So another year has gone by or maybe two, okay a few. Life has gotten a little away from me and yet some things haven’t changed at all. Roo is still a giant Golden Retriever, sweet, goofy and well out of large pony size and in to the 15 hands range. I’m thinking she might stop at 16 hands, which is kind of a relief. Her half brother from last year is already 14.2 hands at 5 months. I mean he is going to be HUGE! Roo’s breeder offered to sell him to me and if I already had a going older, schoolmaster type and the room for it I would have definitely bought him.
Roo is still the best baby horse ever. She will be three at the end of April and I’m hoping to be able to take her to a couple of shows and just maybe do a walk trot class with her. I don’t know yet. My original plan was to have her started by someone I trust but I might just be able to do it myself. My only goal this winter was to be the very first person to sit on Roo. I bought her as a gangly, fuzzy weanling and I’ve loved every minute of watching her grow up the past two years. Despite not being a professional trainer or having really started any of the other babies I’ve had over the years I wanted to be the first person to sit on my girl. And I did it!
Perhaps not in the most sane way. I had planned to have my husband home while I did it but decided later I didn’t want an audience. So when he was a work and my daughter was at her after school activities I brought Roo in to the barn, tacked her up (she’s been tacked, lunged and done all the ground work, I’m not completely nuts) and then I brought her in to her stall and just went through all the things we already done before I assessed where her mental state was and then swung my leg over. It was amazing! She didn’t flick an ear and I was just so proud of her.
So next, the pony. Tara is still at my farm. I want to sell her and yet I don’t. If she was a large or even a bigger medium pony I’d just keep her for myself but as a small she just isn’t super fun for me to ride. So this spring I’ll be taking her to some breed shows, some local hunter/jumper shows and starting to market her for sale. I hate it because I am so very afraid she will end up in a bad situation that isn’t as understanding of her quirks as I am. She is not a beginner child’s pony. She’s a super brave, trainer kids pony or one of those really talented A circuit junior riders. So I’m trying to find her the right person, a person who will love her and laugh at her quirks rather than punish her for them.
My daughter is still riding, though I take her over to my friend’s hunter/jumper barn where she rides a pair of saintly lesson horses. Someday I will get her another horse but for now she’s learning from the lesson horses. As for me, aside from tuning up the pony and bringing along Roo I haven’t really been riding much. Thief had to retire last winter due to some injuries and my friend’s other hunter gelding is not my cup of tea to ride. So I’m sort of a riding horseless. I’ll start looking for a schoolmaster of my own later this year when I have the budget for it.
The problem is that I want a lovely, well schooled, saintly Warmblood and I can’t afford that. A nice OTTB would be good too but the ones I need are all really expensive too. I mean the horse market the last few years has just gone insane!
Anyway, until I pick up the keyboard again, keep it between the flags my friends.
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