Tobey is actually the first horse I have ever owned, and I had never really seriously considered adoption before. I had casually mentioned a few times that I wanted to check out the Harmony Equine Center after we moved to Colorado, and one day my husband tempted me out of the house to drive around in the snow by saying we could stop by Harmony’s Adoption Day.

I didn’t go out looking for a green broke horse by any means. Really the only box he ticked was that he was a gelding. I had leased horses in high school and shown in small 4H shows around Ohio, but work, marriage and children had gotten in the way and I had barely ridden in the last 20 years. I was shown two perfectly suitable horses, and as I was working with them someone else was looking at Tobey. I couldn’t stop wondering what his story was, why he was there, and if he was going to get chosen or not. I just kept getting drawn back to him, I absolutely couldn’t stop thinking about him even though he wasn’t at all what I was looking for. Of course, you want to see every horse find their happily ever after, but the two other horses that I had ridden that day mattered less to me than he did. When I left Harmony after meeting several horses, I told them to call me if Tobey was still available. Four days later I got the call that he was.

We have definitely had some challenges these last three years. Pretty early on it became obvious that he loved trails, and I never planned to do anything beyond that. My son now rodeos, so we spend a lot more time traveling and going to small practice events, and it turns out Tobey loves barrels and poles. We are in the running for a buckle this season, but regardless of where we place, I so enjoy our days out together!

If you’re considering equine adoption, I encourage you to keep an open mind and remember that a lot of horses that find themselves in a rescue situation will have a history. Horses are different to our human relationships because we speak a different language, but I promise if you listen, they are talking to you. We took a lot of time getting to know each other but our relationship is so much stronger for it. I feel like bonding with a rescue horse also brings a different level of satisfaction to the relationship. My guy has the biggest personality and will do just about anything for a Cheeto or to go swimming! He’s amazing, no matter what I ask him to do!