Susan’s Back Story!

Meet Susan and 25 years with Missouri Fox Trotters!

I started these stories back in the mid 90’s when I was a beginning adult rider. I raised Shetland ponies in my youth, branched up to a large pony and did all the small town horse show speed events—poles and barrels and pleasure classes. After I outgrew my large pony, I had an American Saddlebred and I competed in Western and English pleasure in the small town horse shows. My life with horses stopped at age 18 when I went away to college. I had given up on ever getting back into horses when suddenly my husband and I lost our minds, sold the house on which the mortgage was but 3 years from being paid off and bought a house and acres in the country. Naturally, the 1^st thing I thought about was… HORSE! I’ve had a 35 year gap.

What kind of horse? I loved my beautiful heads-up American Saddlebred, but I didn’t have much fun just being in pleasure saddle classes. I remember how high spirited she was too! Scary.

I attended the American Royal Symphony of Champions and I saw my horse! I was seated by a complete stranger who was chatting with me throughout the show. In danced the gorgeous fox trotters with their smooth gait and their long flowing manes and tails. I sat up. The stranger knew lots about Missouri Fox Trotters and told me about their start and history…cow chasing, rocky hill climbing, smooth riding. “Self,” I said, “There is my horse! They are beautiful like my Saddlebred, fun like my quarter-horse type large pony. I’m old now, and if I go incontinent, the smooth gait will prevent me from having to wear diapers when I ride.”

That’s how I made the decision to get Missouri Fox Trotters as my horse. I knew no one who had fox trotters and the Internet wasn’t even in my vocabulary yet. That was 1995.  I am addicted to bloodlines and gait knowledge.  I am the Facebook group administrator of Missouri  FoxTrotter Enthusiasts.  I’m a participating member of Fox Trotter Urbane.  I board and take lessons from Erin Patterson.  I participate in ever Jenny and Tony Vaught Clinic when they return to Missouri from Florida.  I usually take one or two clinics from Dave Ellis, Master Parelli Clinician, when he comes here from California.

Everyone I knew who had horses told me to buy a been there done that older gelding. Ha! I knew better than that. Didn’t I show as a youth? Didn’t I have a wonderful trainer and I remembered lots of stuff. I would be bored with someone else’s trained horse. Nope, I love to train horses and I want to start my own. No one else’s problems or boring old horse for me! Besides, I saw a John Lyons look-a-like colt start for a two year old in a round pen, and he was riding that horse in 3 hours. I paid a lot of attention plus I rented the video and watched it 2 more times. (My husband was the only person who supported my decision. He knew less about horses than I did!)

I found a business card at a local Farm Store that gave a name, telephone number and Fox Trotters for Sale. I called and drove to Butler, Mo.

I picked my two year old Sage because of her color, and my yearling Velvet, because she was black and had a beautiful head, out of a herd of Missouri Fox Trotters owned by Robert Lewis. Bob delivered them, and I proceeded to start John Lyon’s Round Pen Reasoning. What a horse Sage is. Instead of the 3 hours, it took me 3 weeks before she was (NOT) safe for me to ride.

My husband happened to be in the round pen with me when I 1^st put the saddle on Sage. Right in front of our eyes, she turned into a rodeo bucking horse. She exploded. The frightened spouse and the bucking monster both took off running around the round pen. I had to scream at the spouse to get into the center where it was safe. He didn’t know the rule about center being the safety zone and the fence being the run-around part. That was a 3 wine bottle event!

The round pen with Sage was a great experience until I mounted. That was a wine-bottle event. We just stood there wondering what to do, until I reached up to adjust her bridle strap, and in the spouse’s words, “Sage spun around 3 times, but Susan only made 2 trips!” That’s when I discovered that I was old, fragile and could easily be killed! Hitting the ground was not in the plan. Whose bright idea was it to buy young horses?! We decided that the answer would be to find someone “young and dumb”…enough to ride a two year old. I had Sage ready to be delivered to 3 different trainers in the area. I canceled her out from all 3 as my instinct (at the last minute) said, no ..can’t trust them with my precious partner.

I stumbled into a clinic that was held near my house and that’s when I discovered Parelli Natural Horsemanship, which saved my life. My horses and I have both been “started” by Jenny Vaught at Pine Dell Farm, Pleasant Hill, MO. I recovered from a terrifying year of horse fear. I have learned far more than I ever dreamed, and I had the two safest horses in the world to ride.

I’m a member of the Kansas City Regional Fox Trotter Horse Association and MFTHBA.

My Parelli equipment looks real weird. I have different ways of thinking and doing. I used to be shocked when people actually come up and talk to me! I look normal now as I use real bits and sometimes even spurs. But then I have earned my bits and spurs in my quest for answers in all the horse philosophy worlds.

I agonized over the gaiting of these two horses. Sage turned into a pacer and it’s taken a lot of time and agonized thinking on my part, but she’s turned into a running walk horse. Velvet is a “trotty” horse, but is actually fox trotting after spending a summer in professional training with Jenny at Pine Dell.  I bought The Just Right Horse (JR) to have a horse that could do flying lead changes.  He started pacing with me too.

I’m over 70 now, still overweight, dieting, and excitedly living my second or third adulthood.The blogs have categories by horse names. Join me!

When I started this blog, I’d “finished” four horses from young horse to finished vaquero style horse. Velvet went on to become a multiple World Grand Champion with Jenny’s daughter, Nichole. Velvet and Nichole started getting the garlands in 2009. Nova, Sage’s daughter, and I won a Novice Versatility World Grand Championship.

I owned Diva, JR, Sue and Powder and wrote about those adventures.

I borrowed a project horse for 2012 and ended up buying him. He doesn’t have a very good work ethic in the arena. He’s a great trail horse. His gaits are world class. Our challenge is “the arena”. His name is Lucky Star. I call him “The Horse of No”. I’m working editing his book now.

A miracle happened insane raffle tickets worth $50 and I won a most amazing and wonderful horse. Cisco is related to Velvet, is black with a star and four white feet. His shoulders are powerful. His neck and head are elegant. He is a YES Horse with sensitivity. His former owner rode him out on trails alone for three years. He is nicely gaited. He was never cantered under saddle, but picking that up well. Cisco and I have rejoined the Parelli levels goals journey again. We will be studying for Level 4.  As of this update, Cisco and I are riding bridle less.  It’s an exciting time in my life.  (Spring 2016). Cisco developed EPM early in 2017. It took a long time to diagnose that as it was thought that he had a stifle lameness.  About a year after his EPM diagnosis, he was injured in a fall and had to join Sage in horse heaven.  His story is included in The Horse of No book.

August 2012 was the publication date of my first book: Susan FoxTrotter. The story of a “seasoned curvy cowgirl” form Kersplat! to Bridleless. Find it on Amazon as a book or Kindle. Use Susan FoxTrotter as search words.

In 2016, I published another book extolling my humerous and pathetic adventures involving a mule, rescue hackney ponies and finally, “The Just Right Horse”.

http://bit.ly/29JLAPCsusan_engle_Books

Another miracle has just started in Christmas 2017. I was loaned another horse by the very same person who always tricks me into buying a horse. I was to ride Fancy until Cisco recovered. This time both Teresa and I were tricked. She expected to get Fancy back. Well, of course that didn’t happen. I now own another daughter of the great JJ. She was three in 2017. She went into training with Tony and Jenny Vaught in February 2018 and won Reserve Open Ranch Horse World Grand Champion with Tony in 2019.  They were beat by Jenny and Nova!  Tony and Jenny Vaught are located in Grant, Fl.

My horse stories are now about my life with Fancy.