CHEX ACRES | 19 YEAR OLD QUARTER HORSE | CYPRESS, TX
Chex Acres, Chex, is a 19 year old Buckskin Quarter Horse that lives at home in Cypress, TX with his owner, Angela. Chex has a super unique blue speck in his left eye.
Angela shares about his bloodlines and how she got him, “Chex has a lot of Doc Bar and some San Peppy. He’s actually related to two of my horses I had as a kid, which is cool! We’ve had Chex for about a year. We got him from a friend who is no longer able to ride. It turns out that Chex hadn’t been ridden in a while, so when we got him home and started putting him to work, he looked more like a rodeo bronc than a trail horse. He has great ground manners and he loves a good scratch, so the first time we met him, he stuck with us in the field and waited for attention. When we got him home, he and Bentley were immediate friends and they’ve been buddies ever since.”
She continues about an early favorite memory with Chex, “Chex gave us hell for the first few weeks he was with us. My husband wanted him for a trail horse and he supposedly was a great ‘anyone can ride him’ horse. Not so. He’d been out in a pasture for a few years and had decided he was done working. My husband had a great ride on him the first day, and then every ride after that looked like a rodeo event – not a trail horse and certainly not safe. I was about ready to give up on him, but I’m pretty soft and it was breaking my heart. He’s old enough that if I gave up, that might be it for him. One day when our trainer, Sally, was working with Bentley, I asked if she’d work with Chex a bit to see if she could figure out a way. She did some ground work with him and then she turned to me and said, “Go get his tack. I want you to ride him.” In my head, I was screaming ‘no!’, but my pride overcame my logic and I just did what she said. We got him all ready to go and I got on him and just sat there. I wanted a minute to just let us be, especially because I was apprehensive! I bet I sat there about ten minutes just kind of talking to him and waiting. Finally, he let out a giant sigh, like he had figured out that I wasn’t going to make him work too hard. We rode at a walk through the pastures and he was great! He’s been a great buddy ever since. He has some old man pain that makes him crabby sometimes, but I try to just pay attention to how he feels and adjust our work accordingly. He seems to appreciate the slower pace and does really well with the kids. Although when he’s done he just takes them back to the barn and tries to sleep under the eaves – regardless of what they have to say. We’re still working on that.”
Chex was successful as a competitive cutting horse and is now retired. He’s the grandpa of the group as they affectionately call him. He’s incredibly smart and will tell you immediately if you’re being unclear or he’s uncomfortable. It took Angela a while to really bond with him. He doesn’t like just anyone, but when he decides he likes you, he’s a very sweet old man.
He was apparently a rockstar cutting horse, but with Angela, his most amazing accomplishment is teaching her 5 year old son to ride. He now rides Western pleasure and trail and his favorite treat is Mrs. Pasture’s Cookies.
Angela shares, “I figure that when it comes to training, what makes sense for a human doesn’t always make sense to a horse. There are a million ways to train and you have to do what feels right to you. I’m not a very aggressive trainer and I used to think that was a limit. I’ve learned, though, that it’s not. If I stay calm and watch what’s happening and understand why my horse is doing what he’s doing, I can figure out how to make it right. Calm and smart.”
