Cookie

A few of you have asked me how Cookie is doing with our new additions. Being that the people who asked are friends who also have horses and know Cookie...those questions are very valid ones. (Cookie is the one with the pinkish halter)

I've been riding Cookie for 17 years and owned her for 14, so we know each other inside and out. There really aren't surprises between us. I started riding her when I was almost 10, at my aunt's stable. I instantly fell in love and probably asked my aunt several times a week if I could buy her. She finally agreed, and I spent all the money I had saved from my confirmation and babysitting jobs to buy her when I was 13. Some of the best money I've ever spent!

To those of you who don't know Cookie, she's a great horse but she has her, shall we say, quirks. First of all, she's opposite of most horses that have Appaloosa breeding (though she's only half Appaloosa, half Paint). Most Apps are white with brown spotting. Nope, Cookie is brown with small, white spots. She also has one brown eye and one eye that is half brown, half blue. People are constantly asking if she's blind in that eye, and I've even been asked if she's possessed. Sometimes, she is.

Cookie is very reliable and has a huge heart, but she's different. She's a blast to ride and always does what I ask of her, even if it's not something she's comfortable with. She's awesome, but she's also a nut. Cookie is very flighty, but not in the normal sense. We can be out riding and a deer will jump out of the woods 2 feet in front of us, but she won't flinch. Four minutes later a leaf will blow across the trail and she will go ballistic. A car will back fire within 5 miles of us and you would think it was the start of WWIII. But I know these things. With Cookie, I know to expect the unexpected. And that's part of why I love her so much.

Cookie is also not the friendliest horse. Many people refer to her as, well, something I can't say on a family blog...let's just say it starts with B and rhymes with Itch. Anyway, that's what prompted the questions on how she's adjusting to Chloe and Chief. She's the type of horse that is hard to make friends, but once she has them it's hard for her to let them go. She's a dominant horse and in the wild would have been the dominant mare in the herd. Without a doubt. When we're out riding, she has been known to kick at strange horses, or at the very least pin her ears back and give warning looks. So far, she's doing okay with the new horses. It took a few days, but they are to the point where they will all eat from the round bale at the same time. Sure, Cookie's on one side and Chloe and Chief are on the other, but it's progress! The first 2 days they weren't even allowed into the same area of the pasture as her. It takes time, but soon enough, they'll all be friends.