KHS Ragtime
By Tracey Seals
Our horse, Ragtime, is without a doubt the quintessential
family horse. I don’t mean this to sound
trite in any way but it’s true. Ragtime
joined our family when he was 8 years old and until that time, he had not
experienced much; Ragtime had spent most of his life in a stall despite having
a wealth of natural talent.
It has always been my dream, my fantasy really, to have a
horse that I could trail ride with – just the two of us – for hour upon
hour. My daughter, Jamie, on the other
hand loves riding in the arena, refining her equitation and participating in
shows. Very different styles. When Ragtime joined our family, we knew he
had raw talent but I don’t believe we really understood the depth. To fulfill my dream, I began riding Ragtime
on Mount Diablo a few days a weeks – and boy did we have crazy experiences and
mis-haps! Because Ragtime had led such a
sequestered life, he had never crossed water, seen foxes or coyotes, or cows
for that matter…being exposed to these things and others on the trails made for
some VERY exciting trails rides! But he
kept his cool and learned to trust me, or maybe we learned to trust each
other. Either way, Jamie began riding
Ragtime with our trainer, Leigha Perry, working on her Hunter Pleasure seat and
equitation. If you’ve seen Ragtime, you
know that he is poetry in motion and despite his large size (especially for an
Arabian) he is incredibly gentle with kids.
Whether my daughter or someone else’s child, as soon as they are on his
back, he carries them around as if they were precious cargo with incredible
finesse.
Last spring we decided to enter Jamie and Ragtime in a show
and much to our pleasure, they got a Blue Ribbon…and many, many accolades for
how well they worked together! Jamie was
thrilled and I knew she was hooked!
About this same time, the Save Mount Diablo Endurance Ride came to my
attention. With little contemplation of
what it would entail, I signed up for it and put together a 6 week training
regime that would prepare us for the 30 mile Endurance Ride. Although neither myself nor Ragtime had ever
undertaken anything of this magnitude, we stuck with the training program and
come June 25, 2010, we rode 30 miles
across Mt. Diablo in 6 hours in 15
minutes. Not exactly a record-breaking time
but for two newbie’s….not bad! Despite
his sheer exhaustion on the last 4 miles of the ride, we crossed the finish
line with smiles, a positive demeanor and surprisingly, a spring in his step. Ragtime slept the next 3 days solid after that
ride!
With the Endurance Ride under our belt, we turned our focus
back to Jamie and showing. Jamie and
Ragtime rode in the DAHA show in September and although they did not get any
Blue Ribbons this time, they did a fantastic job in the show ring! Ragtime was tuned into Jamie despite her
small size and they were a great team.
Now that you know a little bit about our family and Ragtime,
I hope you agree that he is a tremendous family horse. Ragtime has proven through his heart-felt
effort in his first show with Jamie in May, to his stellar performance in the
Endurance Ride in June and his return to the show ring 2 months later that he
is as committed as we are. Whether he is
gingerly gliding across the show ring with a 9 year old on his back, or carrying
me across Mount Diablo, he does it with a clear head and
a heart of gold. Just thinking of him
makes me smile and look forward to our next adventure on the trail, and I know
that love is reciprocated when he puts his head on my chest and heaves a big
sigh. He’s one in a million, our
Ragtime, he is that special guy who does it all and makes our family complete.
Our lives are greatly enhanced by having him share the journey with us.
P.S. My husband, Brad, has been so inspired by our experiences
with Ragtime that he is starting to ride too.
Go Brad and Ragtime!
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