The Ups and Downs of Horse Selling

It all happened so quickly- I casually mentioned to a trainer friend that I wanted to sell Sienna, she told me to send her some info on her, and 3 days later I was on the road, hauling Sienna 2 hours away to let her client try her out.

Here I might interject that Sienna had a grand total of 3 days of riding on her before I loaded her up and took her down, after several months off thanks to school. I might also add that two of those days were days that I worked until 8:30 PM and 8 PM, respectively, so the riding took place in the dark.

Sienna was a superstar for these people (a mom, a dad, and a nine- year old girl, all beginners) from the moment I unloaded her. She calmly looked around at the barn,  and then we walked back to the trailer and tacked up. I jumped on her first, and she walked, trotted, and cantered immediately on cue, backed, pivoted, and whoaed exceptionally. Then the mom got on Sienna in the round pen, and in spite of the fact that she had a hard time getting her to canter, Sienna was patient and forgiving the entire ride. The little girl got on next, all smiles, and (once she had practiced kicking hard enough that Sienna could actually feel her little legs) had Sienna walking and trotting everywhere in no time. After the ride, the people hosed her off, the little girl braided her tail, using her own hair band to hold the braid in, and then walked off with her, letting her graze. Sienna was polite and respectful- she could not have shown herself off better. The people tried out another older, more bombproof horse, but they liked Sienna better, thought she was prettier, and she suited their future needs more than the other horse (ie, she is a potential English show horse, whereas he was not).

The mom told me that they really liked her, the dad inquired with the barn owner about which stall they would keep her in, and, although the mom told me they would think it over and get back to me the next day, everything seemed so sure that I ended up leaving Sienna at the barn instead of driving her all the way back. I mean, the dad told the barn owner it was a done deal.

The next day rolls around, and I hear nothing. Then the next- nothing. Finally the third day comes, and I get the news: the people don't think their budget can afford the monthly care and lessons they would want to take to own a horse.

I was understandably upset- I mean, what kind of person doesn't figure that out before a) putting a bunch of people out and b) telling their young daughter they are horse shopping for her? But it comes with the territory. Horse selling (and buying) can be a really frustrating deal, especially if you are in a hurry. Fortunately I can wait for the right owner to come along, but it would have been really nice if these people had bought her because they got along so well and I would have gotten to see her often where she was boarded.

This experience made me realize four things:

1) I have trained Sienna much better than I give myself (or her) credit for

2) In spite of being sad to leave her behind, I really am ready to sell her and move on

3) In the interim of waiting for interested parties to find her, I'd like to seriously start jumping her

4) Don't start looking at other horses and getting excited about the next one until the sale is a done deal!

Too cool for the faint of heart

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An Argument for "Wasting" Money on Horses

A friend shared this on Facebook, and I found it totally relevant to my life, both 12 years ago and today.

Very often we hear parents at the riding school complain about the cost of horses. While we know they eat a hole in the pocket, a father recently shared why he forks out for the animals. We’ve copied this from Facebook and definitely think you’ll enjoy the read:

My daughter turned sixteen years old today, which is a milestone for most people. Besides looking at baby photos and childhood trinkets with her, I took time to reflect on the young woman my daughter had become and the choices she would face in the future.

As I looked at her I could see the athlete she was, and determined woman she would soon be. I started thinking about some of the girls we knew in our town who were already pregnant, pierced in several places, hair every color under the sun, drop outs, drug addicts and on the fast track to no-where, seeking surface identities because they had no inner self esteem. The parents of these same girls have asked me why I “waste” the money on horses so my daughter can ride. I’m told she will grow out of it, lose interest, discover boys and all kinds of things that try to pin the current generation’s “slacker” label on my child. I don’t think it will happen, I think she will love and have horses all her life.

Because my daughter grew up with horses, she has compassion. She knows that we must take special care of the very young and the very old. We must make sure those without voices to speak of their pain are still cared for.

