Finding more film I didn’t realize I had has triggered some great memories! This next group is film of me & Anchor, in the waning days of our partnership. It makes me so happy to know this film exists. This is from about 1997/98. We had just moved to Kings Bridge and integrated quickly into lessons.

Lesson on Anchor from patentlybay on Vimeo.

I also got back in the show ring with Anchor, this time in the hunters.

Anchor at a show from patentlybay on Vimeo.

Anchor in an eq class from patentlybay on Vimeo.

I guess we had a very sticky left to right change behind in that one particular corner that day, huh?

Once again, bittersweet feelings come to the surface, watching these videos. I know now that this was one of the last times I would show Anchor. The trainers approached me about whether Anchor was the best match for me moving forward–I looked like I had outgrown him. Luckily at the time, my mom and I agreed that I needed a different horse and had already been talking about buying a third herd member. One trainer mentioned a price we could probably get for Anchor, but my mom and I were very insistent about retaining ownership of both Anchor and Red. Again, luckily, my generous (and also horse crazy) mom had a budget for us that meant we couldn’t go super fancy, but we didn’t have to sell Anchor. Anchor became available for in-barn leases, eventually entering the lesson program, wherein he took many a child to shows, earning champion or reserve almost every time out.

Vintage Anchor from patentlybay on Vimeo.

Anchor maintained that sense of humor from the last video his whole life. He also nailed Blue Steel at the end, there.

He stayed with Kings Bridge the remainder of his life, which was many years. It makes me so happy he had such a wonderful home and such great care with us for 21 years, and over half of those years were at Kings Bridge, where he had a fantastic competitive career and taught so many kids how to ride and show. Our competitive partnership had ended, but we each moved on to the things that were right for us, and we never left each other.