Monumental news to end the year!

I'll eliminate the suspense.

Meet Umpqua Andromeda, my girl Stella, a 2016 Morgan. Rick did a basic pre-purchase exam on her for me last Friday (no x-rays, because she hasn't been handled enough to attempt those). She is a clean slate, basically halter-trained and able to have her feet trimmed and that's about it. My husband and son both seem to think I'm half crazy for taking on a project that may or may not turn out to be suitable for dressage; they don't realize how much I look forward to such a project! I picked her up on Sunday and we are starting to get to know one another and build a partnership. Lance is already being a great 'big brother'....

As I mentioned in my last post, I've done some tentative horse-shopping – mostly 'window-shopping' online. In early November I pulled up the Morgan sales flyer I got last spring, poring over it once again to see if there was anything of interest. In it was an ad I hadn't noticed before with some very reasonable young horses; I figured they were probably sold but I texted the breeder anyway. He still had young stock available, so I roped in a friend for a road trip and we headed down towards Roseburg. The location was beautiful but the situation was surreal; a vast hillside pasture with two mature stallions each running with their own mares (plus a yearling stud colt – and some cattle), and an adjoining pasture with two younger stallions. (It's a good thing the Morgan registry requires DNA testing!)

There were some very typey Morgans but none that suited me, so we thanked the breeder for his time and headed home. He did mention that he had a filly that might interest me at a place closer to home, so 11 days later I took a shorter drive to see her.

Now this one did interest me. I had two big obstacles, though – hay and husband. We didn't have enough hay just for the horses and sheep that we have, not to mention what we’d need if we added a third horse, and hay has been really hard to find around here. And my husband was predictably poo-poo on getting another horse, even though he had said he was keeping his eyes open for me. I wasn't asking Rick to buy me a horse (I had some money set aside), but I did want him to do the pre-purchase exam and I wanted his consent. (Many moons ago he bought a horse without consulting me 😡 and I was determined not to do the same to him.)

I figured I'd better tackle first things first, so I started looking for hay in earnest. No luck. A week after looking at the filly her owner followed up with a text, and I told him I needed hay and a husband's okay. He texted me the name and number of someone with hay for sale and all the stars aligned one afternoon to give me dry weather and an available son. I picked Brian up from school and drove on to the hay place, loaded up, drove home with 68 100# bales which we then stacked in the barn. (Rick was out of town at a veterinarian convention.)

The husband's consent didn't fall into place so quickly. In fact, Rick waited until Christmas Eve to tell me I could schedule a pre-purchase exam. (There may have been squealing – and tears.) As I said at the beginning, we did the pre-purchase the Friday morning after Christmas; here are a few more photos from that day.

I brought her home on Sunday and already have so much more to share. We've got a busy year ahead – hopefully many busy years ahead! Happy New Year, everyone. 😊

An apple a day....

Yesterday our local dressage chapter got together to visit with one of our former members who moved to South Carolina (the mother of trainer Julie, who also moved to SC). I brought her up-to-date on Lance and mentioned that I was cyber-window-shopping for retiring TBs after being swayed by students' mounts. She has had several OTTBs and had nothing but good things to say about them, even though she has also had some lovely warmbloods. I was pleasantly surprised, and encouraged in my daydreaming.

Today student #2 had a lesson with her OTTB mare (above, after lesson), and towards the end of the lesson asked if I wanted to ride her. So I borrowed a helmet and climbed on in my jeans (I was wearing my paddock boots), and once again had a "color my day happy" experience. So everything seems to be nudging me in a certain direction . . . except a resistant husband. 😒

Said husband and DS have worked very hard to create beautiful permanent fencing around our upper pasture (keep in mind we have a total of five acres, so each of our three pastures is pocket-sized). When I expressed concern about my two loaded apple trees at the north end, they moved all the assorted panels we have that aren't enclosing the arena and made a barrier to protect the trees (and my horse from foundering on them!). This morning the horses got to go up there for the first time since work began. When I got home this afternoon, Lance and Ollie were standing around the one apple tree still available to them. Oink!

