Rachel Cadle

About Me

I have ALWAYS been obessed with horses. Ever since I started talking I wanted a pony of my own, sadly my parents couldn't afford a horse for me on account of my other siblings. But I never gave up hope that I would start riding. The spring of my 10th birthday my mom surprised me with an outing that would definitely change my life for the better. She had found a Eventing/hunter/jumper/dressage stable in the next town, about 15 miles from my house. I instantly fell in love with the place. I started to take lessons out there once a week and I soon figured out riding was not as easy as I thought it would be. I grew a little discouraged at the thought of how much I had to work to be able to even handle an easy school horse, my trainer told me it sometimes took people years to prefect there abilities and still they had to go back to basic training every once and awhile.

Three years at the stable I was at had some newcomers: An 8 yr old Mare and two 2 yr old Fillys. I instantly fell in love with the black filly named Cricket. She was a tall, gangly looking thing, not used to her limbs yet. She was a firece thing, biting at everybody who came near her stall. Everyone thought, including my trainer, she would be the hardest of the two fillys to break out. Everyone loved Peanut her half-sister, who was always cheerful and pleasant. But there was something about Cricket that drew her to me, she seemed to be a kindred spirit. While I waited for my mother to come pick me up, I would sit by Cricket's stall and just talk to her, she munched on her hay, her ears titled back to my voice. I knew she listened. I talked to her about everything.

Some of my friends at the stable were astonished at how the mean black filly would treat me differently from everyone else. She would nicker when she saw me, her face peeking out of her stall, her ears cast forward in delight. Cricket wouldn't try to bite me or kick at me like she did with others and soon she would come when I called her. When it came to breaking her in, sadly i was not asked to help. A young woman named Stephanie was asked to help. I'd admit I was a little jealous but I sat content in the grass because I knew I would be given the chore to take care of Cricket when her session was over. I sat munching on my apple and tired not to giggle when Stephanie was thrown eight feet in the air and my trainer was forced to let go of the reins. Cricket tore around that arena, bucking and rearing like a wild horse.

I stood up, afraid Cricket would trip on the reins that were hanging dangerously low. I gave a few kissing sounds and called her name. She didn't instantly respond but soon she trotted up to me, trying to eat the apple from hand like that previous five minutes didn't even happened. Cricket soon grew used to the idea of Stephanie on her back but I knew she only tolerated it because she knew I would be taking care of her when the lesson was over.

About a year after Cricket was broken out I had complained to my riding instructor that I needed a horse that was more challenging then the ones I was riding. So she said, "Fine, if you wanna a challenge you got it." At the time, I had no idea what I had gotten myself into, this horse seemed too much for me. But I was stubborn and never once complained about the situation I put myself into. My friends thought I was insane for waiting the 'devil' horse of the barn, but I never saw Cricket that way. She was just misunderstood, like I usually was.

For awhile, I thought that she would never mature and become the fine young lady I knew that lay deep inside of her. We spent hours upon hours of training and re-training...drilling information into her brain so it started to seem like second nature. I probably fell off of her more times in the first few years of training, then I probably spent in the saddle. But I always got right back up, ignoring the horrible pain I was in and got right back on. I never once objected and I never once protested to this little arrangement. I never once gave up on her, even if everyone else did. I believed in her, I knew she could do it...I proved to be right in the end.

We have had our bad times and good times in the past five years together and I wouldn't trade those memories for anything in the world. One of the things I love about Cricket is that she is so full of life, she has a spirit...a drive in her that is rarely seen in such a young horse. She lives to please and loves to be treated with respect and love. She is a gorgeous black, standing about 15.3 hands. She is very nimble and energetic but listens without question. She is also smooth and agile on her feet, she hates getting any part of her body muddy...if she can help it. She is a complete lady; though it didn't start out that way.

She has saved my butt on numerous occasions, either jumping, in the dressage ring or even just out riding for fun. She can be very devious and she does have a strong stubborn streak, but we have grown so close over these five years we have been together that I barely notice her misbehaviors anymore. It sometimes scares me how much she trusts me. She has probably taught me more about life and love than anybody I have ever known. I know it sounds weird, a horse teaching a person about life and love? But it's true. If it hadn't had been for Cricket, patiently waiting and listening to me, I probably wouldn't be the way I am today or even be here.

She was always a shoulder to cry on, someone I could tell anything to and would never have a fear of her telling it. She is my best friend, the one 'person' in this world that I love with my whole heart. She holds all my secrets and knows everything about me, to my greatest dreams to my deepest fears. She taught me that the little things in life matter and that everything happens for a reason. From her I have learned to appreciate the beauty this world has to offer. She has been the greatest teacher in my life and her lessons are still being taught. She and I still have a lot more to learn to become the horse and rider I know we can be, but I hope we can stay together in the up-coming years. I wouldn't trade our partnership for anything...

Basic Information

Rachel 's Riding Style

Primary Discipline	English
	Hunter / Jumper Dressage Eventing
Secondary Discipline	General

Rachel 's Horses

Rachel 's Horses

Chicadee Storm