Subject: [RC] Omigosh I just bought a
horse--what a trip it's been
Wow. I just handed over the check for Leonardo's Night Out--a
beautiful but untrained 3.5 year-old Arabian gelding. I wound up focusing on
three horses: one beautifully trained (western pleasure) 8 year-old mare; one
untrained six-year-old black stallion; and Leo.
The mare was perfect
in every way except her thin legs bothered me. I worry that I'm stupid for not
buying her: she had an excellent early start in wide-open pastures with other
horses, and now she's had two years of gentle, sensible training (though none
of it on trails). She has perfect gaits--three clear speeds at each
level--three walks, three trots, etc. She has a great back and straight legs,
but her cannon bones are somewhere around 6 inches, and she has really little
feet. Is that a stupid reason for not buying an otherwise well-conformed horse
one hopes to take on hundred-milers? I'll always wonder about her. She's
selling for $1,800 because her owner's sick. If you're interested in that
unbelievable deal, I told her owner I'd tell ridecampers about her. Her name
is Dahly. She's on Dreamhorse in Snohomish, Washington. I almost want to buy
her for my kids so they'll have someone to ride along with me. Verrrrry
gentle, but eager and forward-moving too.
The stallion is the
straightest, strongest horse I've seen in years--and SO pretty. Romantic black
curly hair hanging down over his eyes. *sigh* He's an intelligent, kindly-eyed
boy, but he's barely been handled and hasn't been out of his 20x20 pen in a
long time--years maybe. His owner handed me the lead, then said, "don't let
him move until I'm out of his pen--and, whatever you do, don't turn your back
on him." Needless to say the experience was a bit nerve-wracking. I still
wonder how he and I might have fared had we had half a chance to get to know
one another. Instead, we spent 3 minutes together with him whirling around me
on the end of a 6 ft lead. It was horrible. I kept going back and forth
between thinking, "he's going to fall and kill himself", and "he's going to
smack into me and kill me." Having said that, I think he's really a gentle,
eager guy who just needs some time in a round pen. I wish one of you would buy him and
give him a chance to be a horse. His name is Midnight Morafic. He's on
Dreamhorse and lives in Stanwood, WA.
There were a few others--Zeus in
Index who already highlines and hobbles, has a huge chest and cannon bones and
feet to match, and has done a few distance events already. But he doesn't care
for puddles and doesn't like to go first in the pack.... I hate that.
And Then I Met Leo....
Omigosh. This whole thing is like
falling in love. I walked out to meet him and he shied away like a deer and
had to be herded into his shed to be haltered. By the time I left, 3 hours or
so, something had changed in both of us. Since then I've gone out there four
more times. Each time I come back elated by how smart and eager and
warm-hearted he is (--and impressed by what a long haul this is going to be).
He's really high. She listed him as a "ten" for temperment on Dreamhorse. When
I called on him I asked if he'd tried to kill her or something to earn that
high a mark. But she's right, he's not mean--just really shy and fresh. He
seems relieved to have someone focusing on him--I've never had a horse try to
hug me before--it's really odd and sweet. He touches his neck against my ear,
then curves his head a bit so that a lot of him is touching me. Then he sighs
and relaxes for a moment. Most of the time though, it's like working with a
cloud. He never leans or pulls or pushes--there's no weight on the lead at
all, ever--he just floats around like a super-charged electron.
Anyone
who'd like to give advice about starting him well is more than welcome to
email me at lazykfarm at comcast dot net. I'm trying to go slooooowwww because
he's such a nervous thing.
It's going to be a fabulous journey. I'm
really happy tonight.
