The woman who called to us from the porch is the manager/trainer at a famous American Saddlebred breeding farm in Kentucky. When it was time for me to find a new horse, this was the first stop that we made. As we got to the porch, she started giving us additional details about the horse she wanted me to try.
"The Brian Horse" she called him, was a four year old gelding who came to her from another breeder. When he arrived on her farm, she decided he needed some "extra work" and sent him to a Mennonite in town for some additional training. While there, "Brian" went all over town pulling a buggy ("He can take you to the store, you see!"). Not exactly a big selling point since I was looking for a show horse, but I guess if times got tough, it was good to know that he could be my transportation.
"He needs to be loved," I remember her saying.
We walked into the barn and I took a peek into the one stall with the open door. Instantly, I knew what she meant. I saw a timid, chestnut horse with a white star on his face and a kind eye. He needed some weight, and definitely, yes, some love. OK, a project I thought to myself. He wasn't much to look at, but judging a horse before you get him out of his stall is a mistake.
When it was my turn to ride him, I knew right away that I liked the way this horse carried himself. Some horses will "hang on the bridle" and the rider has to carry their horse's head around with the reins. It gets heavy fast and it's not a fun ride. This was not a characteristic that I was interested in having my horse possess. Brian set his head all on his own and didn't require much from me. I was happy with the way this was going. It was hard to wipe the smile off my face as we struck a trot. Now it was time to see if he could take both canter leads.
Brian was not broke to canter, so we headed to a bullpen and I had to run him into the canter. It was not pretty but he did take both leads eventually and my trainer said it was workable. He had also never worn a full bridle (a requirement for the show ring and some horses refuse to wear them). This was a risk if I chose to take him back to New Hampshire. A project.
When we left the farm that day, I really didn't want to leave Brian there. But there were a couple more appointments to keep and that was the right thing to do. I tried out additional horses and there was one that I had to consider. He was completely finished and could have gone to a horse show that day. He was a nice horse, kind and easy to ride but he didn't have that "it" factor for me. My trainer said she'd be happy to have either of them in the barn and that the decision was up to me. I had to get back to New Hampshire for work and she was staying in Kentucky for a horse show. She told me to think about it on the plane ride home and to let her know when I made my decision.
For me, it never really was a decision. As hokey and cliche as it sounds, that horse chose me. Broke is boring and why do it if it's easy? There's no challenge in that. I had a gut feeling about this guy. As soon as we landed and the pilot gave the OK to turn on electronic devices, a wave of panic came over me, what if someone else scooped him up already? From the plane, I called my trainer on the phone.
"The Brian Horse." I told her when she answered.
I'm going to call him Mario, I thought to myself as I looked out the plane window. I realize it's sort of a silly name. I named him after the Nintendo game character. It just came to me and I decided to stick with it.
That was a year and a half ago. Below is a video of our very first ride at home together. He's green in the video, that will be obvious! But the parts are all there. I love this guy. Choosing to bring him home was the right decision.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?