Fresh (relatively speaking) turnout

Temporary panel fence on the right, horses at remaining apple tree dead ahead

Lance helping himself – hopefully not to his detriment!

And here are the two trees that are protected:

I need to starting picking from that first tree and putting up applesauce!

Stoking the fire

Yesterday I took a road trip with a friend to deliver one of my Shetland sheep to Auburn, WA. We were going to be so near Emerald Downs, where there are a number of retiring racehorses looking for new homes and careers. Wouldn't it be wonderful to take a look at some in person, particularly the two below?

But it was not to be. Tuesday was best for sheep delivery but the only day no one is available at the track. Guess I'll just have to wait until this fall/winter when the "point woman" for retiring TBs is at Portland Meadows. I think that will also be a more auspicious time for a cooperative husband....

Wednesday is lesson day for Student #1. Last week she asked if I wanted to ride her lovely OTTB but I wasn't dressed for it. Today I planned to dress for riding, just in case – and then she sent me a text asking me to come ready to ride.

What fun! Carl is a typical "wet-noodle" baby horse, still learning how to use his body in response to a rider's aids, but he's willing to try and easy to direct. And he's as lovely to ride as he is to watch. On my way home I realized I had that "top of the world" feeling that a good ride gives you – and also realized how long it's been since I've experienced it. Non-horsepeople would doubtless think it silly that one's entire day can be colored by how well or how rough one's "dance" with a horse goes, but those periods of communication, harmony and balance are pure magic – a magic carpet ride.

He's a keeper

This horse o' mine, he has my heart. Even though we really can't "dance" anymore, we can still enjoy our walks – and so can others.

On Tuesday morning some neighbors brought their visiting granddaughter over to ride Lance. I ended up giving her a little dressage lesson and she did very well.

(Love my bitless bridle for things like this!)

A friend of mine who is recovering from a broken ankle may come over and ride him to "get her legs back." He's steady enough that she'll feel safe, while I tune up her mare with some schooling rides.

So I may be window-shopping for another horse, but my buddy isn't going anywhere. Tonight we rode around the hill after sunset, enjoying a cool(ish) breeze and the nearly full moon.

I'm not giving as many lessons in this heat, but student #1 is available in the morning so we are soldiering on. Her horse Carl is the reason I'm considering an off-track thoroughbred:

Isn't he a looker?

Good thing he's a gelding...

...because I don't think Lance's genes should be perpetrated – no matter how handsome and personable he is!

My son taking advantage of my laid-back mustang

My big, red goober has yet another diagnosis on his rap sheet now: metabolic disorder (the equine equivalent of type-2 diabetes). That's what the blood work indicates, so now I've added Thyroxinen L to his daily meds and supplements. Hopefully it'll help him shed some of the excess weight....

We finally got a break from the extreme heat we were experiencing, so Lance and I have resumed some activity. We rode around the hill on Monday evening, and Tuesday morning I lunged him. I wanted to see how he handled himself bitted up, even though I was worried what might happen if he tripped. Fortunately he only stumbled once with a back foot before I attached the side reins and not once after, even though I put him through all three paces.

While I will continue to ride and love my mental health crisis mustang, I find myself jonesing for a horse I can dance with again. Student #1 resumed lessons again yesterday with her gorgeous, sensible young OTTB after being out of town for awhile. The OTTBs I've known in my past life didn't interest me at all, but now I'm spending way too much time perusing "Retiring Racehorses – Pacific NW" on FaceBook, dreaming of meeting some this winter when there are meets at Portland Meadows. (I'm not driving up to Emerald Downs, no matter how tempted I am!)

That's the tall and the short of it for now.

White flag, or war horse?

So, that mild intermittent lameness Lance was exhibiting? It blew up to a persistent hobble this Tuesday. We had gone for a mosey on Sunday. Monday both Lance and Ollie were acting frisky in their stalls/paddocks, so I decided a romp in the arena was in order. It was too late in the day for good light, so all I got was this,

but they ran and bucked and rolled and had a jolly good time.

