Lucky was a very spirited horse but she did manage to surprise us with her sense of her rider’s
ability. My nephew, who at the time was 4, could get on her without a saddle or bridle and ride anywhere and she would
plod along. My neighbour’s daughter used her for riding lessons and she behaved beautifully. But for anyone with a lot of experience, she
was a handful.
Lucky and I rode in the Little Britches Parade in High River. She was always so showy – prancing her way through the parades – especially the
one year where we had the Shriner’s Band and little cars in front of us and the Al Shamal pipe band (where they wear the funny shoes) band behind us.
That was an interesting ride but very fun.
In 1984, we moved to Moose Jaw, SK and hauled her with us in the back of a half ton with stock racks as she
refused to go into a trailer. As I was only allowed to take one horse with me, we sold Lucky’s two babies to great people
who owned them for their entire lives.
In Moose Jaw, Lucky was boarded on a farm, but I still managed to ride as often as I could. We
traveled through out Moose Jaw in our quest for something interesting to do. Saskatchewan was also the first place that Lucky and I had ever encountered hills to trek
over and a river to wade through.
In 1988, I became a mom myself so my riding time dwindled. With a move to Edmonton
the same year, Lucky was on the move again. Finding time to ride was hard during that time of my life. I can still remember Melissa’s first ride on
Lucky - she was 6 weeks old and in a baby carrier and Lucky was an angel – she
must have known that Melissa was up there with me.
In 1992, I married Doyle and soon began his transformation from a city slicker to farm boy. After years of boarding Lucky out, Doyle and
I decided to purchase a farm of our own. Lucky was, finally, back where she belonged, in my backyard. I semi-retired Lucky to pasture at age 16, as
I was busy having my family but we still enjoyed going for the occasional
ride.
At the age of 20, I decided to breed Lucky again. She
foaled a nice buckskin colt. I finally
got the color I was breeding for but the wrong sex, so I decided to try again
and bred her to my girlfriend’s paint stallion. She foaled out a beautiful red roan paint filly. Not quite the right color but wow – what a looker!!
Since then, we have found our dream home and Lucky has again made the transition to a new home. After all the years of relocating in my life
– this is it!!
My daughter Melissa now rides Lucky. It absolutely amazes me to watch them. No one else has
ever been able to handle her as well as I learned to. But Melissa is definitely my child. My mom says it is amazing to watch Lucky and
Melissa. She told me one day that "it is déjà vu - like going back in time
to watch you and that horse except now the rider is blond not brunette". After giving Melissa Lucky’s last filly, I
feel that life has come full circle and I hope that Melissa and Angel will
enjoy the same life long love that Lucky and I have had. Even the ages are the
same - Lucky was 4 and I was 12 when we began our journey. Angel was 4 and Melissa was 13 at the time.
