This is me with Spencer, an Appaloosa gelding. (Registered name Smooth Sailing.) He had mostly a roan pattern with a few spots here & there on his back end. He had quite a personality! If you had a treat for him & weren't giving it to him right away, he'd beg -- lift one front leg & tilt his head. It was the cutest thing! After having my first fall, Sandy put me on Spencer for the longest time. He helped me get my confidence back & became my best friend. The first time I rode bareback (we did that once for a lesson), Sandy put me on Spencer because she knew I trusted him. Spencer was away from the barn for several years. He had been being leased by one of Sandy's students for a while, and she boarded him there. A few years later his owners boarded him with Sandy.
Years after that first fall, I fell off Spencer & bruised my tail bone really badly after my mom scared him by sweeping. Spencer nuzzled me before I climbed back on him, as though he was saying, "I'm sorry, I didn't mean for you to fall off!" He again was the horse who helped me gain my confidence back -- although ever since then, I've never been able to fully get my confidence back for cantering... Spencer's owner retired him in 1999 because he'd started having problems with a sore back.
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