Kelly Acres Gazelle – 1994 Section A Welsh chestnut mare

To telly Foxy’s story, first I will share the story of her mom, Norella Mona. Mona came to the farm with my cousin who acquired her while doing farrier work. This fancy little mare had been meant to be a kids pony but had a nasty bolting issue. So Kelly brought her home and I was forbidden from working with her by myself as she was deemed dangerous. So I would go to the barn when everyone was busy and spend time with her, eventually taking her out and “training” her to lunge. At age 8 I had already been starting youngsters for a few years, but always with supervision. I wanted to prove that Mona wasn’t dangerous, I could get through to her by being gentle instead of forceful, and that I could do it by myself.

So having never had an official lesson, I learned by watching other horsepeople at shows, at other ranches, barns and asked alot of questions (likely being a bit of a pain in the butt). Lungeline on, we ventured out into the old garden behind the shop, and I started her on a small circle walking, increasing it outward and moving to a trot like I had seen the “big trainers” do. Mona was responsive, and seemed to get it really easily. We switched directions a few times, Man she was beautiful. And all was well, until something startled her, and from what I remember, she spooked toward me making the line slack, which caught under my elbow, and then she bolted. I had been taught to not ever let a horse go if I could help it as it would teach them to be hard to catch, so I think with the rope under my elbow and my hand locked, she pulled me off my 8 year old feet, and I hit my head. She ran around the yard several times missing all of the machinery, buildings and other obstacles.

Dad found Mona grazing and me near a tree root that he had been in the process of removing. Apparently I was more than a little damaged, he was sure I was gone. He scooped me up and got me to the house, called Mom who was at grandmas and told her to get home, but didn’t tell her why. I was in a coma for 6 weeks, required many stitches, had a broken jaw and no memory prior to the accident. Fortunately, Mona was still alive, though traumatized. I wanted to continue to learn with her. So now with supervision, we continued to learn. I did show her, and she was driving both single and as a team, but she was always reactive! We later found out that at her prior home, kids had tied a sleigh behind her and when they pulled back on the reins to stop it pulled the sled up to Monas heels causing a runaway, the kids screaming and pulling the sleigh just made it scarier.

In all the time I knew her, she never offered to kick, but her flight reaction was easily activated! She managed to teach me many skills, was an extremely good mom, even helping raise an orphan foal. She passed her beauty, athletic ability, and traumas on to her babies. I learned how to be aware of anything that a horse might deem a threat, how to listen to overwhelm, and how to bandage various injuries and wounds. She was the first horse I remember speaking to me, which she did often, the last time she shared stories (someday I may share them), apologized for injuring me told me we were connected and that she was ready to go, and where to find her. She was close to 30, and walked out to find exactly what she had told me the night before and she was finally at peace.

So back to Foxy, she was Mona’s last baby, and we retained her against Mom’s wishes, I desperately wanted to protect the bloodline. She won under international judges in many breeding classes, was hot and haughty, and liked to pretend she had never seen people before, but once haltered was very sweet. She is a herd matriarch and will live out her days as she chooses.