Appaloosa Memories: Sonny Part 1

I could hardly contain my excitement when I arrived at Knicker Knob stable for my first riding lesson. Through the fence I watched a blonde girl about my age ride a beautiful blanket appaloosa. That was my first memory of Sonny. Kelly, a veteran KK student, rode Sonny often during my first year of lessons, since he was “more challenging” a lesson horse. I practiced on a steady bay mare named Everready, waiting for the day when I was good enough to ride Sonny.

My instructor, Terry, said that Sonny had a strong sense of justice. He had a lower tolerance level than the other lesson horses for the unfair pulling and kicking of unskilled riders. Out in the herd, he was the dominant personality. At 15.3 hands high, he was an athletic Appaloosa cross who was known for his bouncy trot and hard mouth. But he had a divine canter.

Riding Sonny for the first time represented an accomplishment. After a brief affair with a tri-color pinto half Arabian named Jazzy and a dapple gray mare named Manzanita, I found my appaloosa true love. Sonny was the best part of my awkward teenage years. In the summertime, Terry roached his pitiful mane and he carted me out on trail rides to picnic at the lake with Kelly, Lauren, and the other barn girls. We raced up the “racetrack” trail, climbed Gambit’s hill, hopped over the “jumping log,” and trotted along the ruins of an old canal.

There were two other Sarahs at the barn – a younger student and Terry’s dog. My obsession with Sonny soon earned me the nickname “Sonny-Sarah” as a means of identification. I loved horses, but I’d never loved a horse so much.

I was 14 when I participated in my first “play day” at the barn – an informal horse show for the lesson students and boarders.  The lesson students were allowed to sign up for one class/horse per week for a month prior to the event. I crossed my fingers that I could sign up for Sonny before someone else did. When the show finally arrived, I had second thoughts on my choice when things didn’t go so well in our pleasure and equitation classes. Sonny barreled around like a freight train in a curb bit. I cringed at my poor technique when I saw the pictures later.

But we redeemed ourselves in the following years. Sonny took me to first place in the bareback class three years running (it was amazing – the more I learned, the less bouncy his trot became!), and culminated with a blue in the challenging “Judge’s Command” class.