Pony in a million

 Most people know my story with Brooks; half of them lived it with me, and half of them watched it. We didn't get off to the best start, but then again, when is it ever perfect?

My first ride on him lasted 15 minutes at max, probably less to be honest. I remember telling my dad he felt like a dressage horse, and I thought I rode him pretty good. I also rode two other horses in the same lesson, and that's why my ride on Brooks was so short. I knew I rode him pretty well, but I didn't realize how much my trainer liked me on him. She had given me the highest score out of everything else she gave the other leasers; she gave me a 10/10, which meant she had loved me on him.

first ride on him

 Choosing my lease was hard because I didn't want to give up Cyrus. It was one of the hardest things I've had to pick; I obviously ended up picking Brooks.

I had a really bad confidence knock before my first show; I fell off twice. The first time was because i was still getting used to him i asked for the canter to hard and he bucked me off, the second time was right after that, we were doing jumper show prep and he stopped at a cross rail (yes it was a baby cross rail) and then he launched it and i wasn't ready and i got launched behind the saddle and bucked off. So as you can tell, with two falls in one lesson, we were off to an amazing start!

busted and jammed my knee
 (couldn't walk normal for over a week)

We got through our 3 winter jumper shows, and at that point, I was ready to ask my instructor to switch my lease. I would have traded him for anything at that point, but I held off a little bit on asking my trainer. I'm not sure why I waited, but I did. It was about the end of April, beginning of May, when things started to click, and I took him off property for the first time, and that's when I knew there was something special about him, and I needed to keep him.

Progress video Dec.1st- May 1st

Christmas jumper show

I was working hard after my show in May, the jumper shows were coming up in June, and I had a lot of work to do with him before that. We ended up doing pretty good in our jumper shows, and we even did a high jump after my class, and we jumped 2’6! Everything was falling into place, and we were working really well. July came, and he did great in the high jump. We jumped 2’9’’, and then we were preparing for the finals. In August, we did even better, and we jumped 3’ and got reserve champion for the series.

2'6''

2'9''

3''

September went by super quickly, and boom, we were at our first event finishing on our dressage score and placing second. Then the next weekend, we were at the state fair and somehow we even managed to pull a first in one of the classes, and then we were at the Halloween show doing amazing things he had never done before and doing it perfectly.

 

He's always been a pleaser. He just wants to make you happy, and he wants to know he can trust you, and he found that in me, and he taught me so many things that no other horse could ever teach me, not even my heart horse, Cyrus, could ever teach me. Somehow, I knew I had to pick him and not give up on him, and I will be forever grateful that he was in my life. He really lives up to his show name, Brooks-A-Million, because he is a pony in a million.

I'm going to miss him so so so much when he leaves but I know he's going make some little girl the happiest kid on the planet, he's going to teach her so much and have an amazing life.