Because my daughter grew up with horses, she learned responsibility for others than herself. She learned that regardless of the weather you must still care for those you have the stewardship of. There are no “days off” just because you don’t feel like being a horse owner that day. She learned that for every hour of fun you have, there are days of hard slogging work you must do first.

Because my daughter grew up with horses, she learned not to be afraid of getting dirty and that appearances don’t matter to most of the breathing things in the world we live in. Horses do not care about designer clothes, jewelry, pretty hairdos or anything else we put on our bodies to try to impress others. What a horse cares about are your abilities to work within his natural world; he doesn’t care if you’re wearing $80.00 jeans while you do it.

Because my daughter grew up with horses, she understands the value of money. Every dollar can be translated into bales of hay, bags of feed or farrier visits. Purchasing non-necessities during lean times can mean the difference between feed and good care, or neglect and starvation. She has learned to judge the level of her care against the care she sees provided by others and to make sure her standards never lower, and only increase as her knowledge grows.

Because my daughter grew up with horses, she has learned to learn on her own. She has had teachers that cannot speak, nor write, nor communicate beyond body language and reactions. She has had to learn to “read” her surroundings for both safe and unsafe objects, to look for hazards where others might only see a pretty meadow. She has learned to judge people as she judges horses. She looks beyond appearances and trappings to see what is within.

Because my daughter grew up with horses, she has learned sportsmanship to a high degree. Everyone that competes fairly is a winner. Trophies and ribbons may prove someone a winner, but they do not prove someone is a horseman. She has also learned that some people will do anything to win, regard-less of who it hurts. She knows that those who will cheat in the show ring will also cheat in every other aspect of their life and are not to be trusted.

Because my daughter grew up with horses, she has self-esteem and an engaging personality. She can talk to anyone she meets with confidence, because she has to express herself to her horse with more than words. She knows the satisfaction of controlling and teaching a 1000 pound animal that will yield willingly to her gentle touch and ignore the more forceful and inept handling of those stronger than she is. She holds herself with poise and professionalism in the company of those far older than herself.

Because my daughter grew up with horses, she has learned to plan ahead. She knows that choices made today can effect what happens five years down the road. She knows that you cannot care for and protect your investments without savings to fall back on. She knows the value of land and buildings. And that caring for your vehicle can mean the difference between easy travel or being stranded on the side of the road with a four horse trailer on a hot day.

When I look at what she has learned and what it will help her become, I can honestly say that I haven’t “wasted” a penny on providing her with horses. I only wish that all children had the same opportunities to learn these lessons from horses before setting out on the road to adulthood.

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RIP Remington

I wanted to separate yesterday's and today's posts, even though Remi (my little mouse) died last week. He had been sick a for a while- in fact, a few weeks ago I thought he was about to be dead for sure when he started rolling around his cage like he was having a seizure- and he was getting up there in age for a mouse, so it wasn't really that surprising when I got home from work last Wednesday and found him dead in his cage (a sight that you never really get used to, no matter how many small animals you've had). It was still a little unexpected since he had been seemingly fine that morning, and, although I am glad that he is no longer sick and suffering, I feel his absence a lot more than his size might lead one to believe.

Any noises I heard in the night I could attribute to Remi (since that was when he was usually running around or eating). Now if I hear something, I have to pretend it's nothing, rather than imagine what it could be (scorpion, wasp, etc). He was the nicest mouse that ever existed- I don't think he ever bit me- and he was always very sweet and happy to be held. I almost lost him one day when I was spraying him for mites and he made a leap of faith out of my hand- but even then, when I grabbed onto him tightly and didn't let go, he didn't sink his sharp little teeth into my hand.

I hope that me "rescuing" him from the pet store so that he didn't become snake food created a better life for him than the life he could have had.

I just sold off his cages and supplies (for a deeply discounted price) to a little boy who is SO EXCITED to be getting a hampster. The boy was a little taken aback that the cage was pink, but he assured me that "it's fine, it's ok". I think he's just so happy to finally be getting the pet he has been begging for for a long time. There's a hampster in town that's about to get a special home, and I'm glad that Remi and I helped make it happen.

