The Truth behind Smells/Smelly

Everyone at the barn would call Shelly, Smelly or Smells and I always wondered why. I didn't think Shelly smelled any worse than the other horses, if anything she smelled a lot better; considering she didn't roll in her own feces like many other horses did. 

It wasn't until that day, that I would forever think of Shelly as Smells. It was a normal Saturday, I worked on stall manners with Shelly with Andrea. Andrea was braiding Shelly's forelock and I was picking out her tail. My face was lined up perfectly with Shelly's butt. She did the worse that you could do, she farted...in my face.
"Oh my god Shelly! You little slut." I laughed, obviously joking around with her. 
Andrea was laughing so hard at that point and I think Shelly was too, by the way she neighed and shook her head almost saying that she was pleased with herself.

Every single time I would pick out that horse's tail, I swear she thought it was hilarious to fart in my face. One time I pretended to fart in her face and she nipped my butt, leaving a wonderful bruise on it; telling me that only she was aloud to do that to.

And that is why we called her Smells and Smelly, not because she smelled bad and not to be mean; but because she farted in people's faces.

Trail riding

Yesterday I went on a trail ride in a metro park near me and I rode an old friends gaited horse, which was way different for me, but it was super fun! We rode in dressage saddles which I have never done on a trail ride and the horses were pasture/stall board which I was not used to, since David boards his horses all year round in stalls. These horses were so calm and had great ground rules. They wanted to go out and ride. It was like taking a dog for a walk. They were so excited. It was way different because I wasn't being judged on my shoulders and getting yelled at to put my chin up higher or my elbows bent more. I felt more of a connection with the horse although my reins were super loose since the horse wasn't used to a bridle yet. These horses didn't have shoes, which was so weird, but yet again the lady did practice natural horsemanship which was super cool.  I think that the reason that I liked Shelly so much and had such a connect with her was because she wasn't a show horse and I wasn't a show rider, I got to bond with her and learn about her. I'm so glad that her home is great for her, she gets a pasture and a stall, she gets friends (which horses need to see other horses, I mean they are pack animals), she gets to be happier than she ever was with David and so do I.

Perks

I don't think of bad habits as bad habits, I think of them as perks because they basically make you who you are. And Shelly had and has many "perks" and so do I.

Shelly's

• kicking (fixed with kick chains)
• bucking (magically fixed)
• rearing (magically fixed)
• pawing (still there)
• nibbling (still there)
• licking people she likes (see isn't actually bad, its kinda cute)
• eat her feed bucket (is bad, but its still cute)
• kicking in cross-ties (still there)
• cantering inconsistent (she likes to speed up, because she thinks she's a race horse; she is a dork)

Mine

• can't fix my feet on the go
• can't keep elbows bent
• can't keep wrist flat

i have a lot less "perks" at the barn than Shelly does, but that just makes us both who we are :)

Mara

I don't know Mara that well, but from what I do know; I can tell that she is great for Shelly. When I met Mara, I had a wonderful first impression. She was super nice and friendly to Shelly even though Shelly was giving her a little trouble. She asked questions and I knew that she wanted to get to know everything about Shelly, so she could become Shelly's best friend just like I had been. She wanted the best for Shelly just like I had wanted. And I am absolutely sure that Mara is doing the best that she can do to live up to my friendship with Shelly. Mara has become a friend to me (well at least I think so), I have someone to talk to about Shelly and about horses and she has someone to ask questions about Shelly when she needs them answered and someone to congratulate her when she wins shows with Shelly and when she has a breakthrough with Shelly too. When I asked Mara for her contact information, she didn't resist almost as if she wanted to ask me for mine before she had the chance. 

