Elvis and I

We all have stories of wonderful horses and owner relationships with great happy endings and you already know that Fox Trotters are a great family horse.  So what could I possibly tell you that you already don’t know?  How about the story of a city girl taking lessons from a horse!

I admit to only two things, that I was raised in the city and was horse crazy from birth.  The rest you are going to have to figure out.  When the kids left home and empty nest hit hard I bought the flashiest, showiest Fox Trotter I could find.  She was much smarter than me and we soon came to a parting of the ways when she bucked me off and put me in the hospital.  That was when my husband got the crazy idea that I needed another horse.  So he took me to see a horse called Elvis.  Compared to my sleek shiny mare, Elvis was the ugliest horse I had ever seen. Big kneed, long head, deep shoulders and every color in the book, I knew I wasn’t interested.  As I headed for the gate after being shown how gentle he was, I still hadn’t changed my mind.  That’s when he moved up behind me, dropped his head over my shoulder and hugged me to him.  I wrote out a check on the spot and to this day don’t remember what I paid for him.

Our first ride together was the first of many lessons.  Though duded from birth and willing to take care of you, Elvis has two rules.  If you don’t know enough to communicate what you need done, he will do it his way and if the other horses are running, he must do so as well.  And not only does he have to run, he has to be at the head of the pack.  God played a trick on Elvis when He gave him the heart of a racehorse but the body of a Fox Trotter!

So my first challenge was getting him to recognize the bit meant something and I had to learn how to be light on the reins.  The lesson was monumental for both of us.  Meanwhile I had been given two younger horses, which is a story unto itself, and Elvis continued being a dude horse to anyone who came to the house and wanted a horsy back ride.

A few years later after pounding several more lessons on horseback riding into both body and soul (it seems I have to learn everything the hard way) I came back to Elvis.  I was tired of young, rambunctious horses and wanted an “old reliable”.  I wanted to communicate with a horse, not dominate one.  I started riding Elvis again, but discovered his gait lived up to his rock and roll name. 

Then it happened, Elvis put his hoof down.  My brother-in-law, an accomplished rider, came to visit so I tacked up two horses, my young one and good old Elvis, who promptly became a stubborn mule of a horse with my brother-in –law.  Finally out in the wilds of Wyoming I traded him horses and Elvis settled down.  I got the hint.

What was I going to do with him?  I now was up to 4 horses, three of them young and upcoming.  Elvis was the only one I really trusted yet he was inconsistent in both gait and response.  I had attended a horse show and was amazed at how rider and horse seemed to flow fluidly together; I wanted that type of ride.  I was especially fascinated by the trail class.  Surely if Elvis and I could communicate like that, if I could be that good of a rider, then I would know it all, right?  I asked my friend who trained quarter horses and who had worked with Elvis if she thought Elvis and I could do it and she laughed.  She said Elvis would never be a show horse, he just didn’t have it.

I always seek a second opinion when I want something bad enough so I called another trainer I knew who dealt with fox trotters.  We decided she would work with him to see if he could maintain a fox trot and if she thought we had any chance of being a team.  Two weeks later she called and asked me to come see what I thought.  I was prepared for the worse but was amazed by what I saw.  Where did this horse come from?  He actually fox-trotted and looked showy doing it and he was enjoying it!

Though excited I knew the real work was about to begin.   Elvis needed to learn leg cues, neck reining and how to be consistent.  He would have to learn to quit taking care of me and listen to me.  I would have to learn to listen to him. 

After a short few months of practice I naively felt we were ready for our first horse show.  The night before in a fit of nervous energy I re-arranged tack, moving different headstalls to different bits. I made a vow to Elvis, if we won first place in trail, I would quit because that certainly meant I had finally become a horseman.  Trail class was a large class with 12 entries.  I was nervous and Elvis was quietly protesting over something.  I accused my husband of messing with my tack since the headstall didn’t seem to fit right.  We did ok except we couldn’t master the finesse of backing around cones, so I went on.  At the end I headed for the stall.  There was no way we had placed and I knew it.  I started un-tacking and discovered to my dismay that I had put the Mullen bit on the headstall upside down!  Then I heard my name called, so I ran back to the arena without Elvis, wondering what I had done wrong.  We had taken third place!!!   

I had the fever!  If we could do that well, even with an upside down bit, imagine what we could do if we really practiced!  Let me condense 4 very long hard years into one sentence, “Oh My!”  I watched tapes, I practiced, I watched others, asked for advice, trained, read books and beat my body and mind to death on Elvis’s back.  This is where I get mushy and I must say, Elvis was a great teacher. 

If I have learned nothing else, I have learned how my horse talks.  Every tail swish, every ear twitch, every crow hop means something.  When I would choose another horse to ride, I could always depend on seeing Elvis’s rear end when I got home.  Because I love him so, and he knows it, he is always pushing the boundaries every so slightly so I had to learn ‘tough love’.  If he starts crow hopping (thankfully he isn’t very athletic) it means something is wrong, like a bit that hurts, or a lesson that has gone on to long.  He can become an old plug in my round pen with any child I put on him, but when he gets tired of babysitting he knows where the gate is and how to ignore any cue.  He will work like crazy to keep you balanced in the saddle and not lose you yet not hesitate to drop a shoulder or duck out a gate if given the chance.  He will protect me from the other horses when I am taking him to his pen to grain him (ok, maybe he’s protecting his grain!)  He checked on me and would not leave my side after he tripped and fell, throwing me from the saddle last fall.  He knows even better than I when my back is hurting and will refuse to go any faster than a walk to take care of me.

So where is the happy ending you may wonder?  I would like to say it happened this summer when after we attended 5 regional shows I decided that we were ready to go to Ava, MO for the Celebration.  Elvis had an ongoing old injury and I felt we had only one shot at this show.  It was a long, eventful two day trip from Wyoming. I was excited when I went through the Fox Trotter Hall of Fame for the first time and saw pictures of Zane Gray, Elvis’s great grand daddy.  I loved learning about the history of the breed.  Though I already knew Elvis was versatile, now I could see where he got it.  It was a great honor to ride in the Performance ring, the same track Elvis’s famous sire had fox trotted on. And I would like to say I won that first place in Trail and we accomplished everything we could.  What I got instead was the joy of performing to the best of our ability in many challenging situations and weather and actually placing.  I had said to myself if I could just bring one ribbon home from the Celebration I would be honored.  Out of 24 classes, Elvis brought home 20 ribbons.  I was overwhelmed. 

Am I the horseman I have worked so hard for, that professional, polished, fluid moving horseman?  Nope.  But I have come far in 4 years.  I have learned that Elvis’s old injury is healing, and that we have more to learn.  We haven’t won our first in Trail yet, so there are a few more shows, as long as he is happy and sound doing it.

Most of all I have a friend who is patient enough to put up with my mistakes.  My other horses are thankful that Elvis has taught me so much.  Who knows, there may be a fairy tale ending yet!

Robynn Gabel

3 Sunshine Dr

Lander, WY

82520

307-335-7984