Horse shopping – not as fun as I’d envisioned

I’ve been out to see two horses in the past 10 days or so. Not a huge number I know, but I’ve been able to rule out a lot either by the ad alone, or by exchanging a couple of emails with the sellers.

I put myself under a lot of pressure to find something suitable by the end of June, as that was when I’d planned to bring Dolly home. I figured that she absolutely had to have a companion and I wanted that companion horse to be one that I could ride everywhere. I’ve been fretting over horse stuff since the beginning of June when I moved! Just this week, I think I have some options sorted out, so I can take a bit longer to search for a riding horse. I do have 1 or 2 prospects, but I am unsure which to choose, or to wait it out for another one to come along.

My plan as of this minute (subject to change and flip-flop multiple times) is to try bringing Dolly home on June 29, as it is a long weekend and I’ll be around to keep an eye on her. I’ll try having her alone and if it doesn’t go well, I can take her back down the road. I have a spot secured at the barn down the road for July and the barn owners were fine with me trying her at home for a few days and going back and forth as required.

I have also listed Dolly for sale, but I don’t expect too much to come of it, since the market is really down for selling right now. I have been noticing this trend on our local sales web sites. This should bode well for me as a buyer, but it hasn’t yet!

I’m interested in two horses, but one is a bit too big for me – I wasn’t able to give correct leg aids while riding him – and the other is ranch broke and quiet, but doesn’t have a lot of finesse. I think both could work, but I’m a little hesitant to buy without trying the horses a second time. I also feel better now that I don’t have to rush.

The one gelding is a trained reiner, but he has done a bunch of other stuff. The visit to that barn provided me with something that I didn’t know I had been looking for... a potential new coach! I’ll have to write more about him when I get a chance. That is a separate post on its own.

So, at least I have a plan now and some options. I feel a bit better about the whole situation. Here’s hoping that a good horse comes along soon!

Tractor Envy

Now that the house is mostly settled (still a few stray things to organize), I have started working on my barn and pastures. I didn’t think I would have much use of a small tractor on this property, since it is fairly small, but boy was I wrong!!!

Right side of small paddock and shelter 

I have about 5 acres of pasture and the grass is really tall. It looks like hay, but it is not good enough quality in my opinion to be baled (there are some weeds too...). I didn’t want to just turn Dolly loose on grass, as she hasn’t been on any pasture in over a year! I needed to get someone in to do some bush hogging and after a couple of false starts, I found 2 neighbours willing to do the work for a reasonable fee.

Middle of small paddock

One neighbour has an ancient Kubota that he brought in to do the small paddock – which will be my winter paddock – and it took him about an hour. I now just have to clean up the mowed grass and do some trimming under the fence line. I’m leaving my back paddock long and will just let Dolly graze it down. Once it is grazed a bit, I should be able to get my big lawn tractor in and clean up the weeds. I’ll also fertilize and re-seed it in the fall. I am slightly giddy at the prospect of managing my own small fields.

The previous owners let this property go quite a bit – they let all of the fields just grow, even though they had a brand new tractor and bush hog. Not much to be done about it but get things set right again. It will cost me a bit and will take some time and elbow grease, but I want to do the work so I can enjoy the place more.

I have a nice fenced riding ring and based on reports from neighbours, it used to be sand. The original owners had sand trucked in and the people we bought from just let it grow over. It is being mowed today, so I’ll see what is left of the sand, if anything. I’m hoping that if I can ride on it a bit, the grass will get turned up/worn down. If not, I’ll maybe have someone help out by ploughing/discing it and see what happens.

The riding ring after being mowed

I also have 8 or so acres in the back that could be used for riding, but it needs some trails bush hogged as well. There are some mature trees and the rest is basically a meadow. It is pretty to look at, but I would love to be able to get back there and know that the footing was good for a horse.

I’ve been daydreaming about little tractors and all the stuff I could do with one! I’ll have to save up and see if I can maybe find a used one for next year. I’d love to be able to do my own work – and let’s face it – having a small tractor would be so fun! 

(Side note to tractor companies - you might want to add some photos of women driving tractors! Sheesh.)

And the horse search continues

I'm still trying to decide what to do about a second horse or a companion for Dolly. Just when I think I know what I want, I change my mind! I had a lot of time to think last week while I was digging and weeding my garden! lol

I decided to pass up that little arab gelding that I looked at a few weeks ago. He was ok, but very English trained and my western saddle wouldn't fit him. It just didn't feel like the right fit at the time.

I'm also torn between maybe trying to sell Dolly and find a horse that is more suited to my needs and keeping her and giving her a chance. Every time I think I want to sell, I have a good ride on her. I guess there is no harm in keeping her another year and deciding what to do later.

I have also decided that endurance/competitive trail isn't what I want to aim for right now. I just don't have easy access to trailering to these events, since they tend to be further away. It would cost alot to even get to the event, let alone participate. I'm also missing some skills and confidence in my riding that I need to fill in before I venture out in a competitive situation. Once I thought all that out, I felt better about the direction I was heading.

I also want to improve my western riding skills and riding in general - so, since I'm close to my old instructor, I'll be heading back there in the fall to work with her. The goal of that is to improve enough to try some club shows next summer. She has a few APHA horses that she takes to local shows, so I could easily ride one of those (and share trailering fees).

That still leaves me wanting a horse that is good on the roads and trails. I like ring work and lessons, but there is nothing like going for a good hack. I have a lead on a quarter horse and I'm going to go see her tomorrow.


8yr old mare, ranch trained, kinda cute!

I was also looking at another AQHA gelding, but he has extensive reining and cowhorse training and I wonder if that would be wasted on what I want to do. Apparently he is extremely broke and has done all kinds of things and would be suited to a more novice rider. He will be my wildcard if things with my other leads don't work out.

We'll see how things go tomorrow - I may be back at square one if this mare isn't what I'm looking for! 

A long overdue update

Well, we are all moved into our new house! The packing and moving went as well as can be expected. It was alot of work, but well worth it in the end!  We love the house and since it is about 500-600 sq ft bigger, we feel like we have so much extra space.

My Mom has been here visiting this week and we tackled the yard and gardens together.  She is an avid gardener, so I just followed along and did what I was told! lol  The gardens (and pretty much everything else) were pretty overgrown, so we had a lot of work to do.

I got a new toy as well - a John Deere lawn tractor and utility cart! I've been having fun with that, although a real tractor with a bush hog would come in very handy right now...maybe next year we'll look into something bigger.

Dolly moved to the new barn last week and seems to be settling in ok.  This place has most of the horses in smaller, single turnouts, with lots of neighbours on all sides to visit with.  Dolly seems to have gained a bit of weight, since the hay is good, she gets grain 2x/day and doesn't have to fight for food any more.

I made it down the road to ride about 4 times in the past week. I've just been refreshing both of us in walk/trot and getting used to things. This barn is a lot busier, with vehicles and horses moving around all the time. I think any opportunity for horse and handler to see more "stuff" is always good.  Dolly also had her first two visits in an indoor arena and did ok with that.  It has been too nice to ride inside though, so I've been sticking to the sand ring outside.

Rainbow after a big storm with hail.  The old barn is on the neighbour's property...

The weather has been pretty decent during the day, so I've been enjoying the new pool as well! I feel very fortunate to be here and still can't believe that this is our house!  I have to go back to work tomorrow (boo!!!) but I am also looking forward to getting back into my routine.

More posts to follow this week as things settle down and get back to normal.