Diamond Girl
Originally published in Horse Directory magazine
July 2012
July 2012
By
Tom Gumbrecht
 |
| Lola in her racing days. Apparently, she liked to play in the mud! |
Acquired from the New Holland auction, Lola
had (unknown to me at the time) been raced actively at several Pennsylvania
tracks until two weeks previous to our eyes meeting at the racks of the auction
house. As I laid the cash down at the
auction office, I held high hopes for our future partnership. The elation
lasted about 36 hours, when the medication wore off and my future champion
couldn’t walk.
Veterinary reports confirmed the
unfortunate truth: Lola had sustained soft tissue damage. I was later to find,
after uncovering her identity and researching her history, that the injury
occurred in her last race, and although her career appeared to be promising prior to her injury, she ended up what is sometimes a way station on the
last road for racehorses that can no longer race. But then fate put Lola and I at the same
auction on the same day.
At home, post-diagnosis, in the privacy of
her stall, tears flowed hard into her mane. I can’t do it! And I can’t (won’t)
bring her back. Denial was a prelude to remorse, which gave life to anger,
where I lingered for a short while until I realized that Lola wasn’t going
anywhere, and that there was a reason why the paths of our lives had
intersected. Under doctor’s orders, we got to work.
The first year of her life with me was
spent mostly in her stall and in the stable yard, being cold-hosed, hand
walked, and wrapped twice a day. Lola’s frequent and furious welcoming
knickers, her cooperative nature and her grateful eyes made me look forward to
our time at the barn. The prospect of her rehabilitation which had once seemed
like a huge mountain in the windshield eventually appeared in the rear-view
mirror. As the mountain got smaller and
smaller in the mirror while coasting down the other side, it felt satisfying
and encouraging…. until the next mountain appeared on the horizon through the
windshield. Could we climb another? We
could and did. Eventually the terrain
flattened out and we were ready to begin training.
I was already working with a trainer with
my other horse, and through our good fortune, that same trainer possessed the
knowledge and patience needed to retrain a racehorse, and the willingness to,
rather than do it all herself, train me to train the horse. Lola, while a good student, demanded that her
concerns be respected. Sometimes,
mistaking her willingness for fearlessness, I would not. She would have me pay for those
transgressions in the form of remedial training. We continued to figure each other out over
the ensuing months, which fell together and formed two years.
A time came where I began to yearn once
again for the rewards of setting and achieving goals that, for me, can only be
met by showing. Our preparations led us
to the Horse Trials at Good Shepherd Farm on Long Island, NY, on a late spring morning. Our goals
were simple: To bring Lola to the show grounds, let her acclimate to the
unfamiliar surroundings and activity level, and if she was up to it mentally,
ride a single dressage test.
The mare uncharacteristically revealed her
racing heritage as soon as she got off the trailer, with more nervous energy
than I had ever seen in her. The closest
I have witnessed lately was the energy level and body language of the recent Belmont
Stakes entrants being led from paddock to starting gate. At once it occurred to me that the last time
she was in the presence of so much horse activity, she was probably on the way
to the starting gate herself. She was
recalling her job... which was to go fast!
I tacked up and mounted. At this moment I have no fear of riding Lola,
and it isn’t because I am particularly brave. It’s because today, at this
moment.. I understand. I understand and I trust. This horse has learned to trust me
implicitly. Today I can
reciprocate. My early concerns were all
about me: What if “I” don’t do well?
What will “I” look like if this horse tears up the arena? What if “I”
don’t look like I can control my horse? Silly, self-centered fears that I
needed to be rid of.
Schooling in the field before our test, a
beautiful thing happened. That song came into my head again:
“Diamond Girl
You sure do shine..
Glad I found you..
Glad you’re mine…”
My tenseness began to melt, and so too,
hers.
This day was about her, not me.
“How can I
Shine without you..
When it’s about you
That I am…”
All of my concerns and trepidations fell
away as I realized, I love this horse. I’ve loved other horses before, but not
like this one. In the practice field, I sang the verses to her. If anyone heard, they might have thought it
strange. Or if they saw me choke up at the line,
“I could never find
Another one like you..
…Diamond Girl, now that I found you
Well it’s around you
That I am..”
A glance at my watch revealed our time
approaching. I took a breath and headed for the arena and staged ourselves in
position to wait and be called. And she
stood. Quietly. Remarkably so, and she
waited. She dropped her head, and
waited. And when called, gave a performance that while far from the perfection
demanded of those dedicated to the discipline, was complete, under control, and
made more than a few people proud.
It was just one little class in one little
show. For the occasion, Lola sported a
new leather show halter. She had been wearing the same old halter that I bought
at the auction house back then, another small detail. But symbolically, in my
mind, Lola made the transition today from project to performer. That looms
huge. Of course she will always be a
work in progress, as will I. Acknowledging that, a sign in the barn aisle
outside Lola’s stall declares , “Progress, Not Perfection”. I hope we never finish our journey… because
it’s a beautiful thing to just be on it with my Diamond Girl.
< The author and Lola at her first horse show.
Good Shepherd Farm, Training Level
Dressage Test 06/12.
More photos.. V V
More photos.. V V
The author and Lola ("One Precious Gem") await the judge's bell.... >>
<The author's wife, Mary, holds Lola after
her successful first horse show performance...
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