When I began eighth grade, I received the most incredible gift I could ever ask for. My parents decided to allow me to lease a horse, after outgrowing my pony. The first horse I tried, I fell in love with. Her name was Chanel. Chanel was a bay Selle-Francais mare, that was extremely chunky and affection. The second I met her, I knew she was meant to be mine.
Before we leased Chanel, we had her vetted. It is common practice in the horse world to have animals vetted before a lease because no one wants an injured horse. During her check-up, the vet picked up on something a little bit suspicious. Her back leg seemed to be showing slight discomfort.
It was not severe by any means, but it was definitely there. The vet said to not be concerned because Chanel was not supposed to be jumping too high and she should be sound.
We decided to lease her and in the beginning, it was incredible. She was the perfect horse for me. She was never lazy and was never scared of anything. She would jump anything she was put in front of with ease. Chanel also had her quirks. She would always make funny faces at me when I wasn't giving her attention, and she always made a mess of her stall.
Sometimes, Chanel had difficulty picking up certain leads and took long distances to jumps but we worked on it. She was not the perfect show horse, but she was the best for me.
Unfortunately, Chanel was more prone to injuries. Five months into our lease, she knocked her hoof at a pole and went lame in her front foot. I was absolutely devastated because we were about to make our show debut.
She was clearly in pain, but there was a good outlook. The vet suggested that we got her hocks injected and we followed through with those plans. She got injected and began to improve every day. After a month, she was back to normal and I was able to show her again.
As the lease went by, Chanel went through a few more lameness cycles and I had no idea why. I was so heartbroken because I loved her so much. I really wanted to have her for another year, however, it was too much money to keep her comfortable. So right before my freshman year of high school started, she was shipped back to her original barn.
At first, I knew where she was boarded and I kept an eye on her. I was able to visit her every so often which was nice because I really did love her still. However, as time passed, I lost track of her.
Between the craziness of school and riding, I sort of forgot about her. I did not bother to pay attention to where she was. I did not really think about her until my senior year of high school.
When I finally wanted to see her again, I had no idea where she was. I honestly thought she was euthanized because of her injuries. I had lost hope and I wished that she died peacefully. I had given up.
Until recently, I still had no idea where Chanel had ended up. One day I happened to be browsing Instagram and saw a curious video. A girl posted a video of her riding a bay horse named Chanel. I looked at the horse's markings and I knew it was her. I immediately started crying tears of joy when.
As soon as I discovered where she was, I contacted the barn. The barn that currently owned Chanel was extremely kind to me over our online conversation. They said I could visit and ride her, which brought tears of happiness to my eyes. I was so blessed to have the opportunity to see her again.
When I finally saw Chanel again, it was incredible. I was pleasantly surprised to see her doing so well. She was being cared for so nicely, and it made my heart swell. I rode her again and she was pretty much the same animal. It was just an amazing experience.
Even though Chanel is not mine anymore, she has made a big impact on my life. I am so thankful that I never gave up on her and I am looking forward to seeing her more frequently in the future.
