your face in the bucket and eat your grain. Nope. If you hang a bucket she flings the bucket all around or uses her nose to tip it completely upside down. Put it in a pan and she paws and flips it over. Put it in a wooden manger and she paws and gets her legs up in the feeder. We got to the point where we got a tall bucket, a mineral bucket for cattle, and put a cement block in the bottom to keep her from being able to flip it over. See - not naughty, but annoying. Despite it all, Sophie adores her.
As the summer went on, they started winning class after class for in hand trail. By the end of the season they were regularly unanimous champions. Sophie loved doing in hand trail with Reba. Reba was virtually fearless in the pattern, only pausing to look at things during practice the first time. She also does this funny snuffling thing where she breathes it all in. There is nothing like an in hand trail class to bring you closer to a pony, allow you to connect on a different level. When subtle shifts of your body language cause that pony to move or change position in the same way every time, that's a special language. Reba and Sophie were speaking a beautiful language together.
But lunge line... I don't think Sophie has fond memories of the lunge line class. Before every single class Sophie would be a nervous wreck. Virtually every single warm up, Reba would tear around, cross fire or pick up wrong leads. Sometimes all three in the same lap. Sophie would tell me that she didn't need the lunge whip because Reba was acting "crazy". I'd tell her to have it just in case. I wish I had a dollar for every time Sophie asked me to scratch the class or told me she hated every second of it and was never doing it again. Then the class would start. Sophie would stand at the rail with me waiting for her go. Reba would try to chew on the chain, the rail, sniff the dirt, sniff the wall, you name it. She was the textbook ADHD pony with zero attention span and even less patience. As Reba played, Sophie got more frustrated. Finally it would be their turn to walk out and take their position in the middle of the arena.
Off they would go and every single time, Reba was a perfect angel. I can't think of one time when she didn't go around the lunge line like a gem. She did every gait when asked and stopped on cue every time. She never played on the lunge line and always was attentive to Sophie. It had to drive Sophie crazy the difference between warm up Reba and class time Reba. Reba made her work for it, but Sophie learned all about lunge line thanks to her.
Reba and Sophie finished the year national reserve champions in 2 year old lunge line and in trail, only placing behind an exhibitor who attended twice as many shows as she did. Their last show they were once again unanimous champions in the 2 year old in hand trail class and the class before that they were WI futurity champions for in hand trail. It's safe to say I think Sophie figured out the in hand stuff.
Reba has been Sophie's second pony to take from the ground up and she did a fantastic job. She gave Reba a great first few rides under saddle and has reluctantly turned her over to her sister now to put some finishing touches on for this year's show season. We have Reba listed for sale at this time, but every time someone passes on buying her, we all cheer silently. Just wait until people see her under saddle this summer. I don't think people will hardly recognize the pony Sophie's little red head has blossomed into.
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