Finding a great horse

Glad to report Ginger still seems sound and on the mend. But we've realized we probably still need another horse -- for two unmet needs: a bigger/stronger horse for adult riders and, if possible, another horse to use with all the new riders and beginners we are attracting!

When Matt, our farrier, was here last week he told Chuck and Linda about one of his wife's horses that they were thinking about selling. Sam is a Quarter horse gelding -- "bomb proof" and only 9 years old. Chuck and Linda both thought it was interesting enough to make a road trip.

The best way to judge a horse is to see how our riders do with her. Annie's mom was willing to let her spend the weekend here and come to see the horse. Also, if Sam turned out to be all that we hoped, we knew Elizabeth would be another good test rider.

So, with five girls (Annie brought her non-riding friend Kiki), Buddy (our Boston Terrier), Chuck, me, cold drinks and tack (saddle, girth, helmets) off we went. Of course, with this load, a 75-80 minute trip took two hours with our multiple snack and bathroom stops. It was a little tricky to find the barn -- Chuck had sketchy directions and the barn wasn't actually near their house. At one hysterical point we pulled into a driveway toward a barn that we thought was our destination and began pouring out of the Suburban like a clown car. A horrified woman came flying out of her house saying "you must be in the wrong place! I think you are at the wrong house!" It was as if she thought we were the kid equivalent of people who drop stray kittens off at welcoming-looking homes (very often, farms).

When we finally arrived, Sam was big and beautiful and seemingly calm. We tacked him up and Annie was the first on. She was definitely not a scary, spooky horse. And not at all 'forward.' After getting her warmed up and moving along, Elizabeth rode.

Sam definitely passed that first test. Annie and Elizabeth both agreed: very 'measured' pace (some might say pokey), very smooth canter. The biggest issue is that Sam has been trained to ride Western and she neck rains so our English riders had trouble 'steering' her!

So far, so good. Sam showed great progress for our identified needs, and might be really good for our growing one-time riding experiences for adults (who often feel more secure in a Western Saddle). A three-fer!

The next step is that Matt is bring him to the barn for a short stay on Tuesday night. We will have our vet check him all out and of course Linda needs to evaluate him.

If you are a rider, see if you can pick Sam out when you come up later this week.

Also, we added our 'horses' page to the site and a short "vote for your favorite horse" survey. I will post results as they roll in!