CLR Invest N Destiny | 5 Year Old Buckskin Mare | College Station,TX

Destiny, CLR Invest N Destiny, is a 5 year old Buckskin Mare that was bred by Layne Spitzenberger at Circle Lake Ranch. I think she should be called the “miracle horse.” Her sire was GR Hollywood Gun, son of Hollywood Dun It. Her Dam was LDR About Potential, daughter of Potential Investment.

 Destiny is the type of horse that this entire project was created for, she has such a unique story and has overcome so much adversity in her life thus far. I first met Destiny when I took her owner’s senior pictures when she was graduating with an Animal Science Degree from Texas A&M. Bridget is one of my first portrait clients to ever request being photographed with her horse. I was so incredibly excited for this session, we spent hours together exploring the Texas A&M Campus and finally heading out to the barn, Stall & Oats, for some pictures of Bridget and Destiny together. That was also the day I discovered it is a bad idea to just rip tall grass out of the pasture to attempt to use it to get horses’s ears, I ended up with some not so nice feeling stinging grass in my hand.

I have watched Destiny’s story unfold over the past year or so and knew that this was one horse whose story had to be told. Destiny has been through more in her short 5 years than most horses go through in a lifetime and she has never given up her fight and will to live. Destiny came into Bridget’s life just shortly before she turned two and they have been through just about everything together.

What started out as a girl training what seemed like a crazy baby, that even tried to double-barrel kick her the first time she walked into the stall has turned into the story of a horse that just won’t stop fighting and her owner who refuses to give up on her. “Her biggest accomplishment by far is overcoming a septic pastern joint after doctors said she should be put down. She completely exceeded all expectations and was even able to be ridden again after they said it would never happen. Truly a miracle.”

Here is the story of how they ended up together, “I started training Destiny as a weanling for her previous owner/breeder. The first time I walked into her stall she double-barrel kicked straight at me and I thought “oh what did I get myself into..” haha. As I worked with her and we worked through her spunkiness, she grew very attached to me. I couldn’t work another horse within her sight without her throwing a tantrum! Right after she turned two, I had put her first ride on her and her owner decided to sell her. I just couldn’t let her go, so I bought her all on my own with money I had earned working that summer.”

When I asked about Bridget’s favorite memory with Destiny she said:

“Probably the feeling I had on our first ride together after overcoming her septic pastern ordeal. After being moments from putting her down, through the year of triumphs and tribulations, late nights just sitting in her stall with her praying, and watching her overcome every single obstacle or doubt placed in front of her, she was my living proof that miracles do happen when you put your whole heart into it and you never, ever give up. Destiny has taught me more about patience, perseverance, and dedication than I could have ever imagined. While its been in hard, trying times, they are lessons that I will carry for a lifetime as a veterinarian and remember when working with patients and clients facing similar situations with their loved ones in the future.”

I have no doubt in my mind that Bridget will be an incredible Veterinarian when she graduates from Veterinary school at Texas A&M University. Life has crazy ways of putting us through the worst to make us grow and become better, I know that this experience with her own horse will only make her fight that much harder for her patients.

If her owner, Bridget, had to choose one word to describe her it would be, fighter. Destiny’s favorite treats are carrots.

Bridget started riding horses when she was in Junior High. Her cousins had horses they would ride in Indiana when she was there on vacation, I imagine those horse back rides while on vacation started her love of horses. She started taking horseback riding lessons at Circle Lake Ranch in Katy, Tx when she was in the 8th grade. Destiny is her first (and only!) horse that she has ever owned, and she has owned her for 4 years. Bridget’s favorite thing about owning a horse is the bond you build over the years with that animal. She says, “with horses especially, it takes time to develop that trust between you, but once you have it you can do really incredible things with it. It shows not only in your training but in situations where they can be in trouble or need to remain calm and it really matters for them to trust you.”

Read more about 365 Days of Horses and how to apply here.

Karinda K Equine Photography is a College Station equine photographer located in Montgomery, TX. Karinda creates timeless portraits of you with your beloved horses, and other farm animals. Serving locally Houston, Dallas, San Antonio, and Austin, Texas communities. KEP also serves Wellington and Ocala, Florida, Lexington and Louisville, Kentucky, Aiken, South Carolina, Tryon, North Carolina, and Norco and Woodside, California and their surrounding communities.