The quintessential Quarter Horse! We are celebrating these horses as our October Breed of the Month on YourDressage!
Did you know that dressage riders who choose an American Quarter Horse as their dressage mount are eligible for special awards through the Adequan®/USDF All-Breeds Awards program, as the American Quarter Horse Association is a participating organization?
When life gives you lemons, hug your horse and make lemonade. Here, a rider from Region 5 explains how she and her friendly Quarter Horse have supported each other through their ups and downs.
By Veronica Miluk
I met Midnight Mischief Maker in October 2002. I now celebrate his “Gotcha Month,” as we’ve been together so long that I have forgotten the exact date, and this was well before we had Facebook to record all our memories.
I’ve ridden most of my life, beginning in Sweden when I was nine, and I rode and groomed until I was in my early twenties. I took a short hiatus before moving to the US, and subsequently got married.
My marriage turned out to be an unhappy one, and finding a hobby became very important to me. I began my search for an equine partner, and found myself visiting a small breeder outside of Cheyenne, Wyoming, where I was living at the time. Finding a bright spot amidst my situation was also important to my parents, who ended up purchasing Midnight for me.
At the time, he was a gangly yearling in a herd of about 30 horses, living on a couple of hundred acres on the Wyoming plains. He was the product of an accidental breeding; the stud had gotten out and, unbeknownst to the owners, had covered a mare.
The breeders came out to check on the herd one day in October, and there he was. Because he was considered an oopsie baby, he was cheap – just $500. I have always jokingly referred to him as my bargain bin pony, but the love, people, and adventures he has brought into my life have been priceless.
There were other colts on the farm that day that were cuter, and papered, but I petted Midnight first. When I went to look at the other yearlings, Midnight kept following me and headbutting me in the back with his nose. It was like he was saying, “Hey lady, I’m still here, and I’d like some more pets.” Needless to say, he stole my heart, and I ended up deciding to buy him. While he was adorably ugly (pretty much every part of him was a different size), he was sweet, friendly, and priced just right.
When I started Midnight under saddle, things got a little rough. I was out of shape and out of practice; he was young and insecure. We had a bad accident early on, which caused a fear of riding in me, which stayed with me for a very long time. It wasn’t a great time in our lives. But I had some great influences who helped restore both mine and Midnight’s confidence.
Midnight, like most Quarter Horses, is very capable and athletic. His only downsides are that he is most definitely built downhill (which often causes us to score lower, since when he’s uphill, he looks level), and that he bolts, even at 22. But, he can perform just about any movement, if you ask correctly. Your aids must be correct and applied in a timely manner. This is why I say that he’s taught me how to ride more correctly than all my other horses.
It has been an adjustment, learning how to ride a horse that is naturally downhill, and to teach him to engage his hind end. I grew up riding ponies and warmbloods bred for dressage – schoolmasters, in fact. And while that is wonderful for learning how it should and will feel, it doesn’t do much for teaching you how to teach a young horse the concept of correct movement. I was fortunate to have several amazing trainers to help guide us through the levels, and who taught me how to teach him.
It’s taken us a long time to get where we are as a team. We sat at Training Level for over a decade because I did not think we could execute the movements required at First Level.
After we moved to Utah from Wyoming, I had the opportunity to ride with some amazing trainers, who pushed me out of my comfort zone. Once the world started to open back up after the COVID-19 pandemic, I was talked into going to my first show in over seven years. We gave First Level a shot.
We were schooling all of the movements well at home, but, as all competitors know, the show arena is an entirely different beast. After having had a child, and gaining the “COVID 30 pounds”, I was out of shape and more overweight than I had been in a long time.
We didn’t do as well as I would have liked, earning scores in the high 50s. This prompted me to go back to basics at the walk, and work on engaging the hind end better to get Midnight to sit back.
We spent a few months doing this, and showing here and there, and our scores improved. Ultimately, we earned our First Level scores for my USDF Bronze Medal! In the meantime, we had also started schooling the Second Level movements. The following year, I decided to put on my big girl panties, and try showing at Second Level.
We had some good tests, and earned the first of our Second Level scores for my bronze. Because I struggle with show nerves, that was all we achieved that season. We decided to go back to First Level again, and I focused on a decades-long dream: riding a freestyle.
