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.

The day I found out the news :(

The bad, bad news. Shelly had gotten sold. The horse that was un-sellable got sold. I had my lesson on Willie, and after I stood at Shell's stall crying. Shelly was licking my arms and my face and nibbling at my shirt. She was sad, I could tell by her eyes. Maybe she didn't know that she was leaving, but she knew that I was sad and when I was sad, she was also sad. 

I probably stood at her stall crying and kissing her face and re-braiding her forelock over and over again for 2 hours. I made my mom cry and Katy cry.
David and his family were super pissy that I was crying. David said, "This is my job and its just a horse." which was super rude to say to me! and he also said, "Stop crying! You have nothing to cry about!" and "its time to roll with the big show horses." NO SHUT THE HELL UP! He told me a week before he sold her that she really loved me and now he was giving her away and it wasn't to me!

His wife, Caren said to me, "She's going to a better home." Therefore implying that, the business they ran wasn't a good home for Shelly and therefore wasn't a good home for any horse. His daughter Tiffany said, "My parents have sold so many of my horses and I always got better ones." wow thats nice to say, NOT! I didn't want another horse, I just wanted Shelly.
And than Katy surprised me, she said something that I couldn't believe came out of her mouth. "You'll be fine, you'll make a new friend with a new horse. You'll get over it. Its better than her dying." OH MY GOD! WHAT KIND OF PEOPLE ARE YOU!

I was devastated and I frankly don't care if I ever see David again or not.


Well anyways happy time= picture time! So here is the last picture I have of Shelly and me together.

Academy Show

So Shelly and I showed academy only, which was walk-trot-canter classes. She acted up at shows, she got nervous because I was nervous; and we screwed up. She would take the wrong lead and I would have bad equitation and I would slam her down and she would get pissy. It was typical Aubrey and Shelly. We were scary in the show ring, not because we beat everyone (because we sure as hell never beat anyone), but because we were everywhere. We were so screwed up. 

Here's a picture of me on Shelly before our class, you can't really see Shelly that well. 

Here's some more pictures from the show, I think it is of us cantering. I can't really tell, they were taken with a cell phone.

Here's a picture of us walking at the show, not my best eq.

Here's us in the line-up with the other girl who ended up winning (not to my surprise)

My best friend

A horse can be your best friend, she is there for you when no one else is. 
She won't share your secrets and she won't make fun of you. 
She isn't going to hurt your feelings or do anything to mentally hurt you.
She will always be there, even when she isn't. 
She made your life better, and better will it stay.

I see presents in your future :)

So it was Christmas of 2012, wow how fun! A year since I had met Shelly and we were now best friends! 
Katy (girl at the barn) sent me a picture of Shelly.

Katy: Maybe this will be under your tree this year :)

I prayed and prayed, that my parents would buy her. That they would find the money somewhere! Well that didn't happen, but I did get Shelly a present and she sure gave me one too! I made Shelly a stocking, with her name and a few mints and some sugar cubes. It was little, but meant the world to her, just like her present to me. Shelly slowed down her sitting trot, almost to a walk. It was the beginning of her adventure, and the beginning of mine. 

When I met Shelly

The day I met Shelly was beyond SCARY! I needed three experienced riders to help me get her ready, because I was new to riding. I was in jeans and gym shoes. I was new. I could barely post which pissed Shelly off. I was bouncy when I first rode her. And I pissed her off. She reared up on me and me being unexperienced, I didn't know what to do. I leaned forward, which was the wrong thing to do. I had a visor on my helmet, which stopped her from hitting me in the head totally, but her head didn't miss the hit to my mouth. She whacked me so hard, I almost flew off; instead I had a bleeding lip and a puffy face. Having braces didn't help, which just tore up my gums. That scared the shit out of me and I truly didn't ever want to get back on Shelly, but something happened the next week. Something crazy, something extraordinary. 

I wanted to see Shelly. I went to her and gave her a treat. A treat to an evil horse, was I crazy or what? And that's when I realized, maybe this horse just needs someone to love her. She needs a friend, and I am here; so why not be me.