Stephanie and Wads were quite a show team for a few years. As I said in the first blog of me jumping him over a wall, Steph showed him in horse shows around Virginia and Maryland. They won quite a few championships over time. Not only was he an awesome jumper, but he was quite a character.
Wads loved Orange Crush, 7-up running a close second. You could not fool him with any other soda, as he simply refused. He also loved pizza. On my rides to one of the parks, there was a concession stand with the usual fare. He would nicker and speed up when he saw it was “the food stand”, as he knew he could have pizza and Orange Crush. And, to top it off, when we went to horse shows, we had to take his very own very large water container and bucket, because he wouldn’t drink the water from any other source or use anyone else’s bucket.
This little chestnut dynamo could open deadbolts. Long after Steph got her second horse, I took over the care of Wads. Well, it was difficult to balance school, a full time job and a family, so a family Steph knew wanted to use Wads for show jumping for a season or two. So, off to their barn he went. I warned them that Wads could open stall doors, and seriously was a regular Houdini. They did not take heed to my advice. Wads was put in a small barn, away from the main barn, of 7 horses with a sizeable center area for trunks, grooming, etc. One morning, the owner called me at work, rather hysterical that Wads had opened his stall door and let all the other horses out. The problem was they were playing blanket tag. Horses have very strong teeth and can do damage to tearing other horses blankets during play. Sadly, a few blankets were torn. She said the noise was incredible.
There was an occasion during a somewhat very nasty winter here in Virginia that Wads pulled Jerry into the creek using his head and neck. Wads had developed sand colic, so the vet suggested that we stand him in a creek twice a day. Jer volunteered the morning shift at 5:00 a.m. timeframe at the barn. Decked out in winter gear, a blanketed horse, flashlight along the trail, and then the creek. Wads thought it was foolhardy that he should have to go into a partially frozen creek. Jer tried everything to push him in, but either his front end would be out or his backend would be up on the ground. He just would mess around until he would try to get Jer in the creek and give him the horse’s laugh.
I have many more stories of that wonderful little horse, but maybe another time.