What better way to bring in the New Year....than to meet Sagebrush, as told by her forever riding companion, 15 yr old Leah Huckaby!! Sagebrush is a mustang born the year of 1998 in Adobe Town, Wyoming. Few people know this but Sage wasnt originally adopted by my mom. Her first owner was to a guy’s son whose forceful personality didnt mesh with Sage’s rebellious spirit. She was named Annie as a yearling. After Sage turned two, the son proceeded to attempt to break her. He decided to sell her because she had gotten to the point where she’d throw anyone who tried to ride her. The son didnt want anything to do with her and that’s how she made it to me. At the time, she was two and I was only a year old. The unique thing about my situation is that I didnt choose her because of her color or anything else. I didnt even have to choose her because she already chose me. Obviously, I took up my end of the deal and accepted her when I was a little older but it wasnt a situation of a kid taking a horse in because of a certain color or how old or the gender. As a 16 month old, I wasnt aware that the buckskin mare had her eye on me. My mom was the one who broke Sagebrush. The funny thing is that she never pulled the stunts that she did when she was in the possession of the other family. At age three, Sage was bred to our Secretariat stallion and had her one and only foal. The foal was a cute bay filly with a key mark on her face. Her name was Ally. Ally was supposed to be my first official horse but when I started leaning much toward the buckskin mare. Sage is my mountain pony who I suckered into showing. She was never a real show horse; as in she didnt enjoy it as much as going for a trail ride. She loves when all eyes are on her and when people say how beautiful she is. She wasnt crazy about the other aspects of shows like the traveling or living in the stalls. She’d usually be so worried that she would hardly drink. Only up until this last show in November, she actually drank a lot. I was very likely the one who taught her to be stressed at shows. Only up until the last couple years Ive not been stick to my stomach as I was when I younger showing. Still, I can’t eat before shows and if I hear an announcer that reminds me of the show ring, I start to shake. So Sages nerves may have not existed without me teaching it to her but together, we have taught each other how to calm down. I know lots of people don’t like me because I “don’t smile” but when I’m focused or trying to calm my nerves, the last thing I’m worried about is smiling a fake or cheesy smile. If you actually watch me, I smile a lot with my eyes and I don’t like to smile with my teeth. If you were to ask me how many rides Ive put on her I honestly could not even begin to guesstimate. She is the reason I am who I am today. It is possible that I might have not continued riding horses, let alone be able to start young ones if it werent for her. If I were upset about something, I would go to Sage first, not even my mom. Sage fills in the places in my soul where I feel empty. I find more comfort in her than I have any person. And that may be part reason of what school has done to me. Most of my life I have been around superficial fake kids who don’t actually care about me. And because I refused to be shaped into someone who was fake, I was then shaped in a different way. It was that that taught me how to think for myself and be independent. I have a hard time trusting anyone. Sagebrush was what softened me, but yet strengthened me to keep resisting what other people wanted of me. Sage is like to older sister I never had. It is super hard for me to explain what she has done to me mentally. It is because of the mental blocks that I created when I was very young and continued to build that I don’t have the friends that I probably would if I let my guard down. Sage wasnt the reason for creating the walls but she is the reason why Ive been able to let in a selected few. Ive been trying to take down the walls but to do that, I have to learn to trust. It takes a lot for me to trust. This opens my eyes to when I train horses, more precisely mustangs, and I know how huge it is when I finally do get their trust and I actually understand what it means. To trust, you have to let your guard down, and though I do trust some, I’m not sure I do some completely. There is something about trust that gives the other a power over you if they were to decide to misuse it. I Trust Sage. She’s one of the very few who have me. I have learned things from Sage that no person could have taught me. The biggest thing she taught me is how to ride. The best thing to learn is to actually do it and get the experience behind you. I’m still learning and I know I’m not the best but there is more to riding that sitting on a horse. I may be a quiet soul but if it werent for her, I might not be able to express myself. I write to express myself. Speeches arent really my thing. I think she gave me some sort of tranquility to calm myself and to really let go of what I’m feeling through words. At shows, where the tension in high, you may see us having an argument or after a performance I might come out a little unhappy. The reason I am hard on Sage is that I know what she is capable of and that I have put the time and belief in her to succeed. On my green horse, I know what he is capable of and I won’t be unfair to expect more out of him that what Ive put in. I know that 30 years in the future, Sages imprint on me will remain and though this may not be the most interesting story, but it’s our and I wouldnt consider it for anything. I will forever remember and be thankful to the little buckskin mustang who taught me to feel. #BLMWHB
Posted on: Thu, 01 Jan 2015 15:00:00 +0000
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