His name is Montana; he is a registered Spotted Saddle Horse. We bought him from a field trial bird dog judge. As a trail horse he was fearless. He liked what he did so much that he would celebrate, mid ride, by kicking up his heels and bucking. He did not buck to throw you off, just to celebrate or complain. With his smooth gait he moved down the trail effortlessly, but make no mistake, he was a handful to ride.
I remember once on a trail ride at East Fork Stables in Tennessee, I was sitting at a trail head reading a map. My wife, Bobbie, was riding my horse Ginger and we were with another couple. The trail was a circle and the women decided to go to the left, while the men went to the right. As I sat there on Montana reading the map, the women moved off down the trail. Suddenly he took a huge leap into the air and kicked with both back legs. When we landed I was still reading the map. I didn’t say anything, which caused my friend to say “what was that all about”? I told him that the horse was not happy that the other horses had left him. We then continued on in the opposite direction with no further complaints from Montana. He was a pleasure to ride, but you had to stay on your toes to be ready for his next celebration.
Montana, who is now thirty, is a beautiful horse; He is what is known as a bay spotted saddle horse. A bay horse is some shade of sorrel with a black mane and tail, coupled with black lower legs. Montana has a white patch on his rump that blends into his black tail and there is another white patch on his neck that blends into his black mane. His lower legs are white.
When he was younger Bobbie decided she wanted to ride him. She got a trainer to work with them, to teach her how to control his explosive attitude. As they worked they discovered that he could be trained as a dressage horse. Spotted Saddle horses are gaited and don’t have a very good trot, which is required in dressage. Montana has a very good trot and he will stay in it at different speeds. So Bobbie and the horse began to train for dressage. They got good enough to compete at the novice level and win. His attitude proved to be an asset as he exploded into his routine.
People thought that he was a spotted Hanoverian. They had a hard time accepting it when we corrected them. He had quite a following in the small circles in which he competed. When we unloaded him at a show he would whinny and bow his neck as if to say, I am here and the rest of you can go home. When he performed it was obvious that much power was being harnessed and controlled.
He has given us many memories of how the bird dog judge’s horse transitioned into a trail horse and then transformed into an amateur dressage horse. In his old age he still has that show horse attitude as well as a special place in our hearts.
