My daughter's and my first horse was named Lady Appygail. She was a grade bay roan Appaloosa which our
riding instructor had found out was for sale nearby. We made the appointment to see her and was dismayed to
see the conditions she was living in. Her condition wasn't much better; long hooves and thin because she was
pastured with a food hogging mare. We decided to ride her anyway even though we were beginner riders and
had no advanced knowledge-that's why we brought our riding instructor with us. The owners had bought her at
an auction where most of the horses go who don't find homes before they would end up at the slaughterhouse.
They said they liked the way she moved with a very pretty trot.
All three of us rode her among all the junk that was in the owners' yard. She was very careful not to step on
anything. We made another appointment to see her again along with our vet to have a pre-purchase vet check.
The vet approved her and we bought our first horse. The owners called her Lady and we decided to keep it as
her barn name.
Lady turned out to be our lesson horse. Our first lesson was how to load a scared horse onto a trailer. It took
quite a long time until she finally loaded. It was the first time for me to drive the truck and horse trailer with a
horse actually in it. I learned to listen as to what was happening in the horse trailer.
We learned about thrush because she had so much of it; it took weeks to finally get rid of it. First we had to
teach her that it was okay to let us pick up her hooves, let alone have a farrier trim them and put shoes on.
Eventually, all we had to do was touch her leg and she would raise it to her her hoof cleaned.
We learned about trying to get a bit into the mouth of a head shy horse and mounting a horse who would not
stand still. She learned that not all people were trying to hurt her and we learned how to ride a stubborn horse
who loved us.
Lady protected me. Once I was riding her during a lesson and she tripped in a dip in the outdoor riding ring.
She fell to her knees and I came close to falling off; but hit the saddle horn and my chin hit her neck. She
pushed herself up and stood perfectly still and waited for me to get off her neck. I was finally able to get off and
check to make sure she was okay. She was okay, not even a cut. I was bruised from hitting the saddle horn
and it took a while for me to recover from the injury.
There were a couple of times she saved my daughter from being injured. The other boarders and she
decided to go Christmas caroling on horseback; but had to ride along a windy and curvy mountain road to get to
the nearby village. I was on foot in the back of them warning cars to slow down. One driver decided not to listen.
I watched helplessly as I saw this car come dangerously close to Lady and my daughter, almost hitting them.
Lady didn't panic and my daughter was safe. The other horses were okay; but the riders had to calm them down
before we could go any further.
Another time Lady and my daughter were in a 4-H horse show. During one of the classes, a horse spooked
and took off running around in the ring with its beginner rider screaming at the top of her lungs. All the other
riders were instructed to stop at the rail and stay there. Again, I watched helplessly as her horse was running
towards my daughter and Lady. They had no where to go being between two other horses and the rail. The
horse and rider grazed against my daughter and Lady. I was sure Lady was going to bolt and my daughter was
going to be hurt. Lady just stood still. I ran into the ring to see if they were okay. They both were.
Lady was spooky sometimes and we couldn't figure out why she would jump at nothing that we could see. She
also had a lot of eye drainage. It took three vets to figure out what was wrong. The last vet who specialized in
equines finally was able to get a correct diagnosis. Lady had uveitis in both eyes.
One day we heard from the barn manager Lady wasn't acting herself. The vet was called and we found out
she had scratched one of her eyes. We learned how to put medication into her eye, hoping it would heal. For a
month I traveled a half hour each way after work and on weekends to and give Lady her eye and pain
medication; but she wasn't recovering and she started to refuse to eat. My daughter and I learned how to make
a painful decision. We asked the vet to release Lady from her pain and put her to sleep. Lady was in our lives
for only one and a half years. She was about thirteen year old.
The lessons we learned from her have stayed with us. A few years ago, we decided to buy a farm. My
daughter had said if we would ever have our own farm, we should name it in the memory of Lady. We now own
Appygail Horse Farm where my daughter gives riding lessons and trains horses; and I run a horse boarding
business. Lady is still teaching us by our sharing the information we had learned from her to beginner riders
and new horse owners. We will never forget her.