HHW: Day 2 – What Do I Want?

Sunday was our day to chat with a trainer from another part of the state [HHP]. She very sensibly asked what I was looking for. Ultimately, I am looking for a horse. Right now, I would settle for a short answer to that question.

The one thing the poor woman didn’t want was my life history. Unfortunately, that is exactly what I spewed out. I was wearing a Rolex hat, so I found myself going back to the purchase of Previous Horse and explaining his lack of interest in eventing. That was 23 years ago. No matter how much one consolidates, a story that spills into three decades is too long.

What she wanted to hear was:
A talented young horse that I can bring along.
or
A reliable older horse that can pack me around.

Both is not an option.

The only fully correct answer is
I dunno.
Start here.
Read to here.
Then you tell me what I’m looking for.

When you horse (cat, dog, spouse) shopped, did you go after a list of specific attributes or did you know the right one when you met?
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Gratuitous Kitten Pic
Cat shaming or an object lesson in getting the groceries put away immediately?
BTW, the chicken pieces are for Senior Cat, so no harm done.

Horse Hunt Weekend: Day 1

Saturday, we were scheduled to see a local horse [HHP]. The seller wasn’t scheduled to show us said local horse. I accept that crossed wires occur. A reasonable answer might have been, “When I hadn’t heard from you, I made the assumption that you were no longer interested in —–. I have made other plans. Can we get together on X day instead?” This was not the tone in which the seller chose to respond. To my mind, showing a horse does not constitute an onerous favor granted by the seller. Plus, this is the second time the seller has been too busy to show us the horse. Rationally, I know that the attitude of a seller has no bearing once the check is signed. If you can survive the experience, buying from Crazy Eddie makes no difference than buying from Zelda Zen. However, I am only human. If I am going to shovel boatloads of money into another person’s pocket, I don’t want to have to chase that person down and force my money on them. Grumble. Grumble.

Britches & gloves.
I shall debut in brown.
When things go bad yet again, I start to wonder if it’s time to call a halt to the whole horse idea and take up, I dunno, LEGO? Pinball? Hubby says my words do not match my actions. He will be more willing to believe that I want to give up horses once I stop spending money at tack stores.

Care to share your happy & serendipitous horse shopping story to cheer me up?

Horse Hunt posts
Saddleseat posts, especially show announcement
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Gratuitous Kitten Pic

Kittens using my purchases for a pre-nap, mutual grooming.

Out Of Our Hands

Mathilda has decided to change her lifestyle. We were slow to get the message, so she took action.

At the Thursday morning carrot check, Hubby was greeted with an empty pen, the barriers in place [Debriefing], mare & gelding calmly eating grass out in the pasture. He came back to the house, to fish me out of bed, so that we could both stare slack-jawed. Everything was in place. No broken rails [Jailbreak]. One perfectly functioning pen, just minus one mare. How did she get out? A locked stall mystery. Jumping over the top rail would have been impossible on her best day, so we figure she got down on her hands & knees and limboed under the bottom rail.

She really, really wants to be out in the field. We have decided we had better let her. When my Grandmother was ailing, she had several habits that were contraindicated by her doctors. I consoled myself with a) everyone has a right to make their own life choices & b) being stubborn got her past her 90th birthday, so who am I to argue with success? Similarly, Mathilda is more likely hurt herself frolicking with Rodney but she is far happier. How do we balance her mental versus physical needs when they are in conflict? We want to envelop her in bubble wrap. She wants to be a horse. Plus, being stubborn got her to 28, so who are we to argue with success?

We are building up to full turnout for both at the same time. It may take us a while to wrap our minds around the idea. However, we better be quick about it, or she will take matters into her own hooves again.

Late breaking news: Hubby just came back from the barn. They are out in the field. Rodney is napping. Mathilda is standing guard. Our herd is behaving like a herd. That has to be good for both of them.
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Gratuitous Kitten Pic

Must. Subdue. String.

Horse Hunt Plans

A short note as I am busy enjoying the bug Hubby bought home from work.

Saturday, we try a local horse.
Sunday, we visit with a trainer from another part of the state.
Tuesday, I try out an out-of-state horse found by a friend.
Ever-widening circles.

Meanwhile, I will retreat under the covers to enjoy the adventures of Kvothe & to gack my lungs out. I know, TMI.

Have winter ailments hit your household yet?
Horse Hunt posts
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Gratuitous Kitten Pic

Political Poll

I am not asking who you voted for. I’m not even asking if you voted. When I was old enough to start noticing the outside world, I asked my mother who she voted for. She wouldn’t tell me. One of the virtues of our system is that you never have to tell anyone for whom you voted. As an early political message, it stayed with me.

However, my everpresent quest for content made me think about horses and politics. It seems to me that, barring Mrs. Romney’s Olympic horse, the riding world as a group is not heavily invested in the political world, at least on the national level. We can get invested in local issues, such as the developments, or lack thereof, in Wellington, FL.

The obliviousness of the horse world can be frustrating. During one of the big-time hunter/jumper winter shows in Tampa, area residents were under drought restrictions: no car washing, limited lawn watering, etc. Not only were people at the show hosing their horses but they were leaving the hose running with no horse in the washstall. In their defense, no signage anywhere alerted folks to the water shortage nor asked folks to conserve water.

Of course, the horse world is all about internal politics: local association snipefests, warring breed associations, national association power games, and so on up the ladder.

Is your section of the horse world involved with/interested in/cognizant of general politics? How does that compare to other sectors of your life: church, law firm, bowling league, reading club, et al.?
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Gratuitous Kitten Pic

Ghost Kitty snuggles up to a pile of warm dog.

On Your Mark. Get Set. Go.

Jump crew springs into action.
Over the weekend, Stepping Stone Farm held a games night. Hubby and I went over to corral stray kids & horses.

My last mounted games competition was at college during the riding team’s end-of-term party. Our coach made a point of saving the eggs for the egg-and-spoon race for weeks, making sure you really did not want to drop those eggs. In one race, we had to run down, dismount, eat a cracker and whistle. A good trick, since I can’t whistle in the first place. For another race, my team need a fourth member at the last minute, so I was thrown on one of the ponies. I remember not bothering with the stirrups, just leaning over the poor pony’s neck and growling in his ear. We flew.

Musical chairs was done with grain bags. Riders had to dismount and stand on a bag. Of course, with all the running and screaming and being up so far past their bedtimes, the school horses were completely wired. They were having nothing to do with those crinkly sacks. Picture horses backing all over the ring, towing dismounted riders by the reins. This made the audience laugh harder, creating more noise to bounce off the roof and walls of the indoors. The culmination of musical chairs came one of the guys launched from his horse headfirst onto the remaining sack.

Yes, we had guys on our team. I’m all for Title 9. Just not for riding teams. Making riding a ‘girls’ sport shoves it further in the pink ghetto and makes it that much harder for young men to stay with it. Helping one group should not come at the expense of another.

This weekend much less exciting. That’s what happens when you have younger kids and a coach who is concerned for safety rather than entertainment. The most amusing aspect was the oh-so-proper Saddlebreds being asked to run across the ring or to pole bend. Excuse moi? One old campaigner announced that this was so not in her contract.

USPC Celebrity Games at the Rolex Kentucky Three-Day Event.
Previous SSF posts.

Your games memories?
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Gratuitous Kitten Pic

Lap Cat

Down vest in corner of photo may explain the sudden excess of kitten friendliness.