The Bittersweetness of Dreams

 Like most little girls all I ever wanted was a pony of my own to love, ride and spoil.  That dream did not come true until I was sixteen and worked for two summers to buy my own horse. A horse I wish I had today for my daughter to ride.  Yet the dream of a pony persisted in to my adult years.

Even after having several horses of my own my heart would not give up the  dream of a tiny, fuzzy, pony face in my pasture. So when my daughter was born the dream burst full color. I now had a reason, a real reason to buy a pony.  The one I really wanted was an older, been everywhere, grey mare.  I ended up with a too sensitive, chestnut, pony, mare.  I often called her the devil's trifecta. 

Sadly my daughter, while she loves the horses, isn't in to riding to the levels that I am. It took me two years to finally find the perfect next home for my daughter's pony.  Yet I still worry that they won't give her the time or the patience she needs to really excel.  I worry that she will end up at a run down auction, scared and alone.  Don't mistake me. The home I chose for Tara is excellent but the worry doesn't cease. 

I am incredibly sad today because I led the pony on to the big shipper's trailer last night and settled her in with her two traveling companions.  I'm sad because the dream of the pony I always wanted is gone.  Yes I have the loveliest Belgian Warmblood mare and an equally lovely Belgian Warmblood/Section D Welsh mare that will probably be my husband's trail partner provided Roo gains back her brain cells when she goes to the professional trainer next spring. 

I'm bringing Remmy along on my own with help now and then from professional trainers. I love her more than words and truly believe that Roo came in to my life so that Remmy would find her way to me. 

I'm hoping to take her to a local schooling show, just to walk around in the costume class, provided Remmy keeps her calm, level headed demeanor.

Keep it between the flags. 

The Princess and Being Jumper Bred

 My lovely warmblood mare is a Princess.  I used the capitol P because her highness is just that, a Princess with a capitol P.   She likes her food on time, she likes her snacks to be plentiful, her baths to be consistent, she is not above being dirty but she does very much enjoy her baths. 

She likes her fly gear, except the rear boots, she isn't keen on those but will wear them if I insist, although she gives me the mare glare while I'm putting them on.  She would rather I stand on a stool to reach her head then deign to lower her massive noggin. She does not like to be kept waiting and she absolutely does not do bugs.

She does not do bugs to the point that she decided last Saturday, while I was out fetching the best second cutting hay in the land that she was going to move herself from the side pasture to the main pasture so that she could go back to the barn, where she believed the bugs would be less abundant. How did she accomplish this feat as there is a solid, five foot metal pipe gate separating the pastures?  She put her Grand Prix papa's jumper blood to the forefront and jumped the gate, scaring the life out of my husband who watched her do it.   Thankfully she did not injure herself in the process, however it has changed some of the policies that I generally run my barn by.  No matter how hot it is the Princess will where her fly sheet at all times.   And I'm looking into ways to cut down on the fly population.

Needless to say I will never worry about whether Remmy has scope or not. She was extremely pleased with herself after I got home with the hay. 

Swapping Feet and Weird Quirks

 Years ago after trying to manage Fox’s escalating hoof issues I wished that I could swap Seneca’s hooves on to Fox’s body.  Fox was pretty much everything I wanted mentally.  He was laid back, easy, and unflappable.  If I hadn’t wanted to compete he would have been the best trail pony ever, unless you wanted to go fast.  Fox never went anywhere fast. He was always the very last horse in every trail ride because he seemed to just want to stroll along and enjoy the walk at a snails pace.  I did love that about him.  After trail riding Seneca, who hated being off the property and hated trail rides anywhere, it was refreshing to have a horse who genuinely enjoyed ambling along the trails all day.  Seneca had the feet, Fox had the brain. I wished for years that I could combined the best attributes of both of them.

