09/06/2026
What's next for Nine, and why didn't he come back to Pale Hollow?
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My time with Nine started at pickup in late April. He was already at the top of my list based on photos that had been posted on the ATFO page. When I met him in person for the first time, I knew I'd do my best to make him my equine partner for the competition. The past few years I've had horses with complicated histories that, while they were ultimately wonderful and went on to great homes, made planning and training difficult. I was ready for what I considered to be a clean slate.
Nine has never been anything but loved. He was an owner surrender to HOP as a baby, adopted by someone who loved him very much, and then returned to the rescue when it turned out he was just not the right fit.
I was, at pickup, told he had some issues with reactivity. It's not something that concerned me too much then - I felt that it was something we could work through. When we got home, however, I learned the extent of it.
Every little thing caused his whole body to flinch. It happened sometimes multiple times per minute - a cat moving, a person tripping, it all caused a stiffening of his entire body. It seemed like such a miserable way to live. He never escalated these behaviors - he would stiffen, settle himself down, and repeat. I worked so hard on getting this to stop, and he came along so well. Slowly, but well. His anxiety turned to curiosity, inch by inch, though it never truly went away. Nine is a very communicative horse - he tells you when he's uncomfortable. He needs his hand held when he's afraid. But with time and trust, he learned to give some of his stress to me - to let me handle the deciding of what is scary and what isn't.
And he blossomed.
He would come running when I called him, and he'd go to work every day with the same positive attitude. His wide eyes and upright ears remained, but he was handling life so well. I could ride him out alone on the trails, canter him through fields. We were having so much fun.
And then one day, a few weeks before the competition, he bolted out of nowhere.
We were coming home from a ride. We had made it to my driveway. His head was low, ears relaxed, reins loose. It was our best ride yet, and in my mind I was composing all the nice things I'd say about him once I got home. And then, with no warning, he was off. A panicked bolt, completely blind to his surroundings and my attempts to stop him. I tried for some time, and when he swerved to go around my car I threw myself off to prevent a worse accident. Losing me was not his intention; he kept running. Joey saw him run past the house and ran out to catch him; by the time he stopped he was sweating and shaking. He was truly, genuinely terrified. I think he forgot I was even with him. Once he allowed himself to panic, he just let his fear build and build.
We continued with our training, but now knowing that this was a possibility. The incredibly kind Noah TY of Steady Horse reached out and provided advice that helped Nine and I to move forward. Maybe it was my own anxiety that began to affect him after that. Maybe it was always there in him and I was looking at him with rose colored glasses because he was better than he had been before. Maybe it was additional stress from pushing harder to be ready for the ATFO. But he was becoming anxious again, spooking randomly at things he's been fine with before.
I went into the ATFO competition optimistic but cautious. On Wednesday, I didn't ride him - he was too keyed up being in a new environment around so many horses and people and things.
So we tried Thursday.
And it was a hard no.
It was all so much for a young horse with only a few months of training. Nine is still learning how to handle big emotions. He didn't bolt or buck or do anything to hurt me, but the second I got on his entire body tensed. I could feel him getting closer to letting his anxiety get the better of him, and any more pushing would just blow him up. His front end left the ground a few times during the technical and I could just feel that it was going to get worse.
The second I took away the added stress of riding, he started to relax. The horse I had on Friday was completely different from the tense, keyed up Nine who performed the technical challenge on Thursday. On Saturday, in our musical freestyle, the loud music and crowd almost got the better of him many times - but he kept coming back to me. The trust was there, and it carried is through. With more time, Nine is going to be an amazing horse who will do anything for his person.
For now, Nine is going back to the rescue. He has a lump in the side of his face that concerns me, and that paired with his unpredictability made us all want to rule out a physical cause of his issues.
If he is cleared physically, I think that Nine still has some growing to do, both physically and mentally. Many gaited breeds tend to mature late. Please join me in keeping my fingers crossed that we get to see Nine in the ATFO again, once he's had more time. Horses, after all, do not operate on our silly human schedules. HOP takes such wonderful care of their horses, and he is in the best hands while we are waiting to see what his future looks like.
Thank you all for being a part of his story and mine. I truly enjoyed my time with him and I had so much fun taking him through the ATFO! Even through all our difficulties we maintained decent scores and placed fifth in our division. The comments from the judges were overwhelming kind and helpful, and I got so much help and encouragement from my fellow competitors.
Thank you all, and keep an eye out on what is next for !
