A Quarter this, a Quarter that

From all I have gathered about what life was like before Xashi became my horse I have come to the conclusion that she was at least shown lots of affection. If you ever meet her, you will know that she is extremely personable and very loveable (as long as you don't get on her back! lol) and she wants to be given affection. And for that I am glad. But not much else is known. Obviously, no formal training. And certainly not physically beatings or anything. But that's about it. Her previous owner "rescued" her in some mysterious fashion and brought her to Valley Chapel Farms and a year later I bought her.

I have no idea what her breeding is, not that it's so important. She is obviously a cross. I was told by her previous owner that she is a Quarter Horse cross. When you look at Xashi she is missing the big butt, the bull-dog chest of most modern Quarter Horses.  I had a fellow boarder who owns a Morgan or two say that my description of Xash's personality and short mane and fluffy forelock reminds her of her Morgans. So for a couple months I thought she COULD be Morgan, buuuuuuuuut then the farrier said something that sidetracked that thought.

She said, Xashi's hooves reminded her of the many Mustangs she had worked with over the years. Her hooves are square, strong and compact. They would never have to be shod unless I was doing some kind of extreme sport and used her for hard riding or jumping. She said if it were just based on the hooves, she would bet Xashi is part Mustang. At least her hooves are, lol. I was shocked and yet NOT at all shocked. One of the horses I was very interested in buying before Xashi was some kind of Mustang. So it would only be ironic that the horse that I bought with some unknown origin was actually the breed of horse I was looking for all along.

So because there is not much else to go on and I trust that she knows a little something about horse hooves, I agree with the farrier. Part Mustang and part Quarter horse (because the previous owner had to have something to go on to say she is), and finally part crazy horse. Pun intended.

And I thought why not blog! lol

So. I have decided to blog about my experience working and training my very spirited and "unique" horse, Xashi.

Let me give you some background on how our paths crossed: When I was a little girl I had a horse named Kid. He was a registered Appaloosa that a foster uncle (yes, I was in a foster home) gave to us because as a yearling he got kicked in the face and left a big ole dent. Well, Kid and I fell in love with each other pretty instantaneously. He was not worked with enough, except by me and I was a 9 year old girl with no experience! But we figured each other out. He was my best friend. I felt loved and accepted. In those moments when no one was around and it was just Kid and me in the pasture, I thought I was a horse with no worries, no foster home, no supervised visits, no schoolmates calling me a stupid, greasy Indian. But I couldn't be a horse, so the next best thing was to DREAM of them 24/7. The edges of the "H" Encyclopedia was wrinkled and worn from my obsession. To make a long story short, I had to leave my Kid when I moved to another foster home. I was never the same. I vowed to myself that I would someday own a horse again, one that could never be taken away from me.

That brings us to about a year and a half ago. I was finally at a point in my life where I needed to do for me. Before Xashi I had spent ten years doing for others, living for others, pretty much working my ass off and not doing anything for me. So it was time. I was ready. I searched and obsessed on Craigslist and Dreamhorse, looking for the right horse, the right deal. It took a long time before I could honestly make the decision and when I DID, lol, I made it from the heart.

I had originally contacted the owners of the place where we board to see if there was space for a the horse I eventually bought. Norm, the stable owner, told me there were several horses for sale. He said I should come out and meet one named Soleil. He said, "She is the prettiest horse here and the nicest too." And I thought why the hell not? What's wrong with actually meeting and seeing a live horse instead of looking at horrible, blurry pictures online. I SHOULD have known. I met Norm and he showed me Soleil. Everything he said was true, she was nice and gorgeous to boot. But what did me in, was that it felt like I was anchored to the Earth again. It was like I had been walking through life and any moment I was going to float away into space, never to be seen again. But she made everything right again. She did what no therapy, self-medication or I-don't-care-attitude could ever do.

It was over. I called the owner, made the deal and paid for my Soleil in two paychecks. She WAS MINE! This crazy, loving, athletic and spitfire BUCKSKIN was all mine. Even a year later I still feel that way. I feel like she's going to disappear and it's just one of my many childhood dreams.

Soleil became Xashi (Z-Ah-SH-i). It comes from an old Indian language (yes, I am Native American) and means the same thing as Soliel. Sun or sunshine. But now she has many other names as well. lol Knucklehead, Glue stick, War Pony, Momma's babygirl and many more. lol But you'll have to read my blog to find out how she came to be called some of these.

So now you have the basic story of how I came to own Xashi. As to why I feel motivated to write a blog about our journey? I just feel I will be better if I work it out on paper. I will motivate myself to be positive and forgiving and confident if I share our journey with others. (I think I might need all the help I can get!)

Xashi is the sunshine in my heart.