Andrea didn't like Mara purely because she felt like she was taking Shelly away from us, but I reminded her that David was not the right home for Shelly and that Shelly was not a show horse, she wasn't meant to be left in a stall all day. She was meant to see daylight and she was meant to have a friend who she saw everyday, not some girls who came twice a week and said hi and braided her forelock once in a while and gave her baths when told to. She was meant to have a friend who would sit with her for hours and brush her everyday and re-braid her forelock every morning and give her baths whenever she felt like it and for someone to buy her Christmas presents and someone to work with her everyday to build a relationship; and I feel the right person for that job in the end wasn't Andrea or me, it was Mara. God gave the job to Mara because he knew that she would be there forever for Shelly, he knew that David would never let Andrea or me buy Shelly; but God knew a girl perfect for Shelly and as much as I wish it was me, at the end of the day the person for Shelly is Mara and it will always be Mara. God blessed Shelly and Mara both with wonderful best friends and God blessed me with the chance to find myself a horse that I can own and build a friendship with and that I can always be there for. God does everything for a reason and his reason for having Mara be able to buy Shelly was a great reason!

Shelly's stall

The day Shelly left Andrea and I sat and cried in her stall. We relived every memory we had. We laughed and cried. I remembered one time I was so sad and I went to Shelly's beloved stall. My sacred place. I held food in my hand for Shelly and laughed at how torn up her food bucket was. I always joked with her about that. I joked about every little perk she had. This is a picture of her destroyed food bucket 

Yes I took a picture of her good bucket because who knew when the next time I saw her stall would be. Yes I'm a freak for doing so. 

I also took a picture of her stall marker so I knew exactly how much she used to eat. 

Wow Aubrey. You are such a weirdo (just some self criticism) it's okay I just took all the pictures I needed for memory :) 

Good future

I recently heard from Mara (Shelly's New Owner). 
Mara said that her and Shelly have qualified for fair, which is fabulous! She also said that Shelly go her feet done and her shots and she was great for those! She has also informed me that Shelly has been working very well and listening very well also. Mara has become a friend to me and that makes me happy, that I can keep in touch with her and keep in touch with Shelly.

I know Shelly is a horse and can't see all that I say on here. She doesn't need to, I just want to share this. I want to share how she is doing and how I am doing. 

I have recently quit riding at my barn and am now currently looking for a new one and as for Shelly I hope to here about all the fun adventures her and Mara have and all the blue ribbons they are soon to win in 4-H. 
Congratulations to Mara for being able to be best friends with my best friend and the best horse I know.
Congratulations to Shelly for having the best home she could ask for.
and Congratulations to me for getting out of the hell whole I used to go to. 

Shelly is now happy :)

This is Shelly(Rare edition) with her new owner. I could talk about how happy I am that she has better home than she ever did with David, but I don’t want to. I want to talk about how great Shelly was. She was a great friend to me. When I first came to the barn she was the scary horse. The horse that kicked out boards everyday. The horse that wore kick chains and threw everyone off. She tried throwing me off the first time I rode her. Let me put it this way, she was evil. No one wanted her except for me. Being who I am, I took this horse under my wing and visited her everyday. I told her that I loved her and told her how beautiful she is. She would toss her head at me. Almost laughing at me. I began riding her all the time. We became friends. We made baby steps. I gave her treats and braided her forelock. I even got to the point where I could sit down in her stall and even stand behind her and pick out her tail. She also loved her baths. We had several different shampoos that we can use to bathe the horses and I always let Shelly smell them to see if she liked them or not. I told her to kick for no and shake her head for yes. It was so weird when she actually kicked for 3 shampoos and shook her head for the strawberry one. It was quite amazing. I was shocked. I was laughing like crazy and Shelly was neighing. And David told me “that horse really loves you" and then he took her away from me. He took my best friend from me. He sold her for little to nothing and didn’t even offer for me to buy her. I could have afforded her. She was mine. Maybe not money wise, but in my heart she was mine. The week before she left I stood in her stall crying, more like wailing. She stood there licking my arms and my face. She was as sad as I was. I could tell in her eyes. She tried so hard to be her mean self when Mara came to buy her, but Shelly couldn’t be mean. She wasn’t that mean horse anymore, she was nice now. She was happy with her life, with herself. She knew when I came to say goodbye, that it was for real. She was actually leaving. And now she is so happy. She has a person to love her everyday. To tell her how beautiful she is and how amazing she is. She has someone to spoil her. She is happy now, and that’s all I want; Is for her to be happy.