Tuesday I went down to ride, and Lance was off again on that right front – more so than ever before. Wednesday morning Brian came up from doing chores and commented that Lance was lame; if the teenager notices, you know it must be obvious! So that night, Rick set about diagnosing the problem.

First he blocked the foot, then the fetlock, with no improvement. (Interesting that Lance had noticeable digital pulses in both front feet, although he wasn't tender to hoof testers.) So he got out the ultrasound machine 

and found a torn suspensory at the medial head. REALLY? How does a horse doing such low-stress exercise DO that? (And no, it didn't happen during turnout the day before.)

Rick treated the injury that night with shockwave (poor Lance was even more lame the next morning, which he says sometimes happens); now we wait two weeks to see how it looks then.

I feel that I'm being told – loudly and repeatedly with both Lance and Russell before him – to just GIVE UP, to wave the white flag and stop riding. But mama didn't raise a quitter (and even though my mom is afraid of horses, she knows how much I love them, how I live to train and ride, and supports me fully). So a thought that I've had for several months was brought forth, dusted off, and proposed. My dear friend Debbie has been saving her pennies to get Baby Girl, her Percheron mare, started by someone.

I wasn't sure I had the time to commit to a month or two of training so haven't offered, but now I have. Debbie is excited about the possibility, and would even be willing (nay, eager) to swap out Ollie*. That way her recently retired Thoroughbred mare would have company at her house, and we wouldn't have increased chores or boarding expenses at our house. This morning I talked to Rick about it; now the ball is in his court and I must be patient while he ponders.

*Okay; that's not quite accurate. I actually talked to Debbie about putting the little cutie pictured below at her house, not Oliver, but that's all I'm going to say about that for now!

Working through frozen/frisky/frustrated

I rode Sunday, then couldn't fit a ride in again until yesterday (thanks, life). After three days off, Lance's energy had reached critical mass, and so had my need to ride. Problem was, our weather had gone from 'Pacific NW winter' (gray/wet) to 'Midwest winter' (sunny/windy/cold). Why is that a problem? Our sand arena freezes, and "rough concrete" is not a conducive surface for schooling or keeping one's horse safe and sound! But keeping a young, fit horse cooped up isn't good, either, so yesterday I tacked Lance up and put him on the lunge line (for the first time in many months) to limit his exuberance.

Okay, so it didn't limit his exuberance; it just contained its expression somewhat. I was amazed – and thankful – that he didn't slip and fall. Once he calmed down,

I got on and rode for a bit. Given the footing, I didn't feel comfortable asking for much more than walk, but we worked on leg yields, soft halts, and a few transitions where the footing had loosened up some. Lance got some exercise and I got some saddle time, so mission accomplished. I plan to go out and do the same again this afternoon.

**************************************

On the matchmaking front, my horse-shopping friend has found her partner. It is not the wonderful little mustang mare I was hoping she'd fall in love with; she had already set her heart on a Welsh Cob, and found a nice, started four-year-old mare. So I passed on the mustang mare's information to another friend who is looking.... ;-)

Shades of my childhood

I bought myself an early Christmas present:

I saw this ornament in a catalog and it looked so much like Lance (imho) that I just had to have it. The fact that it is a Breyer resin ornament brings warm childhood memories from the years I spent imagining myself on the backs of the many model horses I owned. I still have most of them, packed away in a box somewhere....

Yesterday I spent some time figuring out what memberships I need to renew in order to compete in recognized competitions with Lance next year. In the process, I was shocked to learn I now qualify to compete in the Vintage Cup category for All-Breed Awards. ACK!!! When did THAT happen?!?

In other news, I've been playing matchmaker for a friend. She was the primary reason I got into dressage over 20 years ago (okay, so that's how I ended up "vintage" /-: ), then she abandoned me for miniature horses for at least a decade. Now she wants a riding horse again, and I think I've found her the perfect horse – a mustang mare! Twenty years ago we both competed on Morgans; it would be fun to have "matching breeds" again. :-)

Once upon a time...

. . . don't all fairy tales start that way? Yes, once upon a time, I attended the Oregon State Fair with my toddler and husband. Rick was the horse show vet for the day, so we spent a fair amount of our time at that venue.