My trainer and I put together a different but incredibly fun test to ride, and I had the opportunity to work with a dear friend on the music. Since I’m not your average dressage rider, and Midnight isn’t your average dressage horse, we decided to play into that and paired our performance with a classic rock-themed soundtrack. It. Was. Amazing.
I ended up having a rotator cuff and bicep repair surgery done that fall, just eight months after undergoing a major breast reduction. That took me out of commission for a bit, but I was fortunate to be able to lean on my trainer’s working student to keep Midnight going. Once I was cleared to ride again, we went back to practicing, and everything was going smoothly.
And then, disaster struck.
I came out to the barn one day to find Midnight sporting a swollen hind leg that he didn’t want to put weight on. I made an appointment with the vet, but they couldn’t make it out to the farm until the following week. I spent that week alternating between sweating and icing the swelling, in addition to doing short handwalks. The swelling went away, and Midnight started walking normally again.
When the day of the appointment came, we did X-rays and flexion tests, and I spoke with the vet. I was expecting a strain of some sort, or maybe a minor injury. My world came crashing down with the diagnosis: the X-rays showed a broken sesamoid bone.
While Midnight would still be rideable after a long recovery, his show career was over. At almost 22 years old, doing surgery or expensive treatments was not worth the stress it would cause him. We would just take the time, and rehabilitate his injury the old-fashioned way, since by that point, his pain was minimal. But my freestyle dreams were over.
We began our rehabilitation journey with short, five-minute hand walks, gradually increasing the time as the weeks went by. Oddly, during this time, Midnight didn’t seem to take any lame steps, nor did the swelling ever come back. After a month, we graduated to tack walking, and he still took no lame steps.
I followed the rehab program prescribed by the vet: long walk warm-ups, followed by short trot intervals, increasing carefully and gradually with each ride. And still, Midnight did not take any lame steps.
I could not figure it out. So, I scheduled an appointment with a lameness expert at the equine clinic. He reviewed the X-rays, and evaluated Midnight, at which point, Midnight said, “Hold my beer.” Miracle of miracles, it seemed that we were actually dealing with an old break that, by freak coincidence, had flared up, rather than a fresh break. A little over a month off, and he was as good as a 22-year-old horse could be.
The elation I felt was incredible. Our freestyle dreams were back on the table, and we would go for it after all, even though Midnight had been off for over a month. We carefully hustled to get back to full strength, and at the beginning of July this year, we made our long-anticipated freestyle debut at Les Bois in Boise.
It was, without a doubt, the most fun I’ve ever had riding a test. Our first judge was extremely receptive to our music, and commented that it was a lot of fun. She gave us some great feedback, and we had the entire crowd of spectators dancing and singing along at every show all summer long.
Midnight gave me his all this summer, and I am forever grateful for this last chance that we had together. Unfortunately, his hind end started to deteriorate over the months, and I have made the decision to back off from showing anything even remotely demanding. Instead, I’ve decided to try my hand at Dressage Seat Equitation, which is more focused on me rather than my horse. It’s fair, he’s earned all of that and more. Additionally, our six-year-old son wants to start riding more. This means Midnight will be transitioning into a schoolmaster role for him.
Midnight has taught me so much more than just about riding. He has been my constant companion and best friend for over 22 years. He was there for my divorce and he was one of the reasons I met my current husband. His mane absorbed so many tears while we navigated our in-vitro fertilization (IVF) journey.
Once we conceived and our son was born, he was part of that joy as well. In fact, our son sat on him for the first time when he was just six months old, and Midnight has fostered a deep love of horses in him. My son has also started to learn responsibility through caring for an animal, which is an invaluable lesson.
I have jokingly said that I would not trade my Quarter Horse for all the warmbloods in the world, and it’s the truth. Yes, I would have loved to have had an “easy button” at times. We have to work harder to perform a lot of the higher-level movements, and they don’t come naturally to a little reining-bred Quarter Horse. But, the lessons I have learned, and the satisfaction that comes from truly having to work hard to achieve something have been wonderful. I would recommend a Quarter Horse for dressage any day, but especially if you want to solidify your basics, and develop a stable foundation to build upon.
