Hi, my name is Alex Schoenberger and I am 15 years old. I go to Centaurus High School in Lafayette Colo. I began riding at Shiloh Farms with my cousins Kayla and Lauren, and I would ride their horse Nugget every once in a while. This soon started me on the path of loving and respecting horses the way I do now. I later moved to a new barn, the Flatirons Equestrian Center, and it was a perfect fit! This is where I soon met some of the best friends I have ever had: Emma, Maggie, Maddy, and Marguerite.
In the 4th grade I started loosing all of my hair due to an autoimmune disease called alopecia, and horses were the only thing that could take my mind off of it. I ended up riding with Trish for three years before an 18-year-old appendix quarter horse gelding, Tazz, went up for sale at my barn. My grandma Elaine heard about him and went to great lengths to get him for me. This was my dream horse, he was an ex-eventer and was fully trained, the perfect first horse. I owned him for four years before I got one of the hardest calls I could ever imagine, Tazz was colicing. I stayed with him until 5:30 in the morning before he passed away. I was heart-broken and the only thing that really taught me to let go was a little eight year old, 15 hand Palomino pony name Macaroni that I had been working with before Tazz had passed away. I needed this pony in my life and I was so happy when I found out that it was possible that he could be mine. I renamed him Noodles and we make an amazing team.
Noodles
When Trish first got Noodles he was a little pony who had never been ridden in an arena before, he was used as a trail pony at a local barn. Noodles was extremely frustrating to work with at the beginning because he wouldn’t even walk around the arena without stopping in every corner. He would put his head down and start backing up and refuse to move forward. He soon overcame this and we slowly started to move from walk to trot, then eventually cantering without stopping. Cantering is still a little bit of an issue but we are working through it together.
Since it’s becoming cold and snowy, and there is no indoor arena at my barn, me and Noodles are working on some liberty exercises to improve our bond with each other. Even though this has shown to be a bit of an issue we are pushing through it and starting a new journey with each other—together!
Let me know if you like my story, share it, like it, comment on it.
– Alex