own a horse

I’ve had Bold Brush for about a week now. So far, he is great. He needs a lot of work. He still acts like a racehorse and that will have to be trained out of him. But I really like him.

I am marking this thing as done.

Monday we went to look at some off track Thoroughbreds (OTTBs) that had old injuries from the racing days. My instructor was interested in getting one, and, as I hadn’t heard from Susan in a few day, I went to look at them. I didn’t really expect to find one I liked—these horses haven’t really been ridden since their racing days, which varied from 3 to 6 years ago. We looked at the first group of horses, including the “mean” one that we were told we wouldn’t want. He is absolutely gorgeous, a bald chestnut, with socks on his feet and a few roan hairs. He looks more like a paint than a TB. Other than this guy, who I didn’t want because of his alleged attitude, I didn’t see one that caught my eye.

We then went inside to look at the one my instructor wanted to look at. He was a cute, young, little (for a TB) guy who stopped racing not long ago and was still recovering from his injury. It will still be a few more months before he is ready to go back to work. He won’t be going back to working on the track though. After we looked at him and admired a few other horses in the barn (this barn is huge, we counted at least twenty stalls and it has an arena that is at least three times the size as the one I ride in, as is the house on the same property…it looked like it belonged to a racehorse trainer or something (I hope you catch the sarcasm there…remember, I’m in Kentucky and looking at a bunch of ex-racers)), we went down to another field.

And then I saw him, an absolutely gorgeous dark, dark bay that looks practically black. When the owner called the horses over to us, he trotted our way. She pointed to the two she was getting rid of-a lighter bay and him. As he came towards us, we saw marks on his legs-pin firing marks (see this for more information, pin firing is too difficult to explain here)—evidence of his old injuries. They only added to his appeal, making him unique from any other horse I had ever seen. Adding to his pin firing marks, he also has a white star and a long beautiful mane. We asked his height, which his owner said is about 15.3 or so (a bit shorter than I want, but he’s not too short). His name is Bold Brush (what an incredibly stupid name for such a gorgeous horse) and this is what they called him. He will definitely be getting a new barn name.

If there is such a thing as love at first sight, I believe this is it.

We decided to take him and the “mean one”, Vegas (my instructor really likes him), on a trial period. These horses are in much better condition than Slew and are up to date on their shots, feet, and worming. We went and got them Tuesday. They did fine loading and unloading, though they were impatient when we stopped. When we got them to the farm, we turned them out in the indoor arena so that they could get use to their surroundings and so we could watch them. He moves beautifully.

I worked with him yesterday. I spent time getting him to walk on the lead without pushing or trying to lead me. This is something that is new to me as I’ve never had to lead a horse that behaves like that. He does a little better outside, but inside he was horrible. I took him outside and led him around (all the while Vegas was following me). After I got him to behave outside, I brought him inside to tackle the crossties. He kept stomping with his front feet and pawing at the ground. I’m not usually one for the use of a stick, but he could not be allowed to act like that. A couple thwacks and he quit for the most part. He’d start to do it, just testing me, but then I’d lightly tap him with the stick and he’d quit.

I had in mind to do four things with him yesterday—groom him and work on getting the tangles out of his mane, lunge him with only his halter, try on the bridle and bit I bought, and hose him down. But I ended up doing much more than that. First was the working on leading and the crossties. After I got him calmly doing that, my instructor (who had been working with Vegas) wanted me to try putting a saddle on him. As I need to try the bridle on him anyway, I did it all. When I saw how well he behaved when I did this, I went ahead and lunged him that way. He did fine being lunged left (that is, after all, how racehorses are taught to run), but going right was a little bit trickier. After he did this, I brought him in and hosed him off.

I can’t wait to go work him today and to see how he does after knowing what I want him to do.

This is not only my first experience owning a horse, but it will also be my first experience with doing any kind of training with a horse. I’m very thankful I have a riding instructor who also trains.

After years of waiting for this time to arrive, you would think I’d be able to tolerate a few more days, right? Not sure I can. I’m getting very impatient and it’s driving me nuts. I haven’t been able to get a hold of Slew’s owner since Thursday. She was supposed to talk to the vet on Friday to find out if Slew’s Coggins came back. We were wanting to go pick him up Sunday, but I’m guessing that’s not going to happen. I really, really hope I’ll be able to get a hold of her tomorrow and then maybe we can go pick him up Monday.

