Meet Derby - The Horse Who Makes Me Cry

Meet Derby:  This Horse Makes Me Cry

If I had to go into battle, this would be the horse I would choose to take with me.

He’s the one who is ready to go put it all out there. Anytime. All I have to do is ask.

It wasn’t always this way, though. When he came to me he had some major contact issues. 

He was super short in his neck - and used it against me.  Really hard in his mouth and just…strong.  He was so heavy in the hand that he came to me with sores at the corners of his mouth from his leaning on the bit. He did a lot of stuff with his tongue, too. 

He’s always been energetic and has places to go, but in the early days, he’d happily drag me there along with him.   

But for some reason, that never bothered me.  I just felt connected to this horse.  I knew he could be ‘fixed.’  He had to be re-trained to use his body correctly.  

Not only because of the contact issue, but he has a funky front foot.  He wouldn’t be sound for long if he kept going the way he was going.

It took a year and a half, but we got his tongue back in his mouth. We got him pulling his neck out of his body and reaching into a soft contact.  It was a process, but it happened because he’s just so darned earnest.  He loves to hear he’s a Good Boy!

Derby has a few things he really loves to do:  Flying changes are high on the list, and he’s a piaffe machine.

But he won’t set the world on fire with his gaits. 

He doesn’t care about that, and neither do I. 

I do believe this horse truly does care about doing what I ask and doing it well. Like, he gets proud of himself when I tell him how awesome he is.   He’s super proud of himself at shows.

He’s also been one of the stars of the Academy - he’s just so great to show so many exercises and he’s totally happy to do a million flying changes if that’s what I need to do to “do it for the people!”  

It’s been my great honor to train and show him.  He just WANTS to be there - talk about showing up every day!

He’s a blast to show.  He lights up like a Christmas tree - ears UP! Super focused on what I want, and he tries his hardest to do the best he can no matter what is going on around us.  

You guys know about my breast cancer diagnosis last year.  It came out of nowhere and I had to have a double mastectomy.  I was unable to really ride for a while and when I did, I had to be careful not to mess up the surgery site.

But the Region 1 Championships were just two months after my surgery.  I had qualified a couple of horses, and I really wanted to get back out there. A way of putting the breast cancer behind me, I guess.

Derby was the only one I felt I could actually show at the time. The irony of that did not escape me - he was SO strong when we met, but now I knew he’d take care of me and love every second of it.

And that’s exactly what he did.  He put in an incredible performance to win the Grand Prix Freestyle Regional Championship. It was a night I’ll never forget.  The support and love from my fellow riders was overwhelming.  

There wasn’t a dry eye in the arena, and it was all because that strong-willed, amazing creature put his heart and soul into that performance.  It’s like he knew I needed it and I didn’t need to be my best, because he was the best for both of us.

I thought long and hard about bringing him to Germany.  I mean, he’s 16 now.  He doesn’t owe me anything.  

But, in the end, I brought him along for a few reasons.  He’s not done.  He’s just not done showing off and learning and getting stronger.  He TRULY loves this.  Like, I’ve known plenty of great horses over the years.  Some of them are there for the cookies.  Some of them don’t care one way or the other.  Derby is there because he LOVES to work.  He LOVES to go show and LOVES to be “in the room where it happened.”  It’s who he is.

I also knew the other horses I have here would be challenging.  They’re all on the struggle bus in different ways.  But Derby is a finished GP horse.  He reminds me that I don’t suck, that I trained him up and helped him along the way.  And I love him.  

But what’s cool, is that we’re finding that Derby’s got more in store for us.  He’s getting stronger, he’s getting fancier, and he’s just a joy to be able to spend time with every day.  He’s teaching me to refine my aids and ride like a top-notch Grand Prix rider.

I am so grateful to this horse and all he has done for me.  He truly does make me cry when I think about what he does for me and how much he loves to perform.

I think he’s proof that a good horse doesn’t have to be the fanciest one in the barn.  The classical system will help that horse be the best he can be and that will take you FAR!

I will definitely be showing him here in Germany - showing Grand Prix in Germany (!!!!) EEK

I can’t wait to see how it goes, and I’ll share it all with you in my Passport to Germany private Facebook page.  You can go to the shows with me and join me on that bus I mentioned above with my other horses.    Go to TeamTatePassport.com to sign up.

Oh, and while his ‘real’ name is Derby, we call him Darby.  Just so you know.  :)