Sunday, September 23, 2007

A Baby Boomer Dreams of Arabian Horses - The Search Part 6


Part 1 of the Baby Boomer Series
Part 1 of The Search
After my second visit to the local breeders rented pasture I decided to study the video. I wasn't really sure what I thought of the filly at Kings Gate Farm and the mare I really wanted was not for sale. before I went out looking at anymore mares I wanted to be sure about the ones I'd seen so far.

I don't know how many times I looked at that darn video. All I can say for sure is that nothing was getting any clearer. So I decided to show the video to a couple of people who's opinions about Arabian horses I trusted.

In the meantime, Dave and Lindsay were both lobbying for me to buy the gray filly from the first farm. And good ole, you have to many horses Dave, was lobbying for me to buy the filly from King's Gate Farm but this filly too was up in the air. There was, after all, the possibility of a pending sale on her.

I took the video for both friends to see separately. I wanted to see their reactions as well as hear what they had to say. It would be easier for me to do that if they say it individually. Besides, getting the two of them together at the same time and place with their busy schedules would take an act of Congress.

First , I took the tape to my friend Chris. I have been picking her brain for information on bloodlines and pedigrees for years. She normally has a pretty good eye for a horse with one exception. She's color blind and she can't resist a pretty face!

It took me a while to figure this out but conformation flies out the window for Chris for a black or palomino horse or a spotted horse. Heaven forbid it be a black or palomino spotted horse. AND she can totally forget there is anything behind a pretty face, but it has to be a darn pretty face for that to happen. Another odd thing about Chris's judgement, sometimes color makes a horse prettier to her than it really is. Either that, or I'm way fussier than she is about pretty.

But I wasn't concerned about those issues in this circumstance. These horses were all gray. Chris's rose colored glassed would be left on the shelf. I couldn't wait to hear what she had to say.

I expected her to really like the filly from Kings Gate Farm but she didn't like her at all. The gray mare I adored by now, she didn't like either. She did think the filly that Dave and Lindsay both wanted was ok.

So it was on to Sue Lewis, wife of the horse show large R judge and retired horse trainer Larry Lewis Jr. Sue has been in the industry for a long time and they've had some pretty impressive horses in their training barn. I couldn't wait to hear what she had to say either!!

Well, what Sue had to say, I hadn't really wanted to hear. She seemed to be on the same page as Chris except that she really liked the filly that Dave and Lindsay wanted. Now I was faced with the real test. Was I going to trust my own opinion and instincts or follow the direction of my friends.

I had already decided to buy the sweet, sweet filly Dave and LJ took a to. The price was right. She was a nice horse and I thought she'd be a good cross with Legs when we were ready to start breeding mares. But this filly was not THE mare I was shopping for. As nice a filly as she was she just was not the one that had captured my heart.

To be continued...........

Part 7

Sorry I don't know this artist either, it's too small to read. If any knows please let me know so I can give credit.

3 comments:

  1. I hope you got the horse you wanted! I can't imagine how hard that had to have been! :(

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  2. I'm a baby boomer and I dreamed of dogs and finally got one two years ago. I love my little pup.

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  3. equinespirit, this whole search was hard. I'll be posting more on where it all led.

    rhea, thank you for visiting my blog. I'll bet you do love your pup. I know how much I love my horses. I think maybe having to wait as long as I did has contributed to how much passion I have about them.

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