Cinch Magazine- Your Online Equestrian Source

Life's Little Miracles

Photo to Come

My name is Chelsea and my horse's name is Roddy. He is a 17.2 hand Swiss Warmblood. I am 26, in law school, work part time and find the time to compete on the hunter jumper circuit in Florida. To say the least my time is stretched to the max!

Roddy's story, however, is more interesting than the fact that I go to law school, work, and am ranked 7th in the country for the Marshall and Sterling League! Roddy was imported from Europe in the mid 1990's and was shortly thereafter purchased by my good friend in highschool.

As a young horse he had a promising career as a hunter and equitation horse.Unfortunately he suffered a back injury after slipping in grass footing. In a moment he we went from being a prized $250,000 hunter to nothing. The vet said he would never recover and at best would walk and trot but nothing else. To everyone's surprise Roddy made a miraculous recovery and was being ridden again a year later.

 After a year of stall rest he was wild so my old trainer sent him to a cowboy to get him back in shape. The cowboy disappeared with Roddy. It saddened everyone as he was a much loved horse. I knew that I could never afford him, but as a teenager I always dreamt that I would own something as wonderful as him in the future.

 Many years passed and I left for college, graduated and then began law school. In interim I had moved to a new trainer. It was the beginning of the summer of 2007 and I was at a local schooling show for fun. While standing at the ring watching a friend ride, a big beautiful chestnut sat patiently with his rider for the next class.

As I admired him something caught my eye- his brand. I moved in for a closer look, and as if to say "I know you!" he turned to look at me. I could have fallen over in that moment. There was no doubt in my mind that it was him! The years had been kind to him and he was as amazing looking as ever. The girl told me that she had bought him from someone in Ocala who hadbin turn purchased him from someone in New York. A year passed and I did not see him again.

 Circumstances changed at my old barn and I moved to a farm closer to my new home in St. Petersburg. Low and behold the day I moved in, he was standing in the cross ties looking at me expectantly. It was then and there that I decided I had to find a way to make him mine. Everything fell into place and by August, he was! He is a true partner and has taught me so many things.

A special thanks to Chelsea for submitting this true story to Cinch.  If you have your own, real life story that you would like featured on our site, please email us.

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