"Shirley the Show Mare"

Shirley is my 25 y/o AQHA Golden Palomino Mare. Sassy & Blondi are her daughters. She was leased out to raise a palomino & white paint stud colt & palomino filly as well. Our family bought Shirley when she was 1 y/o from my Uncle Pat. Her dam was a palomino mare, Velvet who excelled at speed events. Her sire was a bay stallion who was also a speed champion. Why did I turn her into a western pleasure mare???

In the beginning, Shirley was not a fun horse to handle or ride. She would break halter after halter, lead after lead by pulling back when tied & flipping over backwards. Once I was a little smarter, I corrected that problem easily & she hasn't broken anything in over 15 years. We were unable to trim her whiskers with clippers, twitch or even deworm her for many, many years. If anyone tried to ride her by herself away from home she would balk. If you tried to make her go anyway, she would rear up & flip over. Luckily, no one ever got seriously hurt on her.

Shirley has had 3 accidents over the years requiring stitches. One, time on her face??? I learned some valuable lessons from the other two accidents. One time another horse got in the stall behind her & started beating her up so she tried to go over the top of a 5 1/2' gate. Needless to say, she didn't make it & required stitches in the girth area. I've learned not to leave a bucket sitting on the ground for a horse as she stepped her hoof trough it & tore her leg up badly & was lame for months.

I began showing Shirley when I was around 12 y/o. We competed at Little Buckaroo Saddle Club, Watson, Shelby Co 4-H, Vandalia, Casey & the IL State Jr Horse Show in Springfield. Shirley & I evolved together as I learned to teach her leads, pivots, reining patterns, flying lead changes, holding her held level & a slow gait. We took about 4 lessons from a local professional & were on our way. Shirley & I won many high point awards at local & state level including Top Ten State Western Pleasure Horse for several years. I've had a lot of offers over the years from people & even judges wanting a show horse or broodmare.

When I turned 17 y/o Shirley was retired to pasture. Imagine her surprise & indignation when I put her back to work several years later. Not only did she have to be a show horse again, but she had to give lessons & trail rides to beginners. I guess she has a good excuse for her cranky attitude, considering it's like putting a retired 80 year old woman back to work. She isn't much fun to saddle, but she is like driving a cadillac if you know how to communicate with her.

Shirley now lives in the geriatric pasture with Spirit, Halim, Freckles & Wildfire & has glucosamine added to her grain to help prevent arthritis.

When the new paint filly was 2 days old, Shirley stole it from Surprise & claimed it as her own before the real mother "stepped in". Sorry, Shirley, you are a little to old for any more babies!