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First came riding lessons. This is Bart riding Cricket, one
of the school horses. You can guarantee that once a child begins riding lessons, wishing for a horse comes next, so have your
wallet open.
This is Dakota. She's a 6 year old Thoroughbred/Connemara cross.
If I hadn't grown up with horses myself I might not have bought a horse. We were looking at horses to buy because of the school
horses they have to ride, one has lameness issues and Cricket is 22 years old. Dakota has "just been started" which means
she can do basics with a rider but doesn't know anything more advanced. We will teach her the rest. The more they know, the
more they cost. The older they are, the less they cost.
Dakota has been designated as "Flo's horse." Bart is mostly
a recreational rider but Flo is serious about competition. There's always a trade off. Flo isn't quite to the level of expertise
needed to finish Dakota's training. But I am. The training will be a joint effort between us both. A second horse may be in
the future depending on how things go with one.
This is me on what would be my dream horse. We tried him out
and for me, he was a dream. He ran off with both Bart and Flo so they aren't too keen on having him. He's a big, black, 14
year old Thoroughbred jumper. Horses don't fly off the shelves as fast as milk or bread does so he'll probably still be for
sale if I change my mind in a few weeks and decide buy him as a second horse. I'm convinced the kids could
learn to ride him.
This is Flo on the same horse before he ran away with her. They
were contained in a ring so all he did was go around and around. Basically she just sat up in the stirrups and rode him on
a smaller circle till he ran out of steam. The reason I want this horse is I could get him inexpensively, and the owners already
said they aren't that concerned about price. All they want is for him to have a good home. They compete on cutting horses
and have no use for a Thoroughbred jumper.
After about three weeks I called the sellers back, and the horse
was still for sale. He was reasonably priced. I bought him simply because I knew I would regret
it if I didn't. It isn't too often that one's dream horse is available to them, so I couldn't let the opportunity go
by even though I didn't really have any big plans for him. Dan is designated as Bart's horse but Bart will
have to learn to ride him because he's a "lot of horse" and tends to build up a head of steam when ridden. For me, riding
him is the next best thing to utopia, even though he is a challenge even to me.
Horses continued
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