Horses Are Hard, Don’t Give Up: When The Dream Horse Doesn’t Work Out
Editor’s Note: This story originally published in the Heels Down Spark newsletter in May 2021, as part of a series exploring tales from real riders about how they’ve overcome injuries and setbacks, and how they found the motivation to keep going. Sign up now for the Spark to read more stories like this first, delivered to your inbox.
When a gorgeous grey warmblood mare came into the barn to be sold, adult amatuer rider Victoria Price-Doucet did exactly what you’re not supposed to do: she fell in love with her.
Eruba, a KWPN/Irish Sport Horse mare, was bombproof, kind and patient. “She was my dream horse, I remember telling my husband,” described Victoria, who lives in Portland, Ore. So Victoria bought her. After riding as a junior and through college, Victoria took a long break while getting through graduate school. She had bought an OTTB when she started getting back into riding as an adult, but her horse struggled with soundness issues. Finally, Eurba – her dream horse – was here.
On the day of their first show together, Victoria, 33, remembers being excited. “We warmed up in the meters and the plan was to move up to the 1.20s,” she said. “I learned at that show that she has a very dirty stop.” Eurba threw Victoria into a jump. Despite being sore, she got back on, and the mare stopped again at the same jump. Victoria went home with dislocated fingers, a broken ankle and a bruised ego.
“I was horrified. I thought something was wrong with her,” she described.
The vet found the mare to be sound and healthy. So Victoria paid for a professional to give the mare a few rides. Eruba was a star, so Victoria taped up her fingers and ankle, and decided to try showing in the jumpers again. But it wasn’t a fluke accident. The mare stopped again, and this time, Victoria was seriously hurt. She dislocated her shoulder and crushed her already injured ankle. She’d have to undergo reconstructive surgery.
“I was humiliated,” Victoria remembered. That winter, while she recovered from surgery, Eurba went into dressage training.
“I was able to get back riding a couple of months ago, and I’m trying to embrace learning something new,” Victoria said about dressage.
“I’ve popped over a crossrail and I shake like a leaf now. I’m not sure if I’ll be able to jump again,” she explained. “But my plan now is letting go of expectations. This period has forced me to reevaluate why we do this in the first place. It’s freeing to let go, and it’s made me just enjoy the ride.”
“I feel like we get so caught up in our goals and where we want to go that we forget to just enjoy it. There are still a lot of days where I question my sanity, but once I have just one good ride, nothing matches that high.”
Victoria said it’s going to take time to establish a bond with her mare, but they’re working on rebuilding that trust.
“Trying a new discipline has been hard, but it’s helping me understand her more, and be more patient,” she said. “Right now I’m just trying to let go of the stress and channel my six-year-old horse crazy self.”