Meet Callie!

So if you know me, you know at least one thing. I love horses. Not just any horses, though. I love MY horse.



Yes, I am one of the lucky girls whose dream came true early in life. I am the proud partner in crime of a 6 year old appaloosa mare who I fittingly named, “She’s My-T Majickal.” In the barn, though, we call her Callie.


Callie was born on April 12, 2004, sometime between 3 and 7 in the morning. On April 1, 2005, my parents signed papers with her owner signing her over into our ownership. On April 2, 2005, Callie left her old home as a scraggly yearling and into my life forever. Where you all know how much I love her, little of you know exactly why.

When Callie was born, she was promised to me by her breeder as a gift. In 2004, at 15 years old, I had my own horse. I loved it.
For whatever reason, her breeder simply changed her mind. That story is pretty bad- so I’ll cut to the important part. When I realized that Callie wasn’t actually going to be my horse, I wanted out. So I gave her my last board check, told her I didn’t want the horse anymore, and picked my things up at the barn three weeks later. I said goodbye to horses forever, and had no interest in ever owning another horse- since mine had literally ended in heartbreak just six months later. I decided nothing was permanent, people were shady, and I didn’t trust the horse world. Saying goodbye to Callie was the hardest thing I had to do. I cried the entire way home with my dad. He cried too. I’d worked my whole riding career towards owning my own horse. It had been the worst experience of my life.

Fast forward six months, March 2005. Callie is for sale. I’m not a materialistic person, (nor have I ever been) but I BEGGED my parents for this horse. I just begged. I pleaded. I wrote them letters. I wrote them budgets.

For whatever reason, my parents saw the dedication that I had for this little horse. I knew she needed me, and more importantly, I needed her. On April 1, 2005, we drove to New Hampshire to sign the papers making Callie my own. Callie’s breeder asked if I wanted to brush her. I wanted nothing to do with the woman, so I told her I could wait one more day.
April 2, 2005. My new barn owner drove her horse trailer to New Hampshire to pick up the little filly. She was nervous about her getting on a trailer, but Callie hopped right on, as if to say, “I’m ready to go home.”

This story could literally take months to finish. There are so many things that happened. One of the most significant parts of our life together, though, was when I asked the vet about Callie’s size- at a year old, she was still only the size of a 6 month old. Horses are supposed to do 90 % of their growing in their first year. She was absolutely tiny. The vet told me that Callie had been neglected to the point that she would someday fill out, but she’d never grow taller. I was absolutely furious that someone could do this to a horse, but I refused to give up on her. At two years old, Callie was beginning to prove the doctor right- she had only grown about 4 inches in a year.

I could have easily sold Callie as a child’s pony (she was absolutely flawless) and got a bigger horse that I could have ridden and jumped and shown right away. But there was something about taking my horse for walks like a dog, sitting in her stall and reading books, and playing silly little games with her that made riding secondary to me. School and I never got along. Callie was my escape, she was my friend, one who I knew would never let me down.




Callie was diagnosed with "night blindness" at the age of 3. This means that she shows sensitivity to light and her pupils do not adjust as well as they should. She often has trouble if she goes outside when it is still dark and instead of adjusting quickly, it takes her quite a long time to begin to see light. Progressively, it has seemed to get worse, but there is no treatment for this genetic disease. Callie's eyes are constantly changing, and it is obvious with her sudden fear of shadows and quick movements. The vet has told me that she will most likely go blind at some point in her life. You'd think this would deter us from living "normal" lives together- we just go with the flow, and we take each day as it comes. If she shows fear in something, we take as long as we need to help her realize that the shadow is not a scary monster, that it is simply a shadow.

Fast forward again. December 8, 2010. Callie is six years old. We’ve been riding together as a team since she was four. She is now 15.1 hands high (she’s grown about 12 inches- oh yes- it’s true!) and although I’m tall, we make a pretty fantastic pair. With the help of a trainer, Callie had a solid start of her training and I took over the rest. Callie trail rides, responds beautifully to commands, listens, and most importantly, she tries. Whether it’s in her nature to be perfect, or whether she tries for me, she has given me the greatest gift an animal could give a human and that is partnership.



So, when you hear me brag about “my pony/my mare/my horse/Callie/the Queen,” now you know why. That horse and I have a long story together- one that will continue to unfold as time goes on.




My two favorites ;)