He was my first “real” (not a pony) horse. He was two years old and I was nine years old. So, I couldn’t even ride him.
Reed Man, my childhood friend, looking out of the trailer.
Grandpa brought him from his farm near Scott City one sunny afternoon in July to an old barn owned by Dick Farmer who was the 4-H horse leader. I’d never seen anything so beautiful and I thought he was the epitome of the American Quarter Horse. His sorrel coat was like a bright, shiny penny in the sun.
His name was Reed Man, grandpa had raised him and now he was to be mine. He brought him up so I could show him at halter in the county fair in a few weeks then he was to go to a trainer so I could start riding him. We placed high at the fair, a blue ribbon, but he was only good enough to be Grand Champion in my vision.
The next spring, he came back and I was able to ride him as long as I didn’t race him with other horses. I must not have been careful enough because his four-year-old year he was sent back to the trainer for more lessons. Then he was all mine.
He would stay at grandpa’s farm during the winter until I was old enough to take care of him and we could keep him somewhere I didn’t have to be driven to do it. It was always exciting in the spring when he would move to the little place that was across the road from our house so I could ride once again.
Riding turned into showing
Reed Man on a trail ride – Wagons Ho!
Then I started showing. I rode him in all classes starting with Showmanship and ending with pole bending. We excelled at the speed classes, barrel racing and pole bending and tried our best at the others, but he didn’t like to slow down enough. When I was in high school, I would get another horse to ride in the other classes and Reed Man would only be my speed horse.
We grew up together. He was my confidant and friend. I wasn’t aware of his healing power even though he used them on me frequently. Whenever I had a problem I would walk over and talk with him about it and feel much better. There was one boy who would be called a stalker now that we had many conversations about.
We went to many 4-H horse shows and high school rodeos. Qualifying for the state 4-H horse show my Freshman year. I was going to Japan that summer right before school started so grandpa kept him in shape for me. I only had a few weeks after I returned before the State Fair – it didn’t matter we placed 4th in the pole bending and I was ecstatic. The next year we qualified but because of a SNAFU I missed the class and I was never able to qualify again. I believe that was due to my disappointment.
Reed Man was lame
Susan and Reed Man pole bending at the Kansas State High School Rodeo
We continued to show and rodeo and during my senior year he started knocking down barrels and poles so we had trouble getting times that were good. Then my uncle who was a vet on the racetrack noticed that he seemed to be sore. We went to Colorado State University to see one of the leading vets in the country and he was diagnosed with navicular disease, a degenerative condition of one of the bones in the hoof. We put pads on his feet and put him on an anti-inflammatory. Then he ran so hard that we hit a pole the first time out.
It took a while, but I got him to where he didn’t need the medication and as long as he was properly shoed, he was sound. He went to college with me and we continued to show. While I was at K-State I discovered jumping and he learned to jump. He wasn’t very tall, but he was strong.
I was in a relationship at that time and I knew that I could get out of it if I came back to Oakley, so I did. It was that summer that I met Mike. Then in February of the next year I left to work with a hunter/jumper trainer and took him with me. That situation didn’t work out, so I only spent two months there so again I was back in Oakley.
About mid-summer he got sick, so we went to the vet. They didn’t know what was going on, so they were doing supportive therapy. This was my soul horse I had grown up with, my best friend. I often joked that we’d be together until one of us died. And then I got the call from the vet – he wasn’t going to make it I needed to contact the insurance company and let them know that he needed to be euthanized.
He was 14 years old and I was 21. It was the hardest day of my life up to that point.
A sunrise from the barn across the road where I spent many hours talking with Reed Man.
The Lessons
It was also the day that changed my mom’s mind about Mike. He took care of me through that and took Reed Man to grandpa’s farm to be buried.
Reed Man taught me patience when I pushed him too fast and we had to do some retraining which happened more than once. He taught me how to handle disappointment when we missed our event at the State Fair and when he was lame. He taught me the grace and resilience that I would need later in life.
Even at a young age I instinctively knew that horses had healing powers. This one had helped me through my junior high and high school years, and young adult relationships. I would always go to him when I needed consoling. He was my therapist.
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Horses are magical like Wildfire.
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Onward! The Mastery of the Horse
