Photo By Sgt. Stephanie Woodson | Staff Sgt. Cathy Hagen, a temporary motor sergeant from the Headquarters and...... read more read more
FORT HOOD, Texas — Staff Sgt Cathy Hagen, a temporary motor sergeant from the Headquarters and Headquarters Company 13th Sustainment Command (Expeditionary) and a native of East St. Louis, Ill. Her free time is spent with three quarter horses that she has owned since 2006. They are stalled at Fort Hood Stables.
“I chose Fort Hood stables because it is very convenient and cheaper than most places. I can pay for them to be kept somewhere else, but the gas back and forth would get expensive,” said Hagen.
“I keep a pair of jeans and my riding boots in the truck with me. All I have to do is change clothes when I get off work,” explained Hagen. “One of the advantages of having my horses stalled at the stables on post is I get the opportunity to see my horses every day.”
At the age of five, Hagen spent the summer on her grandfathers’ farm and fell in love with horses. There were cows, chickens, and pigs on the farm, but she could not get over the fascination of the size of the horse, she said.
“My eyes got so big, all I could think about was how big this horse was compared to me,” said Hagen. “This humongous horse is going to crush me.”
Her mom had a white paint horse which is similar to one of the three she has now, she said.
“I didn’t actually ride a horse until I was twelve,” said Hagen. She and a friend were trotting around and it was an adrenaline rush, like flying on an airplane.
Her love for horses has grown throughout the years. She now owns three horses and if she were to get out of the Army today, she would probably own more, she explained.
“I picked the quarter horses for their ability to run fast and barrel race. I do not race for other people, I race for myself,” said Hagen. All of my horses are males. I chose males because female horses have the same cycles as women. So, whenever their hormones act up, they get moody.”
Caring for a horse includes grooming, picking out their hooves, so bacteria does not set in, and watching their mental well being, she explained. Horses are not able to throw-up, so they have to intake a lot more water so their body flushes out the food, she explained.
Bear, her paint horse, was five when she bought him. He participated in some of the polo games. She couldn’t recall how many games he had won, but he was a prized polo horse, she said. Because his hooves were injured they put him out to be pastured, that’s when she bought him.
Bear now wears horse shoes so he can hear when his hooves touch the ground. Hagen recalls a time when Bear got colic. Colic, in a horse is defined as abdominal pain. It occurs when a horse eats and forgets to drink; it ties their stomach like a knot.
“When Bear was colic, I was walking him around to get his stomach to adjust, and soldiers from 1st Cavalry were walking with their horses. I had half of my riding gear on and half of my riding gear off. They were yelling ‘you need to put your riding gear on’. Well, my priority was my horse being saved, not my riding gear. In the end it all worked out,” she explained.
She goes into detail about her other horse Redford, who she taught how to drink water out of a bottle. The first time he drank from a bottle she thought to herself this is way cool, she said.
Normally, horses drink out of a trough, but they can be trained to do certain tricks to get treats, which, in this case are sugar cookies, explained Hagen. If they had a great day and they have done everything you asked them to do, then you reward them by giving them sugar cookies.
She remembers a time when she was scratching Bear on his back and he bent his head around her to give her a hug. The expressions she sees in his eyes, lets her know it feels good, she explained.
She loves spending time with her horses and uses one of the quarter horses for barrel racing, said Staff Sgt. Robyn Gaddy, a secretary general staff member, at HHC 13th ESC. Hagen has invited my daughter and me to go horseback riding. It’s just a matter of me fitting it into my schedule.
“Horses are like kids and I treat my horses like they are my kids,” said Hagen. “One thing I love about my horses is when I get stressed out, I can always count on them to let me sit there and vent, put it all out there, and cry on their shoulder,” said Hagen. “They just look at me like ‘I love you, mom. They are my relief.
| Date Taken: | 05.13.2012 |
| Date Posted: | 05.23.2012 15:37 |
| Story ID: | 88888 |
| Location: | FORT HOOD, TEXAS, US |
| Web Views: | 73 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
This work, Soldier‘s most prized possessions are her horses, by SGT Stephanie Woodson, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
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