A Million Dreams

Sometimes horses come into your life after you’ve searched and searched for exactly what fits your idea of what you want in a next partner. And sometimes that’s not the case at all and you end up with a horse that seems just meant to be with you, one that creates their own category in your life. Phineas is like this for me. Though I’ve been riding since I was a kid, he’s my first pony (we joke that I bought myself a pony instead of one for my kid), and his story is so varied and so full even though he’s only three going on four. It deserves to be told because he’s such a much-needed ray of sunshine.

Though his story starts before this day, all that we know about Phineas begins at an auction in the midwest when he was a yearling. His guardian angel is a woman named Eowyn who makes a regular practice of going to large livestock auctions and saving horses who may otherwise end up in the kill pens, or what’s known as the slaughter pipeline. Though the United States does not allow the slaughter of horses any longer, tens of thousands of equines are shipped to other countries for slaughter every year.

But Phineas is one of the lucky ones. He was bought by Eowyn at the auction and then was taken on by a friend of hers named Courtney who is a dressage trainer in Wisconsin. Courtney and Eowyn both saw something in this sweet little soul that made them take a chance. Taking on a yearling means there was no training to speak of and there would be an investment of time and groceries until he was ready to be trained. He needed some TLC but also just some time to grow up. I’m so glad they both could see how truly special he is and how deserving he was of the chance to have a life, and not have it end abruptly just as it was starting. I think it must take special eyes to see potential and truth and not just be overwhelmed by the need a person sees in front of them at an auction. Just imagine the noise, the chaos, and the sheer numbers of equines at some of these sales. There are bidding wars, quick decisions, silent tears, horses stressed calling for their buddies that they can’t see anymore, and for a select few, the fullness of hope that some of them can be saved and go on to have good lives.

I can only imagine how hard it is to make the decision about who to bid on, how far you will go, and then to make all of these decisions typically within seconds. For me, I’m so glad they had the confidence and experience to do this.

Courtney kept him for a couple of years and just let him grow up and learn to be a happy pony. Then she did the best thing that a person can do for a horse in order to ensure that he has a good future: she started him well under saddle and trained him kindly and confidently. I didn’t see her method or observe her first rides, but I know she started him with kindness and fairness because there is no fear in this pony. He’s not afraid of the tack or flinchy when you touch him. He’s not tense when you put the girth on. He doesn’t shy from lunge whips or dressage whips. He’s trusting. He accepts your presence, your tack, and your weight. Beyond that, once he feels safe with you, he looks for you. He looks for the right answer and wants to be good. I attribute so much of this to his beautiful foundation. And I’m forever grateful to her for putting the time in on this and doing it so well. Starting horses isn’t fancy work–it’s hard and repetitive and can be dangerous. Suffice to say not everyone can do it and there are many people who don’t do it well. They get the job done, but with a lot to be desired in the trust and steadiness departments. Thankfully that just isn’t his story.

Until about August of 2021, getting another horse to ride was not on my radar. I had just put in a new dressage arena at our place, which was costly. I’d spent the first part of the year not riding because of unusually awful weather in NC. Then there were weeks and weeks of not riding because my property is only 10 acres and was packed with construction equipment while the arena was graded and built. We finally got the arena set up and in use regularly by mid-April. The winter and early spring had been a lot more than I had expected time-wise for the project to be completed. But now I was pumped. The weather was perfect, the arena was even more beautiful than I expected, my mare, Dahlia, loved the footing, and life was good. And I had a few idyllic months until one day Dahlia had a fat leg in the end of June. Fast forward to ultrasounds and a strain of her deep digital tendon. I was going to have to sideline the dressage goals with her for a while and focus on rehabbing her.

To say I was dismayed is the understatement of the year. Tendon injures don’t heal quickly, and it would be a good six months before I was doing much with her. All my other horses at the farm are seniors on retirement, so I was without a horse to ride, and had an empty dressage arena. It was a bummer for sure. Thankfully my wonderful trainer Anne set me up with another student who could use some extra rides on her horse, and I began riding a sweet little Arabian gelding named Max. I loved riding him. He was much smaller than Dahlia and what I typically ride, but handy, and athletic, and just felt so light on his feet. I started mentioning to Anne and to my husband how much I liked riding this little guy. “Maybe I should look for a project pony,” was my thought… I knew I wanted something on the larger pony side and something younger, and that was really it. I began “keeping my eyes open” and what that really meant is that I was joining pony sales groups on Facebook, looking on warmblood sale sites, and getting aware of what was out there.

Enter the beauty of social media. I know it can be a fake and sometimes ugly place, but sometimes it absolutely expands our world in beautiful ways. Anne saw an adorable pinto pony for sale shared by her friend on Facebook. Well, this happened to be Eowyn who originally found Phineas at the auction, sharing the sales post that Courtney listed in September of 2021. He was ADORABLE. Truly striking in his pictures and video is all I can say. The information listed said he was newly started under saddle and that she wanted to find him a person of his own. There were so many comments that I figured mine would be lost, but Anne and I both contacted Courtney, and thankfully by some miracle he hadn’t been snatched up yet. Courtney and I arranged a phone conversation where we talked about him, she learned a bit about me, and we talked about if this was a good fit. We then decided that the next best thing to me coming to Wisconsin where he lived was to FaceTime him. So we arranged a day and time to FaceTime and see this cutie in action.

Courtney had so many great pictures and videos that all I really felt I needed to see was some basic handling of the pony (at this point named DJ short for Dutch Jr., because he looked like a mini-me of her dressage partner, Dutch, who is also adorable so this really fit!). So we arranged to FaceTime while she got him out and tacked him up. I felt like I could observe a great deal about his behavior seeing how accepting he was of grooming, proximity to people, and how he accepted the tack.

I was thrilled with what I saw, he seemed comfortable and trusting. What also struck me was how much Courtney cared about him finding the right home. She knew him well and wanted the best for him–it was just so obvious in how she handled him and spoke about him. We arranged a Pre-Purchase Exam, which he passed with flying colors, and I bought him! Next was arranging for him to get to NC, which was about an 18 hour trailer ride.

Thankfully Courtney helped me find a professional and also compassionate shipper, and by mid October he was on his way here. I couldn’t wait to meet him, and I was nervous about his journey to NC from Wisconsin. Courtney was also nervous for him, just because she knew how stressful the next few days would be for him leaving what he knew and going to another farm, so she reminded me that at first, he would be a little stand-offish as he figured out he was safe and found his routine with me. I think she and I both were super relieved when he wasn’t on a trailer anymore and was finally at our farm.

I named him Phineas after the main character in the movie “The Greatest Showman,” which is loosely based on the life of P.T. Barnum. I love the story and the music. But I really love the spirit of the story–the message being that your prior circumstances don’t have to determine your future. Phineas in the movie cultivates imagination, and dreams big, and creates not only a different life for himself, but he grows hope in so many others that he meets because of his indomitable spirit and enthusiasm. This just felt fitting to me. And his show name (left up to me since he’s not registered) is “A Million Dreams” named for one of the songs in the movie that I love.

We’ve been together six months now, and it’s been so much FUN having this sweet boy in my life. He’s so willing, and incredibly happy to learn. We’ve taken it slow, but also I try to listen to him when he’s ready to move on because he’s bored with some of the slow. We’ve gone to a couple of dressage schooling shows and he’s impressed me with his confidence and his presence in a new place. I can’t wait to see his story continue to unfold. He’s a joy and I know I’ve been allowed to have something truly special in being invited into his world. He’s teaching me about dressage, but as horses always do for me, he’s teaching me even more about life and myself. I can’t wait to continue to share his journey here as it unfolds!