His Story
For many years growing up, I had a picture in my mind of what my future Haflinger would look like. Rich, golden color; gorgeous, abundant hair; on the taller end of the breed standard, and not too stocky, but not too lightly built either. Abercrombie had been on my mind for quite some time, but I never thought I would be able to own him.
After a few years of working with Crumble, my boss came to me and offered me my pick of the herd. Instantly, I knew what I would say, but I went home, slept on it for a few nights, and wrote her an email:
“…if I’m completely honest with myself and with you – I can’t picture any Haflinger but Abercrombie as my own. There have been two other horses in my life so far that I’ve had that connection with, and it’s something that I know instantly when I meet them.”
“…I used to imagine that a Haflinger would be my first horse, and we’d do everything together. I’d teach him everything I could about dressage (of course, we’d make it to Grand Prix), we’d trail ride, ride bareback, jump a little, go to shows, and he’d give lessons to kids as well. I’m still optimistic enough to think there’s absolutely no reason to believe that Abercrombie couldn’t do all of that with me – maybe I’m crazy, but oh well, I don’t think it really matters.”
That was on Christmas Eve 2011. The next day, I visited my boss to give her a Christmas hug and to exchange gifts. On that day, she told me that Abercrombie was mine.
I’m pretty sure I might be the luckiest girl in the world.
This is my heart horse, and the reason I started Because Pony in the first place. He’s living proof that dreams absolutely DO come true – with passion, faith, and good ol’ hard work.
We’re well on our way to accomplishing everything I wrote out in that email a few years ago. Crumble has been with me through my moves across the country, has spent a winter as the only Haflinger in a fancy dressage barn in Wellington, attended his first horse show ever at the Adequan Global Dressage Festival, taught hundreds of lessons to all ages and skill levels, been on trail rides, is a talented bareback pony, enjoys jumping (and is actually pretty good at it), has learned a few tricks, and is gearing up to show at the FEI Prix St George level of dressage.
I’d love for you to keep up with our adventures here (check out our video playlist below to start) – and if you’re ever in the area, or at a show we’re at, I hope you’ll say hi!
