When converting a garage into a single-stall barn for your very first horse, it\u2019s crucial to create immaculate blueprints detailing the extra door that will lead to the backyard, to be used as the horse\u2019s paddock. The drying line, of course, must be relocated, but that shouldn\u2019t be a problem.<\/p>\n
Elizabeth (Betsy) Forssell Hestnes \u201958<\/span><\/strong> was a little girl in the 1940s who loved all creatures\u2014the insects roused from her father\u2019s garden, salamanders housed between the glass pane and window screen, stray cats, and especially horses. Hestnes could think of nothing but horses. \u201cI went to my father with my plans,\u201d Hestnes recollects, \u201cand he looked at them very carefully and said, \u2018I don\u2019t think so.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n They lived next to the library, so looking back, a horse in the garage wasn\u2019t the best idea, she admits.<\/p>\n Instead, Hestnes attended horse camp. \u201cI went off to my riding lessons so excited. The instructor said, \u2018Now mount up,\u2019 and I had never been on a horse before in my life. Then the instructor said, \u2018All trot please,\u2019 and I thought I was going to throw up. It was nerve-wracking,\u201d she says. \u201cFrom that point on, I would dress up like I was going for my riding lessons and then hide in the woods.\u201d It didn\u2019t take long for Hestnes to join a different horse camp, one where she spent most of the time meandering the woods on horseback and learning to care for these massive creatures.<\/p>\n It wouldn\u2019t be until Goucher that Hestnes took more formal lessons. Even though her instructor was more interested in jumping, Hestnes still preferred riding the trails and spending time with the horses.<\/p>\n In 1959, Hestnes married her late husband, Harold, and they settled in Weston, MA, where the rural space prompted a family member to gift Harold a pair of \u201cpsychedelic overalls\u201d so that he could be a true farmer. Finally, Hestnes had space for a horse, although the barn would come later. Abigail Adams, named for the first lady, was bought with $900 and those psychedelic overalls\u2014worn by Harold for the seller\u2019s amusement. Abby was a bombshell, Hestnes says, and at first, it took three people to feed her. In time, however, Abby would prove to be compassionate.<\/p>\n After moving to their third and final house in Weston, Hestnes expanded her garage-barn blueprints to include a real barn, indoor riding ring, and several horses. Hestnes had been involved in 4-H when her two children were young, which led to dressage, a highly skilled form of riding. Hestnes boarded, raised, and showed dressage horses competitively; she also taught others how to ride dressage and was president of the New England Dressage Association for many years.<\/p>\n One day, Hestnes was training a new horse when he reared his head, knocking Hestnes unconscious to the ground and then falling on her. Miraculously, Hestnes didn\u2019t break any bones but was told by the doctors to remain on bed rest in case of internal damage. Three weeks later and without her doctor\u2019s approval, Hestnes was back on Abby. To get her used to the feeling of riding again, two of Hestnes\u2019 friends stood on either side of Abby, each pushing into the horse to get her to sway.<\/p>\n \u201cAfter three minutes of this,\u201d Hestnes says, \u201cAbby threw her head to get rid of the women on the ground, and there wasn\u2019t a dry eye in the house because she just swayed from side-to-side [all by herself].\u201d Then, Abby started walking and pulled into an easy trot. It was obvious to Hestnes that Abby knew what she needed.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Betsy Hestnes \u201958 was a little girl in the 1940s who loved all creatures\u2014the insects from her father\u2019s garden, stray cats, and horses, especially horses. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":352,"featured_media":3324,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[54973],"tags":[],"ppma_author":[87521],"class_list":["post-3260","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-alumni-spotlight"],"yoast_head":"\n