 Then Remmy showed up and said “hold my champagne”.  She is definitely a champagne kind of girl but she’s also the kind of princess that doesn’t wait for the prince to rescue her. She rescue’s herself.   I expected at least a little fireworks when she unloaded from the trailer in the dark of night and was handed off to a person she met for a couple of hours three years prior and was walked in to an unfamiliar field and set loose in a strange stall with strange horses for company.

But it didn’t happen. I had initially set out a lead shank with a chain as a just in case. We didn’t need it she walked calmly by my side and other than being a bit wide eyed Remmy behaved as all princess’s do with poise and grace. 

She has been this very same girl, accepting and adaptable from minute one. Remmy let me bathe her and clip her within a few days arriving with no fuss.  In fact that seems to be her mantra, no fuss, why expend that kind of energy.

She does have a couple of quirks.  The first we are working to correct. She is very resistant to picking up her back feet. It’s not that she can’t or is experiencing some sort of pain, she would just rather not have to.  We are solving this with ground work and cookies when she does it nicely without snatching her foot up.

The second quirk is not really something I can do anything but puzzle over.  Remmy likes to patrol the pasture. She isn’t doing it out of nerves or looking for the other horses, she just likes to walk the fence line in an observing way and then go back to eating.  She isn’t upset when she does it, just attentive. 

My mare is weird but I love her

When You Take the Crazy Leap

 

Sometimes taking the crazy leap doesn't end like you expect it to.  Your daughter who is hell on wheels for every other sport is very timid when it comes to riding. So the sensitive pony you bought doesn't end up being the right fit and now you have to start marketing her for sale. The pony not the child. 

Yet there are other jumps that end up taking you places you didn't envision and they feel like you were always meant to take that path. Years ago when my heart was hurting over my mare who had been diagnosed with cancer, I had a knee jerk reaction and brought home an OTTB who seemed perfect and for awhile he was. I really did love Fox but ultimately he was not the right fit for me so I sent him off to new adventures. 

Then came my giant golden retriever of a mare who absolutely identifies as a gelding. She's big and goofy and I love her more than I thought I'd ever love another horse after my heart horse (a tiny red AQHA mare) left my life. I loved Seneca dearly but she was not my heart horse. I grieved for her but when she left me it didn't tear me apart like losing Lady did.  I'm hoping the growing love I have for Roo will at least equal how I felt for Lady. I hope that we learn to trust each other at the heart deep level that Lady and I did. 

Roo, or searching for a Welsh Section D Cob sent me to Lisa Schultz Brezzina, a fantastic breeder who breeds Section D's and Section D Warmblood crosses under the Castleberry prefix in Indiana.  If you are looking for a well bred, athletic, smart, ridable horse, she is your person.  She sold me Roo and now she is selling me Roo's mom, Reminisce.   

When I knew my daughter's pony wasn't going to be a match and my daughter was going to need several more years of riding saintly lesson horses before she gained the confidence she would need for her own horse I went about looking for a horse that I could play with until Roo is old enough to be ridden consistently.  That's another year away at least.  The problem was I had champagne tastes and a beer budget.  I really wanted something that was already going or at least W/T/C.  Honestly I wanted a fancy Warmblood hunter but there was no way I was going to afford that.  Have you seen the horse market these days?  It's insane!  So I started looking at  OTTB's and Appendix AQHA's, even some paints but nothing I looked at was what I wanted. I wanted lovely movement, with lofty gaits and a sweet personality.  I wanted Roo, just older. 

Which is when Roo's breeder, Lisa offered to let me buy Remmy. I said yes without a second thought.  Remmy is an enormous Belgian Warmblood from the award winning breeding farm BannockBurn.  She has some of the best sporthorse blood in the world and she will be my new riding horse.  I may even breed a foal from her someday because I've always wanted to raise a foal from birth and Remmy has the bloodlines, the atheleticism and the good brain to make a phenominal baby.  I already know she can because Roo shows me everyday.

It will be a couple months before Remmy arrives but I am so very excited! Until the next step, keep it between the flags everyone!

Just Trucking Along

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. 

