Cover Me With Roses

Horse show season is in full swing so I thought I'd introduce the girl that started it all for me, Rosey. Rosey's registered name is Cover Me With Roses and I purchased her from a local family that had raised her up from the time she was a foal. Rosey is the first horse I ever owned and over the past 10 years, her and I have learned everything we know together. Rosey was 9-years-old when I got her and she needed to be restarted since she had been a pasture pet for the previous 3 years. Even though everyone says a green (untrained) rider and a green horse are a bad mix...and now I know why...we worked our way through it and learned invaluable lessons along the way. Having to retrain Rosey taught me considerable lessons about horsemanship and helped Rosey and I forge an unbreakable bond. It was definitely bumpy along the way, mostly because I had to learn each step before I tried to teach her, but I'm grateful for her determination, willingness and the amount of patience she had with me.

We got our start in the gaming world, competing in the WSCA games. This includes events like barrel racing, pole bending, key race and speed dash. At 15.3 hands tall and a solid 1300 lbs, Rosey is a big, strong horse with a huge stride. She excelled at games and often put us in the top 3 placings.

After some time, we decided to try something new and started to learn how to work cattle. Rosey really loves pushing cattle around! We did some pen-to-pen sorting, but because she's such a tank, it was hard for her to work effectively in the small pen. So we branched out into ranch rodeo. Rosey has great cattle sense and does well in the larger ranch rodeo arenas.

Because she has such a great mind and you can do almost anything with Rosey, she is also an accomplished trail riding horse. With her big stride and solid frame, she can cover a lot of ground quickly and is very sure-footed. She loves crossing water and we have even taken her swimming!

My favorite part about Rosey is that I can literally have anyone ride her with complete confidence. She's well-trained but completely forgiving of new riders. She will ride to the level of the person riding her. She is now training the next generation of riders and is the main mount for my now 8-year-old granddaughter, who started riding her 2 years ago at the age of 6. It has been such a blessing to watch them develop a bond and a trust that will take Paisley well into her horse riding years.

At 19-years-old, Rosey is still in excellent condition and ridden multiple times a week. She has a heart of gold and I will forever be indebted to her for the lessons she has graciously taught me over the years. She will always have a place on this farm and a piece of my heart.

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