My Horses: Algonquinn LV

In 2004 my husband and I moved from Eastern Ontario to Timmins, in Northern Ontario.  I took a huge leap of faith on the promise of sharing our own farm and having my own horses in the back yard.  It was a dream come true for me.  I'd had Andy for 4 years at that point, and we needed another horse to keep him company.  I started looking for a younger prospect that I could train in dressage and jumping, and found Quinn near Pembroke, of all places. 

Quinn and I shortly after we bought him in 2004

He was green broke when we brought him home, but a very quick learner.  He was sensitive and forward, and was my kind of horse.  Quinn's sire was an Arabian, and his mother was a Belgian/Thoroughbred cross, and I was told that the Thoroughbred was a steeplechaser.  I brought him along slowly and in 2006/2007 we discovered we had a real jumper on our hands.  I remember him LAUNCHING over little jumps and I could hardly stay in the tack.  I knew I needed to yank up my game in order to develop his talent, to keep him brave, and give him the best chance for a good, useful life.  

Algonquinn LV: 2000 Registered Half-Arabian gelding

Training at a clinic with Paige Lockton-Wilde in 2008

It was pretty messy at first; he was scared of hitting the poles, which made him jump so high, but not co-ordinated enough to NOT hit the jumps occasionally, and it all made him anxious. He was not the kind of horse that relaxed with more riding; he had amazing stamina.  

In 2007 he was my mount to pass the Equine Canada Rider Level 8 exam, and he was my backup for my coaching exam in 2008.  That December I hauled him all the way to Belleville for a weekend clinic with my favorite jumping coach, Jen Hamilton.  I still have the course we worked on memorized, and will never forget the work she pulled out of us.  Quinn stopped hitting the jumps, tuned in to the work, and learned how to fly. 

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September 2009: A favorite memory of mine. Quinn and I had just won a huge Dressage Suitability class at the New Liskeard Fall Fair, against over 20 other entries. He worked it and I rode him shamelessly under the judge's nose!

Jumping Clinic July 2010

 
I wanted to work on my next coaching level, which required some new competitive results.  I decided to really confirm his jumping by showing him over fences, and in July 2010 we entered the 3'6" Hunter Division at the nearest Trillium show in North Bay.  He was impressed by all the atmosphere and I just kept my 'foot on the gas' to get around the course, but it was all starting to get easier as we figured eachother out. 

High Trillium Hunter 3'6" August 2010

A woman who grew up in Northern Ontario, but who lived in Georgia running a successful stable that focused on show jumping, happened to come to Timmins that summer to teach a clinic.  I always try to support local events and brought Quinn to have some fun.  She watched him go and soon mounted up to try him out, and we exported him to her a few weeks later.  

August 2010 Clinic: Sherry Hill aboard Quinn

The world seems so big, and yet so small at times.  I found him in Pembroke and live here now.  Sherry grew up in Northern Ontario and found him there, and took him home to Georgia, of all places.  She and I kept in touch and I knew he had an excellent home in the right hands.  She took him to the 1.20M Jumper ring at the big shows in South Carolina, and enjoyed him at home to teach her own students.  As with all of our horses, I measure myself as a trainer that they move along to better homes than I found them from, so then I can find another.  

I received a heartfelt message last summer that Quinn lost the battle against Equine Protozoal Myelitis, a nasty pathogen carried by wildlife in warmer climates.   He was 14 years old.