Sammi is six, going on seven; a three-quarter thoroughbred, one quarter Clydesdale cross. She's 17 hh but more leg and wither than bulky draft.
My involvement in training Chief and then finding him the right home, combined with a temporary dearth of suitable horses to choose from at our recently relocated stables, led me to an addiction for the ads for horses for sale. I wasn't really intending to do anything concrete about it, as time and money are always an issue and so I felt somewhat immune to the danger, not expecting that something might appeal to me and be within my budget.
There are a lot of Western riders here, advertizing smallish horses that can spin around a barrel, carry a Flag, or a Rodeo Princess. There's a gentleman who wants to make a combination deal, selling horse and trailer at the same time.
If I owned a gun, I could trade it for a horse. That particular advertisement has no photo and no details of either the horse or the desired firearm. It just says that that's the only trade they will consider. It is in a woodsy "off-grid" area, so the imagination boggles for all kinds of reasons.
Sammi isn't going to be the horse of my dreams. Her owner loves her and sees her through that filter. She's also a recent arrival from Southern California and may be too caught up with believing the PR that she wrote.
You can't describe a horse as "in ongoing training" just because the way you compensate for her keep is to allow her to be used in lessons, admittedly by the advanced riders. You can't call a horse a dressage prospect when her conformation is so bad in her rear end that she has trouble cantering, even without a rider on board and she needs regular chiropractic adjustments to her spine.
Sammi also looks underweight to me. Lack of proper nourishment in a horse with a skeleton this size does not bode well for her future. One of the reasons I was looking at younger horses is the probability that there would be less vet bills to start off with. (Not always the case I know, but I'm trying to stack the deck in my favor).
I'm going to ride her a few more times. It's as well to evaluate fully. As a friend said yesterday, it sounds as though I'm talking myself out of her....
There's a big grey Irish Hunter, named Thor, that caught my eye, just because he's so different from everything else that's available. He's older than I thought I wanted, more money too. I'd prefer a gelding.
Note that he's being jumped in a western saddle:)
There should be support groups for this. I'm Jonesing for a horse of my own.
