Q

Q's Quest

Q ended up coming home with me completely unintentionally, and it was the best decision ever!

I had just incorporated Tranquil Woods Trail Rides and I knew that we would not be open for trail rides until at least autumn of 2022. I had the truck and trailer and I was contracted to a camp and lesson program for the summer. I was out shopping with my manager for summer camp horses in April of 2022 and we ended up at a place north of us that rehomes ex-Amish horses. There was a horse there that my manager was interested in for camp so we hooked up the trailer and went for a road trip. While waiting for the owner to show us the horse that we had come to see we were casually looking at the horses that were there. There was a beautiful, dainty little mare that was the sweetest girl I had ever met.

The horse that we went to see was not what we were hoping for. Not wanting to waste a trip we asked if we could take a look at other horses that might work for camp. We looked at three other horses, Q being one of them. The nine year old “little bay mare,” which was all she was known as at the time, was too green (unexperienced) under saddle to be used in the lesson program and was passed on by my manager who bought another horse. I on the other hand saw a wonderfully calm pony that needed a little loving care so that she could live up to her potential. She was on the trailer home when my manager and I left there that day.

I don’t have much background information on the little bay mare I bought that day, all I know is that she was an Amish buggy horse. She pulled carts for an Amish community until she had such bad arthritis that she was no longer of use to them. If she had a name there, it would never be known, I was the one who named Q. I wanted to get to know this lovely little lady that was now mine so that I could give her a name that suited her. I asked everyone at the barn what they thought and we even made it an Instagram contest with our students to be the one to pick her name. At any barn you will find a board of some sort that tells you which stall, paddock and/or feed schedule a certain horse is in/on. Not having a name, my little pony was written on the board as “?” Now “Question Mark” is not really a proper name for anyone, and there was a stable hand that was working with us at the time that had a habit of shortening any name into a nickname. It was this stable hand that first used “Q” to refer to my pony instead of saying “Question Mark.” I was still not sure that this was a name until I found myself referring to her as “cutie Q” and the name stuck. I couldn’t name this patient little girl anything but what she truly was to me and that was and still is a question mark.

Q has a freeze brand on the right side of her neck as do all registered Standardbred horses. There is a database that can be accessed to get historical information on all registered horses, all you need is their registration number, the code branded on their neck. I was very excited to finally have some information on Q, she is such a special little lady and deserves to have her life story known. I have tried in vain to read Q’s brand, but it was not very well done and the first character is completely illegible. For the rest of the brand the best I can decipher is HN01. Without that first digit I am still incapable of finding out any background details on Q from before she was nine years old. So Q really will always live up to her name.

Q has now added summer camp, pony ride, lesson and trail horse to her resume. She was so calm under saddle the minute she got home that I was riding her within the first few days. She did not quite have a solid understanding of her “go” signals from her rider but she quickly learned along with the numerous small children that she patiently taught those cues to. Q is the most quiet, calm and gentle pony I have ever had the pleasure of working with, she has never put a foot wrong and has always given a hundred percent effort to her rider.

Q’s insistence at giving her all put her out of commission for much of our 2023 summer season. She so graciously gave us what we asked of her while stoically hiding the fact that she was in pain from her arthritis. After several x-rays of multiple joints and many other physical tests done by our amazing vet team, Q was put on an anti-inflammatory medication to help reduce her pain and joint inflammation. Once her flare up of arthritis was managed with medication, in conjunction with our vet team, Q was taken off the medication and her arthritis is now being well managed with a joint supplement, so much so that she has not had to miss a day of work since.

We at Tranquil Woods take great pride in the care of our horses and in our ability to match each rider to their ideal horse. Q is a dainty little lady and unfortunately not all of our clients will get the amazing opportunity to ride our special girl. I have had Q for over three years and have never seen her startle or shy away from anything. Q is best suited to our smaller, younger, less experienced riders because of her ability to stay calm, cool and collected in the face of just about any situation. I have had past students come for trail rides with us solely for the purpose of seeing Q again. They missed that little pony that taught them how to ride. You always remember your “first” and many of our Jr. Trail Experience members will remember Q as their first. First pony they petted, first pony they brushed, first pony they got to sit on, and first pony they fell in love with.