PR Aragorn - An Author's Love

As noted multiple times, PR Aragorn is my purebred Arabian gelding. While he’s been repeatedly mentioned throughout my blog, I’ve never actually explained how he came into my life and why he’s so special to me. Therefore, my tenth entry is going to be a quick explanation of the life of Aero.

Discovery

Prior to Aero, my family owned another Arabian gelding named Ace. We bred him on our own, and he was extremely special. He was named after my dad’s grandpa who passed away shortly before he was born. Unfortunately, Ace contracted a contagious disease brought into the barn by another horse. He never even made it under saddle before he died. By some strange chance, my mom received an email for an online auction two to three weeks after Ace passed. There was a video of a coming two-year-old gelding for sale that we took interest in, and my mom bid on him. She had a bit of a bidding war with another individual, but she won with a total purchase price of $1550.

Slow Beginnings

When we brought Aero home, the future didn’t look very promising. He was thin, skittish, and had terrible club feet. The only thing he knew how to do was lead. We were expecting to merely break him and make him safe for a child to use as a 4-H horse. But we quickly discovered that he was a fast learner. He learned how to stand in cross-ties, how to appreciate grooming, how to lunge and work, and how to have a personality. Aero slowly became a potential show horse. He made it to his first show in the spring of his four-year-old year, and he was an absolute superstar. Nothing phased him, and he went around the ring like a seasoned professional. There was no doubt that he was going to mature into something special.

Aero and myself at an early show in 2008

Show Season

As a young horse, Aero was quite thin and not very filled out. He looked like a baby for years. This, and his sassy attitude, was the only thing hindering his show capabilities. Compared to other seasoned horses, Aero looked immature. However, he quickly learned to have impeccable show ring manners. From a young age, he loved doing his job, and he learned how to do it. There were many times when he acted out, but that only taught me how to lose graciously, and appreciate when we did well. Aero began to reach his peak in 2012. As a pair, we won everything up through Regionals, and we were Reserve Canadian National Champions. Since then, he’s gone nowhere but up. He finally began to fill out and look mature, and his placings only got better. In 2014, we placed 4th in an extremely competitive adult class at Nationals. In 2015, we won both of our classes at Regionals, one of my greatest accomplishments.

Canadian Nationals 2014

The Present

Today, Aero is almost 12 years old. He’s still continuing to mature and boost his prime. His most recent accomplishment involves learning how to handle and move in a sidesaddle. He’s still the little spitfire he was when he bought him, and he was definitely worth every penny.

Canadian Nationals 2015