Leta told me she was born with the horse gene. She loved horses from her earliest memories. Growing up, she became an avid reader but most especially loved Walter Farley’s books about the Black Stallion. She loved Arabian horses and enjoyed watching them. She thought they were the most beautiful horses in the world, but she never dreamed she would ever own one.
Leta grew up in Carlsbad, NM, and now lives in Texas in the middle of American Quarter Horse country. Most of her friends in New Mexico had Quarter Horses to ride and shared them with Leta. The girls spent their time riding and enjoying their horses. Her love and enjoyment of horses have followed her through life, marriage, children, grandchildren, and recently great-grandchildren.
As Leta got a little older, she became interested in showing horses. She loves the Western Pleasure discipline. She told me, “I’m the Queen of Slow.” While she enjoys watching the other disciplines, Western Pleasure is her class. She had the privilege of seeing some of the finest Western Pleasure horses in the country at the US National Championships but never expected one of her’s would place at that level.
She and a close friend went together to visit a ranch standing a beautiful son of Desperado V. Leta was interested in breeding her first Arabian mare to him. They stopped at one of the paddocks to see some of the babies playing. One yearling filly came right up to the rail where Leta stood and whinnied at her. “It was like she was asking me to look at her,” Leta told me. “Of all the visitors on that ranch, that little filly picked me!” Leta and her friend were smitten with the filly and decided to buy her together. They discovered the filly’s sire was Desperado V, one of Leta’s favorite stallions of all time. Her friend thought they could pool their money for her expenses for a couple of years, get her saddle trained, and maybe make a few dollars selling her later.
That all changed when they got Sugar home. Leta fell in love with her. “She became my best friend,” Leta told me. “I love her to death.” Leta and her husband bought out her friend’s half ownership, and Sugar became Leta’s horse. Leta got to show Sugar in halter several times. She always did very well. She is correct in conformation and has a little pizzas to go with that. Sugar is a beautiful bay with four white socks and a star. She also has that unique “star” quality that calls your attention to her. She became more beautiful as she grew up and developed into an adult horse.
At age three, Leta had a trainer work with Sugar to get her saddle training started. Sugar was compliant and did everything the trainer asked her to do. The trainer told Leta, “I’ve never worked with a horse who understood the training so quickly and easily. I’ve never worked with one who could master the walk, trot, and canter in one day.”
Sugar rode in the Western Pleasure discipline for a while. Leta told me she felt something was missing. It took her some time to figure it out. It finally struck her that Sugar was doing the job well enough, but she wasn’t thrilled doing it. She would wring her tail constantly. Leta didn’t know what Sugar wanted to do. She told me, “I love Sugar. I want her to be happy. Most people don’t listen to their horses. If their horses are doing a specific discipline because that’s what their owner wants, but they are not happy doing it, they will never shine. They need to be doing something that makes them happy.” Leta had no idea how to figure out what would make her horse happy under saddle.
Leta asked a friend, an accomplished horsewoman, to take Sugar for a ride and give her opinion. Her friend decided to take Sugar on the adjoining property. That property happened to be a 5,000-acre working cattle ranch. She rode for a couple of hours. When she brought Sugar back to the barn, she told Leta, “Sugar is really “cowy!” Maybe that’s what she wants to do. You should look into the Western Cow Horse classes for her.” Leta said, “Oh, great! I have no cow!”
Leta never worked a cow in her life. She did know a gentleman who trained Arabian working cow horses in Oklahoma. She and her husband drove Sugar to him. He commented that Sugar was too pretty to be a cow horse, so he wanted to see what she was like in Western Pleasure first. Leta and her friend returned two weeks later to see Sugar’s progress. The trainer got on Sugar and put her through her Western Pleasure paces. She did well enough, but Leta could see clearly that was not what made Sugar happy. She asked the trainer if he’d worked her with cows yet. He looked a bit surprised and told her he had not. Leta asked him to try her out with a cow and see how she did.
The trainer had a young steer put in the arena next to his cattle pens and rode Sugar into the arena. He asked her to rail the cow, and she did. He asked her to turn the cow, and she did. He asked her to reverse the cow, and she did. And she loved doing it! Leta and her friend could see the difference immediately. Sugar was having the best time of her life chasing that cow. The trainer was surprised by how responsive she was and how quickly she learned.
They sat down and planned a schedule for some shows. Sugar won many of her classes in several states in the Arabian Horse Association’s Region 9, including the Regional Championship show. She qualified to compete at the National Championships. They took her to the US Nationals at the end of that year. She was named the US National Champion Junior Working Cow Horse in her first year at US Nationals! Leta told me, “Most people can’t understand how it makes you feel to have your horse win a National Championship.” She says, “ It is the biggest “high” you’ll ever feel!”
Not long after Sugar’s big wins, Leta’s granddaughter wanted to get into showing horses. She and her husband helped her and brought Sugar home to be Leta’s trail horse companion. At that time, they vacationed in Colorado every year. They took Sugar with them. Leta rode Sugar up the mountains, down the valleys, through streams, in the forest, and on the flats. Together, they went everywhere. Sugar is willing to tackle terrain of all kinds and enjoys riding with Leta. She still does at the age of 22, and Leta is no spring chicken herself. Leta is a bit past the “social security age” and still rides the horse of her dreams as often as possible.
Leta told me she’s never had the bond with a horse that she has with Sugar. She loves her like she loves her own children and can’t conceive of life without her. I hope they have many more years of Happy Trails together.
