People write stories about champion horses- usually performance horses,
stakes winners or leading sires. This is the story of a different kind of
champion- an unregistered sorrel pony mare named Sweet Ambrosia, who
has been shown and loved by many children and has touched so many
lives.

"Amber" was the first horse I ever owned. She was born in Montville,
Ohio in 1978 and acquired on unpaid board bill in 1980 by Dave Leroy of
Cornpopper Farm in Painesville, Ohio. She is most likely a quarter horse
but without the papers to prove it. We purchased Amber for all of $500 in
the fall of 1981; a green three year old mare and a ten year old girl- not
exactly the perfect match! After my first six months of horse ownership it
is amazing that I still love horses today.

Amber was the horse in the barn that management was sure to warn
guests about- "stay away from that one, she bites!" If I rode in the arena,
she'd run me to the gate. If I thought I was doing well in the confines of
the arena and ventured out to the trail head, she would run me all the way
back to the stall. Luckily a very nice lady named Alice took me under her
wing and rode with me everyday until I had a better handle on my
temperamental little horse. Without her help I surely would have given up,
as many people do when they lose their confidence around horses.

By 1982 Amber and I were competing in local gymkhana events and doing
pretty well. I grew up on the back of that pony, riding on trails all day long
on the weekends and summers and practicing for local competitions or
taking lessons everyday after school. No amount of lake effects weather
would keep me away from that stable. I think I groomed her so much she
was afraid to roll in front of me!

Never tell a little girl that her horse is not good enough. One trainer kept
telling me that my horse did not have enough speed, and if I really wanted
to be competitive I was going to have to get a better horse. That was until
the Big Creek trail ride in spring of 1983. She was in quite the mood (and
probably also in heat that day). Amber bolted with me along side of state
highway 44. I could not stop her for the life of me- even with the very
severe mechanical hackamore I was riding her in (thus the first lesson I
would learn that strong bits don't stop strong horses!). Another rider, a
teen-aged Sherry Leroy riding her Dad's favorite barrel horse "Chi Chi"
tried to run up along side of me to try to help me stop my horse. This only
made Amber run all the faster. When she finally stopped, after crossing a
paved intersection, I didn't know if I should hug her or beat her. With
about twenty witnesses to this spectacular burst of speed, the buzz was all
about the stables. Dave Leroy himself sure loved to mention in front of the
trainer who had told me I didn't have enough horse to compete- "Ol'
Amber, she's the fastest little horse around, she outran my Chi Chi!"

Amber went on to be competitive in many classes besides the speed
events. She was the ultimate trail class horse, and a decent mount for any
of the western classes at 4-H level shows. And she was a super hunter
pony- at 14.1 and 3/4 with shoes on, we could compete in the large pony
division at the rated hunter shows. With trainer Nancy Reider, aboard
Amber I was "the Queen of the Flat." Jumping was the only area where
Amber and I did not match up well- she would get strong and flat over the
jumps due to her days as a contest pony.

In 1987 we discovered that Amber was unbeatable in walk-trot or
13-and-under anything. My younger friend, Beth Rettger, was the first in a
string of children that showed Amber after me. The other exhibitors would
see them coming and want to just leave. In those days in that part of the
country, a decent sized open horse show would draw 20-30 kids in that
youngest division, and it is no exaggeration that Beth and Amber won
High Point at every show they ever entered!

I put Amber up for sale in 1989. We had done everything we could do as a
team and I had already moved on to showing other (bigger, and breed
specific) horses. She was purchased by Rena Moses, the owner of Bridge
Creek Farm, where we were boarding at the time. Rena used Amber for
trail riding and also always had her leased to students who rode there.
My story with Amber is probably typical of the memories that many
people, if they are lucky, can recollect of their first horse. What makes this
little mare extraordinary is the continuing stories of the accomplishments
of the young riders who came after me.

Brandon Mitchell leased Amber in the early 1990's. The pair was a force to
reckon with, winning many classes and high point titles. Brandon rode
Amber until he was too big for her and had to shop for his own horse.

Christine Neubert was the girl who finally had success in the over-fences
classes with Amber in the mid 1990's. She also rode Amber until she sadly
outgrew her. She also said Amber could still run a barrel pattern under 20
seconds when she would show her on gymkhana day at the Lake County
Fair, where Amber was a fixture (and a competitive one!) from 1982 until
1997. Rena Moses says that the last year Amber was shown at the county
fair, she swept all the high point divisions. People on the show comittee
actually protested, saying no horse had ever done that. Rena simply
replied, "well, she has won them all".

When I received the call in January of 2007 wondering if I would like to
have Amber back, it was like my life with horses was finally coming
full-circle. I did not even know the old girl was still alive! Rena said she
was moving from Ohio to Tennessee and wanted to get down to just two
horses. Her husband doubted I would want her after all these years. Rena
thought it would be "sort of like getting Black Beauty back." Only better!
This was Amber, the first horse I ever owned, first horse I ever trained… I
still had her decorated tack box that we took to shows with us. I still had
one of her shoes and three of her name plates. Some things are just meant
to be...

I booked a ride for Amber to come to Arizona, and then we had to wait
out some very bad Northeastern Ohio weather for the transporters to be
able to make their way in safely to pick her up. They were not able to get
through the snow to get her until February 20. Then they took six days to
make the journey from Montville, Ohio to Chandler, Arizona, laying her
over for two days in Florida and then another day in Texas. She needed
the breaks from being on the trailer to give her 29-year-old legs a rest. She
arrived at Celebrity Ranch on February 26, 2007. She was very thin and
weak from traveling. I think I stood in the barn for at least eight hours just
staring at her that first day.

The horse that had given me and so many others so much, who I had
pined for during the couple of "horseless years" of my life, was now
standing in my barn, 2300 miles away from where we had grown up
together in the woodlands of northeast Ohio, amid my collection of world
champion bred mares- the biggest champion of them all.

Since Amber's arrival she has gained about a hundred pounds and has
shed enough hair to cover all the horses in the entire stable. She went
right to work as a walk-trot teacher for some of the smaller riders at our
barn. She is starting to look an awful lot like the pony I used to know, and
who knows, maybe she has enough left to take one more child around the
walk-trot show ring?
A book about her life is in the works. We are saving a very special part of
her story until then...

UPDATE *** June 30, 2008 **** Amber has been back with us for over a
year now. She has been on a trail ride with the kids and also to a couple of
gymkanas with student Hannah McLean. At their second gymkana they
took a 1st in pole bending and a 5th in Big M! Megan Myers also competed
on Amber, and the old girl went so fast Megan forgot to steer! :)

Celebrity Ranch is located on Lindsay Road in Chandler, Arizona. Danielle
Miller and her mother Mary Plotkin raise a few buckskin horses to show,
but have become more inspired over the past couple of years in the study
of the Parelli program with their horses. A lesson program is available
there, with an emphasis on safety and building confidence. Schooling
horses are available (including Amber!) and visitors are welcome.
480-215-5351