Auke

Auke is a big, black, beautiful Friesian.  We bought him in 2004, when he was 4 years old and I sold him in 2009 when he was 9.  In 2004, I was thinking about getting a new horse because Starman was getting more arthritic and I knew he was never going to do more than training level - and barely that.  I wanted to learn and experience all the fancy stuff.  Being naturally competitive, I was looking for a horse to help me acheive my FEI dreams.  Emphasis on dreams.  I had read that Friesians were good for amateur riders -- not too hot, forgiving, good natured with great natural gaits.  Plus they look like a fairy tale dream come true with all that wonderful hair.

It's hard to see in the photo, but his mane is just about touching my hand.

Auke at the Friesian keuring in 2006.  Champion Gelding.

Brett found a breeder in the central valley of California.  As chance would have it, we would be driving right by it on our way to our summer vacation.  We stopped.  We saw Auke.  He looked at us with curiosity and longing (or so I thought).  Brett talked me into taking out a loan (I hate loans), and we bought him.  We found a trainer who specializes in dressage with Friesians and she looked at him before we inked the deal.  She liked how he was built, how he moved, and his energy.  We started working with that trainer, Mary.  She was between barns so had time to come up to our place once a week and work with him.  She would teach him something (he only had a few months under saddle when I bought him) and then teach me how to ride it.  It worked well.  He was difficult to ride because he had huge gaits requiring a lot of core strength and perfect balance.  I was learning so much!  And Auke's canter was like riding a dolphin.  OK, I've never ridden a dolphin but if I had, I know it would be the same:  smooth, leaping, up and down, through the waves.

Mary took him quickly through Training Level into First and Second.  They would clean up at shows - big shows like Del Mar, even.

Mary and Auke getting ready to warm up before a show at the LA Equestrian Center

Mary schooling Auke at our place

It was slightly a lot different when I showed him.  At home, it was work to keep him forward.  If my seat stopped following at all, he would stop.  At shows... he swelled up into Mr. LookAtMe and went around the warm-up bucking and calling.  By the time we got to the court to do our test, I was a bundle of nerves.  So, he would suck back.  Way, way back.  I would kick and smack and die of frustration.  And we would score in the 50s - except for Auke's gaits.  He always got 9s on those.

Then Mary got a position at a prestigious barn.  She had clients on a waiting list.  She was training with Steffen Peters. She even took one of her lessons with Steffen on Auke so he could help her with Auke issues.   Anyway, pretty soon Mary no longer had time to come up to our place.  We started trailering down to her barn once a week, then every two weeks, then once a month, then every couple of months.  We stopped showing all together.  The dressage work wasn't going backwards but it wasn't going forwards either.  I also rode Auke in clinics with Sabine Schutt-Kerry (she's the one riding Friesians on all the magazine covers).  Like with Mary, he looked awesome when she was on his back.  She told me that he was very talented but not the right partner for me unless I was willing to put him in full time training.  I knew she was right.  So, I did.  I put him in full time training with Mary.

I had been resistant to doing this because of the expense and also because I wanted a horse to trail ride at home.  As Auke became fit and stronger, he became more difficult on the trail.  He was not brave and he was big.  We never had a wreck, but it wasn't fun either.  I spent the whole ride doing half halts (come back, settle, PLEASE).  If we halted, he would piaffe.  If we slowed down in trot, he would passage.  Auke thrived at the big barn.  I took a lesson on him every week but after a few months, Mary and I agreed that he progressed faster without me riding him.  Talk about a bitter pill.  We decided she would ride him exclusively for a few months and when he was solid, I would get back on.  I loved watching them together.  It was poetry in motion.

Lacking a horse to ride, I bought Jackson to be my trail horse and started playing with him at home doing basic stuff in the arena.  He was a blast.  I realized I loved riding Jackson, even with his average gaits, much more than I liked riding Auke.  I realized that partnership was more important to me than accomplishment.  Auke had to be groomed in a paticular, never changing, manner.  I had to move deliberately and calmly around him.  Loud noises or movements would undo him.  If I dropped a brush while grooming, he would jump - often landing on my foot.  Having a tall Friesian land on your foot isn't pleasant.  In the five years I had owned Auke, he had never seemed happy to see me unless he knew I had a treat.  Jackson followed me everywhere.  He met me at the gate when he saw me with a halter.  He didn't care about the order of grooming.  He didn't care about loud noises, or feed bags in his face, or Brett's sensory flags whipping in the breeze by the arena.

I decided to sell Auke.  He sold very fast.  He was an awesome talented horse - for the right rider.  He is living in a big show barn in Nebraska now.  He belongs to a young rider with FEI dreams who fell in love with his sweet face, stunning good looks and beautiful movement.  She has an excellent trainer.  She rides well and they work together with her trainer full time.

I learned a lot in the five years I had Auke.  Mary always told me that I wouldn't advance quickly with him, but I would learn to be an excellent rider on him.  He demanded that.  She was right.  When I got Jackson, I was amazed at how well I rode him.  I always felt like a dork on Auke.  On Jackson, I feel connection and balance and conversation.  I thought I would miss the bragging rights that go with having a horse like Auke.  I don't.  Funny how that is.  Funny how much horses teach us.