On a more positive note, I went to the tack store today and got a few things. I also had an awesome riding lesson. I cantered (for the first time on purpose in about two years), jumped, and fell (again, for the first time in about two years). I’ve been a bit apprehensive about cantering, but I don’t think it has to do with the fact that my only previous fall happened at a canter. I was a bit afraid of it before I fell. But I felt no fear today. We rode outside (which alone boosts my confidence…not sure why) and Jack very willingly went to a canter going uphill. So willingly, in fact, that he did it before I was told to. I knew he was about to, though, so I went to half-seat and held on. We did a couple strides and then slowed back down to a trot. My instructor was very impressed and pleased with how I handled him doing that. (Jack has gone into a canter several times when I have rode him, particularly when we are trotting over cavalettis and he decides to hop over the last one. Every time he has done this, I was already in half-seat. Because he had done this, I knew he was about to canter before he actually did.) After seeing how well I handled it, my instructor had me do it several more times. It was a ton of fun.

The field we were riding in had a small crossrail set up, and I was hoping not to work on jumping today, but we did. For some reason, that jump has always made me a bit nervous. Maybe because of the fact it is the only obstacle in the field, is far wider than the ones inside, and the fact that Jack is much more forward outside. I had never jumped over it before today. In truth, the jump itself is not much different than the jumps we’ve done inside—small crossrails, no more than 18”, small enough that Jack can easily take a step over it at a walk. I’ve never really had a problem jumping on Jack. However, I always keep in mind the knowledge that Jack likes to jump big, though I’ve never really experienced this (except over cavalettis, which, for some reason, he likes to jump, and those are more of little hops than actual jumps). Well, today, I finally experienced it. Jack decided that the jump was too small for his liking and that he’d much prefer to jump over a three-foot jump instead. Despite my efforts to keep him from having this chance (not letting him trot but a couple strides before the jump and not really letting him see it far ahead of time), he jumped the jump much larger than he needed to. Up I went out of the saddle. I grabbed onto his neck as we landed and I slid my feet out of the stirrups. He slowed down to a slow trot, but I jumped down while he was still moving, landing on my feet, at which point he immediately stopped. I got back on him and went over the jump again, this time at a much more reasonable height, a height which didn’t seem as huge as it normally does.

My riding instructor found out about a horse a few weeks ago and told me about him. Last weekend we went to look at him. He is a big chestnut 16-year-old Thoroughbred gelding. I rode him and liked him pretty well.

We’re going to get him Sunday and take him on trial this week. He has lots of cosmetic issues that need to be worked on (his feet and teeth are way over due, he’s underweight and probably “wormy”). If this week goes well, we’ll get him.

He’s kinda an all around horse, which is something I really want. He is an ex-racer (OTTBs are common is Kentucky) and was initially retrained in dressage. He hasn’t been used for dressage in, I guess, about 3 years. Since then he’s been used for a trail horse (both Western and English) and has been schooled over jumps.

I got a job and now I’m one step closer to my horse. I start the day after tomorrow at a day care.

I have found two horse I really like and I want to go test ride them, but I don’t want to do that until I get a job. One of them is a Percheron cross and the other is a TB (Seattle Slew’s grandson) that I may be able to get free if I act soon.

I feel really helpless about this goal right now. I’ve sent an application to Petsmart, CVS, Sears, the movie theater, Subway, and Chuck E. Cheese (yes, I’m that desperate). No place has called me back. I finally called Petsmart Wednesday. They did not receive my application. I was told to send it again, which I did, and call back, which I also did. They have still not received it. I tried to talk to a manager at CVS to find out if they got it, but the manager was a jerk, he told me they were about to do inventory (gosh! how was I suppose to know 10:00 Wednesday morning was a bad time to call?) and hung up. He did not say goodbye or tell me when I could call back. In fact, he very curtly told me that if they were interested they would call me. I now do not want that job, but if they’re the only ones that call me back, I guess I’ll take it.

Maybe I need to quit being so picky? I do not want to work in the food industry. Subway was okay because it’s not yucky like fast food and it’s not a waitressing job.

Oh, before I forget: I hate Unicru.

I’ve made a deal with my dad. He will get me a horse and pay for everything (board, farrier, vet, etc.) for the first year. After that, I have to pay for everything. But, before he will get me a horse, I have to get a job, to prove to him that I will be able to pay for the horse a year from now.

So, I’ve begun the job search. So far, I’ve applied to four different jobs: CVS (as a cashier), Sears photography, Petsmart (taking care of the animals), and (shudder) Chuck E. Cheese (as a party hostess). The Petsmart job is the one I really want. It is the job I would be best at (out of the ones I’ve applied to, of course). (Do Petsmart employees get a discount online at State Line Tack?)

I’ve been taking riding lessons for nearly a year and a half. About two and a half years ago, I started taking lessons. I took them for about seven months then took a six month break. In May I started them again, with a new, better trainer. Some days I love it, some days I hate it, but I guess that’s the way it is with anything (for me at least). The only complaint I consistently have is that I don’t get to ride enough.

Last spring, I tried to convince my parents to get me a horse. My dad said no, but if I finish my first year of college, he would get me one. I am glad I didn’t get one back in the spring—I was not ready to have one then. I feel I am ready now, or if I’m not completely ready now, I will be come May. I can’t wait.