Just outside the warm-up arena, I noticed a handsome horse . . . a strikingly handsome stallion. He was standing there saddled but riderless, calm and quiet, while many of the horses being warmed up acted less than well trained. I wandered over to get a closer look, and struck up a conversation with the horse's owner. He introduced me to Dino, his adopted Kiger mustang who was rounded up by the BLM as a four-year-old (a fact that made his gentlemanly demeanor even more impressive). After watching Dino move, I was so enamored that I wished out loud for a good mare he could service in order to see what he could produce for a dressage mount – he was that nice!

Riddle Me Dino

But I didn't have a mare; I had Russell, and I was very happy with him. He was progressing nicely in dressage and taking excellent care of my little boy:

Brian scaling "Mt. Russell" just days after that fateful State Fair

The horse my dad called "one in 20,000"

Fast forward seven years to this summer. I was leasing Larry and wishing for a horse to call my own. Having given Russell away to the perfect semi-retirement home, I had no budget to speak of. I had looked at a couple horses owned by clients of Rick's who owed him money, but we either couldn't work out a trade or the horses weren't what I was interested in. Then two different friends almost simultaneously suggested I look into adopting a horse from the BLM. So look into it I did, and in the process, learned: 1) "mustangs" can be a mixture of TB remount, ranch horse and draft blood, which could result in a very nice dressage-type horse; 2) a friend of a friend could get me into the closest holding facility to get a good look at prospects; 3) I could afford the adoption fee of $125 and even get it gentled for free through the Trainer Incentive Program; and 4) Kevin Sink, that stunning Kiger stallion's owner, is an approved T.I.P. trainer. (THAT was a blast from the past; I hadn't thought much about them nor could I have recalled the names of horse or owner without this development.) I started getting excited about a road trip to potentially choose my new partner.

But that plan was derailed – or at least moved onto a sidetrack – by two things. First, the BLM's holding facility in Burns, OR was closed to visitors due to a big influx of newly rounded up horses thanks to huge range fires in their herd management areas. And second, just as I was wrapping up Larry's month of training for his new owner, my friend Sylvia called, urging me to take Horton in for training. Seeing as we needed the additional income, I put thoughts of getting my own horse on the back burner and agreed.

In August, while my son was visiting my folks in Texas, Rick invited me to ride with him to a vet appointment over at the coast. He figured we could take advantage of the rare opportunity to have a date after he finished his call. So off we went. In the course of visiting with the client, she mentioned breeding for buckskins or duns because she and her daughter show on that circuit. With a newly refreshed memory, I piped up, "I know which stallion I'd use in that case!" When she asked which one, I said, "Kevin Sink's Kiger stallion." The client laughed out loud and pointed to the horse in the corner stall – a tall, good-looking colt who had already caught my eye – and said, "That's his daddy!" She had bred her short palomino mustang mare to Dino in hopes of getting a short Western-type filly, but instead got Lancelot, a tall, English-type gelding. The only part of her wishes that was fulfilled was the red dun packaging! I rued aloud that I didn't have space or budget to take him off her hands, and Rick and I bid her and her lovely colt good-bye.

On September 7 my phone rang. It was Rick's client, asking if I would be interested in Lance. She had put him in training at a barn here in the valley for the month of September in order to see what he was best suited for in order to market him. After the first ride or two the trainer said "dressage," and suggested the owner call me. I reiterated that I had no space or money; she offered to keep Lance for the cost of hay until I had space available, and trade out his purchase price on her vet bill. Then she suggested I go try him out, and the rest is history . . . most of it still waiting to be written – and ridden.

"Well, look who's coming through the door
I think we've met somewhere beforeHello love, hello love
Where in the world have you been so long?I've missed you so since you've been goneHello love, hello love
Make yourself feel right at homeI'll hope you plan on staying longCome in love, come in love
I must say I was sure surprisedYou're the last thing I expected byHello love, hello love
I've heard it said time and againYou'll often go back where you've beenI really didn't believe it was trueBut I left the door unlocked for you
I'll try to please you in every wayAssure you of a pleasant stayThis time love, this time love...."