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| Davidson by Davignon |
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| Photo by Bob Langrish 2006 |
"Dave's Story"
Dave was born in Germany in 1996. As far as I know he was
imported to the USA as a 5 year old for re-sale. At the time he was imported he was gelded. He was re-sold to an attorney
from D.C., and lived in the Frederick, Maryland area with his trainer. I first met Dave in 2004 when I moved to Frederick.
He was wintering at a facility where I was teaching & training. Sadly his owner found her husband to be a philanderer
and proceeded with a divorce. At that point Dave was offerered for sale. For some reason he became entirely unrideable &
it was decided that it wouldn't be ethical to sell him to anyone. Rather than take a complete loss the owner arranged to donate
Dave to the D.C. mounted police. Dave didn't like his job on the streets of D.C. and took to spending a lot of time on his
hind legs. He flunked out of boot camp. I received a phone call asking if I was interested in taking Dave or he was headed
to auction. That was in the Fall of 2005.
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| "Dave" at play |
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| Photo by Bob Langrish 2006 |
My first year with Dave
Dave came into my life permanently in October, 2005. When he arrived
his feet were butchered, he was lame, & decidedly untrusting of people. The first year he lived with me he was basically
let down so his feet could grow & he could start to relax. When he would get turned out it was usually a 50/50 chance
that he would come in when it was time. During this time period I was still riding my beloved horse, Capi. Then the tragedy
hit, Capi had a fatal heart attack in May of 2006. I was devastated & very depressed. Suddenly Dave became my new partner,
and he still is today.
I had been planning to ride Capi at the PVDA Ride for Life breast cancer benefit
in June that year. Since Capi was gone I decided to take Dave instead. The weather leading up to the show was typical hot,
Maryland June weather. The day of the show came & it was cold, rainy, with gusty winds at times 25-30 miles per hour.
When we warmed up inside Dave was reasonably sane. Then when it was time to go to the ring Dave got pretty scared, not
just about the weather, but all the tents flapping in the wind, umbrellas, leaves on trees blowing everywhere. It could
have been a disaster. By the grace of God we finished the test alive and made it home from our first show together.
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| Dave at the PVDA Ride for Life, 2006 |
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| Our first show together! |
Starting over
Although Dave & I've moved three times in the last year
we are finally in a good place together, & he keeps improving!
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| Schooling at home, August, 2007 |
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| After Dave's first year of rehabilitation |
The second year.....
started out with a bang when I was hit over the head with
divorce. The hardest part of the whole drama for me was dividing the horses. I took Dave, & I love him.
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