The day I got him

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To a wonderful lady who will most terribly be missed

I went and visited my family this past weekend, as they were celebrating my sister's graduation from high school. The party was fun- there was a lot of food, a lot of people, and a lot of chocolate courtesy of yours truly- but for me there was a slight damper in the air because of some news that I had received earlier that morning.

The lady that I credit completely for turning my life, and Chica's life, around at a point when it was going incredibly south passed away earlier this month when she succumbed to cancer.

I last visited her in February of this year in the senior living community that she was in, and I think I talked to her one more time on the phone after that. One of the last things she said to me was, "Don't forget about me," and I never intend to do so.

I met Connie Presnell around my freshman or sophomore year of high school. At that time, my horse, Chica, was out of control, and I was scared to death of her. A friend I was boarding with suggested I come and ride with the lady she took lessons with at another barn and even hauled me to take a lesson with her. Connie had me ride Chica in the round pen to see what was going on, and she was quite surprised when she asked me to canter her and I burst into tears (Chica had been bucking me off whenever I asked for the canter). I don't know what she saw in us, but she took us on as her clients, and she raised my confidence in myself and taught me how to be a wonderful rider in the process. Then, we worked on giving Chica an attitude adjustment- and she went from a brat that knew how to control and intimidate me to a wonderful, (usually) loving companion that I could ride bareback and bridleless.

Connie could not ride due to a car accident, but she was the most wonderful coach I could have had. Even Chica knew to straighten up and behave whenever Connie was around. Connie always told me, in the later years when Chica and I were winning and doing so well, "You did this with this horse. No one else," which may be true in the physical sense, but I could never have done it without her wisdom and teaching. I literally don't know what I would be doing now if it weren't for Connie, but I probably would not be riding horses nor would I still own Chica.

I know that her passing has left a huge whole in my heart and in the hearts of her students. Even though I've been on my own without her for several years now, it was always nice to know that I could call her up and talk to her about any problems I was having with Chica and get her advice and to take the occasional lesson when I was in town. Now I will have to rest assured that she is watching me ride from above, shaking her head in horror at how lax my posture has gotten and saying, "Shoulders back, monkey. Sit up straight!".

When I was riding Sienna a couple of days ago, before I had found out about her passing, for some reason I could hear everything Connie would tell me in our lessons- and I went through my old warm up I would do with Chica, this time with Sienna. Sienna behaved so much better than she had been behaving, and my old confidence was right there in the saddle with me. I don't know if that's a coincidence or if on some level she was still there, instructing me as always. I need all the help I can get with this horse, so I'll take it!

I marvel at how well Chica and I did with Connie for multiple reasons- namely the fact that Chica's attitude sucked and my confidence was long gone- but also because Connie was an Arabian person. Most of her clients had Arabians or Half-Arabians. And here came this kid with this little roan mare who liked to buck, kick, and scare her devoted owner to death. Even around the expensive Arabs and their owners, however, I never ever felt a sense of me or my horse not being equals with them. We were always treated like royalty. Connie had me ride any of those horses that I could for the different experiences, and at shows, I was always to have my horse and myself dressed to the nines, even though the shows were open shows that didn't require it.

I am going to miss Connie terribly. It's going to be weird driving past her house and not seeing her truck out front. It's going to take some getting used to knowing that I won't be seeing her anymore. But someday, if Chica goes before I do, I know that there's not a better person to watch over her until we are reunited. Connie will have her trotting like she did before her surgery and doing flying lead changes in no time. Maybe even doing country pleasure!

Connie, I hope you check in on me from time to time. I could really use the lessons that I used to have with you. I'm glad you are reunited with Glen, Calcan, and all of the others that have gone before you. And I hope that you will keep an eye on Chica, Nita, Norman, Teddy, Georgia, Marie- all of us that were lucky enough to have you as our mentor.

Chica simultaneously cracks me up and creeps me out in this pic

After Connie's influence

One of the coolest horse show opportunities I've had because of Connie

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