Everything Horses and Livestock® Magazine Feb 2020 Vol 5 Issue 1

Everything Horses and Livestock Magazine ®

my heart wasn’t in it. I kind of followed him on Equibase but eventually stopped, it was just a sad reminder that he was gone. Fast forward to the NFR 2018. Our schedule just wasn’t matching up with Fallon’s to go see her at Cowboy Christmas, but we did randomly bump into her & Alex one evening out & about. She told me she needed me to come see her because she had something to talk to me about but couldn’t at the moment because they had reservations to get to. I made a point of being at the Ranch Dress’n booth on the last day of the NFR and after she was done with autographs we had a few minutes to talk. Fallon told me she had been invited to apply to participate in the RRP TB Makeover competition in 2019 but needed help picking out a horse. She

Fallon was very kind in sending updates on him as the months passed. Then it was time for them to head to KY. I think I was more nervous & excited than she was and I was over 2500 miles away. I watched every round of their competition & cried like a baby when they won and again when they were crowned the Makeover Champions. I wasn’t sure what was going to happen after the show, and Fallon told me she was going to keep him at least for the time being. He deserved to be pampered. Full circle a year later at the NFR 2019, we went to the Ranch Dress’n booth so I could give Fallon a gift I had made for her & Swaggs. A gorgeous Double K Leather Works headstall with roses and his name. That’s when Fallon dropped the bombshell and asked if I had room for another horse. I was flabbergasted! She said “Make shipping arrangements for him and he’s yours!” I couldn’t believe it! It took about a month to get it done, but he arrived back in Washington on January 25th, bright and early and is never leaving again! I think my favorite part of the story is I told her he was like 15.2h, the perfect size, because he WAS as a 3yo. Apparently he grew a lot after I had seen him last because he’s more like 16.2h-16.3h now

asked me if I knew of any that might be a good prospect for the barrel racing class. I knew the perfect horse. We discussed in more detail how to go about purchasing Swaggs after the New Year and a couple weeks later it was a done deal. We boarded him until hauling arrangements were made. Handing him off to the shipper was like ripping open an old wound. I had him in my barn finally, but he still wasn’t mine and I had to let him go again.

By Jessica Gilbert

27 Everything Horses and Livestock® | February 2020 | EHALmagazine.com