Pamela Pamela Larocque, Jamin, Sassy and Sterling
Rick: Today is September 20th. And we're speaking with Pamela Larocque. And we are in?
Pamela: West Nottingham, New Hampshire.
Rick: Your horses names are?
Pamela: Jamin. Sterling. And Sassy. Sassy and Sterling are palominos. And Jamin is a paint.
Rick: First question we like to ask everybody is how did you first get into horses?
Pamela: So when I first started dating Joe, my boyfriend, he had a close friend that was into horses and he brought me to her barn to watch her ride. And I rode horses when I was younger, a teenager. But then she made the mistake of saying, would you like to ride my horse? And then I was in trouble from there on out. So that was probably six years ago. Six years ago, and then he bought me. He let me ride that horse and then he bought me a horse. Within six months he bought me my first horse, Ralph. And then it went on from there. Two years later. He bought me and then we kind of stepped up.
Rick: Tell me more how you ride.
Pamela: Western. We ride Western and we do raining. The horses need to know how to do certain maneuvers. And then you have to do them all in a pattern and we go to competitions and compete with them.
Rick: How long have you been competing?
Pamela: I'd say for five years. Yeah. I started competing actually with the first horse, Ralph. I started competing with him, but he was kind of low on the totem pole. We then I got Jamin and we kind of clashed. She was young and I was new at it. So we didn't hit it off great at first. And that's why we got the other two. And now I've kind of come back to Jamin and relearned how to ride her. Now we're getting along much better.
Rick: All your horses came from Montana?
Pamela: They did. They all came from Montana. We had a friend that was driving across country because they were going to school out in Montana. And we just wanted to get a horse that wasn't from around here. We just wanted a horse that had been trained by a different trainer out West. We just thought that was a good idea and she went around and looked for different horses and found this particular ranch with this trainer that we love, JD, and brought this horse back from him in Montana. When we wanted to get another horse and we went back to that same ranch. So now we've traveled to Montana and even bought property in Montana. Our horses all have a connection there. Montana is beautiful. I don't think we'd buy another horse if it's not from there. Yeah.
Rick: What makes the horses from Montana different?
Pamela: I think it's more that we trust what they say out there more. I mean, they're serious horse people, honest, serious horse people. And the training is honest and serious.
And if they say that those horses know what they're doing and they say this is going to be a good solid minded horse, we trust their opinion over the opinion of people in the past who have burned us here.
So it's more the word of the trainers and their guarantee a horse is a good, solid horse health wise. If they think that a horse is good and solid, it is going to be a good, solid horse. And we haven't been steered wrong yet.
Rick: So you trust their recommendations for horses that fit your style and skill level?
Pamela: You ride their horses. They watch me ride and recommend which one they feel would be the best fit.
The training that I've gotten from JD is so helpful. Maybe I only get training once or twice a year from him. But in the show ring, his words comes back to me. Especially when I'm lost and don't remember how to do a maneuver. I can hear his voice in my head saying: "Remember this. Always remember this. And I always can hear his voice in my head. He's that kind of trainer. It makes you want to trust him. And it makes you want to get horses only from him.
Yes, I'm going back there to get more horses from JD Anderson in Wilsall Montana. It's between Bozeman and Billings. Yeah. Beautiful country. Nice people. Nice, honest people.
Rick: Starting with Jamin, what does Jamin do that makes you laugh out loud? [3.3s]
Pamela: She's ornery. It's not easy to get affection from her. She's just an ordinary horse, which makes your love her.
You know, Sterling really is the one that makes you laugh the most. Stirling is just a goofball. Every time I go to put his halter on, he bites my belt. You think he's being nice to you, you turn your back and he will bit your shoulder. He's just a goofy horse. He's really a goofy horse in the barn, in the aisle, where people are trying to get by all the time. Most horses stand straight, let people walk by them. He'll just turn his butt, put it right in the middle of the aisle so no one can walk by. Sterling is an attention seeking horse. Usually all in fun. All in good fun. But he's pain in the butt. He's a funny horse.
Sassy's like a princess. She's quiet. You'd picture her with fancy nails and not wanting to get her hair messed. That's kind of how I see her. Nothing is really funny to her. Not really. She's more of a serious horse.
Rick: Have you thought about moving to Montana?
Pamela: We thought about it before we started redoing this house. There's three properties out there that probably should have just done it to begin with before we did this. But I have kids here. He has kids here. I have a grandchild here. That's probably the only reason why we did not move out there. I could get a job in Bozeman doing what I do. Live on a horse farm out there a lot cheaper than you can live here. The taxes are really cheap. The land is gorgeous. It's just. Yeah. I can see us moving there at some point.
Rick: How far from Billings is it?
Pamela: It's about an hour from Billings. About an hour from Bozeman. Kind of in the middle. Beautiful, beautiful country. I could see us having all our horses on our own farm out there. It would be nice someday. Yeah.
Rick: Well, I really want to thank you for this interview. I really enjoyed photographing your horses. I think they're gorgeous. They definitely have three different personalities. I wish you luck with your house. Thank you. And, I hope that someday you'll want several equine portraits on your new walls. Images you'll be very proud to display.
Pamela: Yes, I hope so too. They would be nice to have.
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