The Chaos Wrap-Up and a Return to Hunter Land

 The last year has been a continual study in change and chaos. I started a new job, that I love so much my husband and I decided to stay in VA for another few years. Despite me hating my current house with every fiber of my being, seriously I detest it.  Despite not having enough room for all the horses I really want but then who does?  But I love the job I’m doing and the freedom it allows me.  

My daughter is starting Kindergarten this year.  There is a sentence I NEVER thought would come out of my mouth. And we’ve decided to find a new home for her pony.  My daughter loves her pony but doesn’t love riding and it’s not fair to the pony when the pony really, really loves to work. Sporadic lead line rides just aren’t enough for her.  So little Miss Tara will be marketed soon to find her a new perfect home. 

Earlier in the spring I started riding at a friend’s hunter/jumper barn.  I was the epitome of nervous adult amateur but Thief, the massive, red OTTB gelding was a perfect babysitter and even helped me start to love jumping again.  I don’t know where this will take me but it’s nice to be able to ride while Roo is still turning in to the monster Warmblood she seems to moving towards.  Seriously she’s 13 months old and already 14.2 hands.   I’m starting to wonder if she’ll be as tall as her mom.  A daunting thought but she’s so lovely and sweet I can’t imagine it being an issue. 

With the pony leaving I will have a spot open for a new horse. I’m trying to find something very laid back and sweet so that if my daughter really does decide she wants to ride later on that I’ll have something suitable that she can just hack around.   

That is all the update I have right now. Keep it between the flags everyone!

Change Brings Change

 There has been so much change in my life this year. The new job is pretty great. I got over my first day jitters and found an introverts dream job. I only really interact with about ten people on a weekly basis. I'm quietly left to do my job and no one wonders where I am if I happen to take a break to walk outside in the sunshine or go to the break room to facetime with my daughter because I leave for work before she gets up. 

Roo is still just as sweet as ever. I swear she's a giant Golden Retriever in a horse shape. She has the cutest crimped curly hair in her forelock and tail. Her breeder says that's from her dad Favor.  Roo has been learning all the good horsey citizen things like picking up her feet, having them trimmed by the farrier, tying quietly and just all around learning to be well behaved. Everything is just so easy with her.

Not to be outdone my daughter's little Welsh pony Tara is still a lovely, haughty princess of a pony.  But over the last two years she has grown to love me. She calls to me every time I leave the house, she willingly lets me hug her, rub her soft red coat and doesn't flee when I come bearing a leadline.  She still has her moments of snobby princess where she doesn't want to be caught but now I can entice her in with a treat, where before even that wouldn't convince her to come near me.  She's still a bit spooky, but we are working on that with ground work. 

The biggest change came unexpectedly. I convinced my husband to send Cowboy off to a trainer friend of mine. She is an advanced level eventer and used to quirky horses. So off he went for almost 90 days of training.  We went to visit him towards the end of 60 days and afterwards, seeing how very happy Cowboy was with a true job my husband made the decision to find Cowboy a new partner. My husband also took on a new job this past year, which he loves. He's working towards his degree in Early Childhood Development and due to that taking up so much of his time he's decided that it would be in the best interest of Cowboy to find him a new partner. 

We let my trainer friend know to start marketing him.  I know the horse market is crazy right now. I watched an online auction and saw a Draft cross mare sell for $90,000.  This wasn't some spectacular dressage horse or money earning cutting horse or even a jumper. This was a ranch bred Draft cross.  I just could not even wrap my head around that.  Until Cowboy sold in maybe three weeks.  Granted my trainer friend has tons of connections but still it was a little crazy how quickly he was sold.  He will be leaving for his new home next week to become the next Appy partner for a lady who wants an all around Appaloosa.  I think Cowboy is going to be really happy.  He will have a person who loves him for himself.

Is there another riding age horse in my future while I wait for Roo to grow up? Probably.  But most likely it will be next year when my family finally moves home to North Carolina so I can be closer to my mom and sisters. 

Until then keep it between the flags everyone!