The New Journey Begins............

Part One

Not long after the details of the contract were decided, I announced the sale of Storm on my blog. I also posted a series about Storm's history with me. Foaling Season 2002...........a scandalous storm I was thinking there would be lots to post about this horse in the future. It would be good to get my readers "properly" introduced him in preparation. Who knew it would be nearly two years with little mention of the horse in between before his story would come to the forefront again. If only I could have had a crystal ball.......unfortunately it's just not the way life works.

There was lots of interest here on the blog about the details of the sale. We had agreed to keep those particulars quiet so nothing more was said other than the horse was sold. There was also some speculation on what the price of this horse had been. People knew the probably horse hadn't been cheap and they wondered how BG and WF could possibly have afforded such a horse.

All this was no one's business really, I just let them talk. (Looking back I can't help but wonder if having things out in the open might have been better. Somehow this keeping the details quiet complicated things but maybe not.)

According to BG all this talking people were doing was good for me, although much of the conversation was going through him and not me. All I knew was what BG said and what had been posted in the comments here. BG claimed I had finally gotten the attention of the Arabian horse community on a national front. People were thinking maybe there was something special about my horses if WF was interested enough to pay a significant price for the horse.

Interestingly enough Dave made a comment to BG during this time. He was at their barn, which didn't happen often, and I heard him say something like, "Don't mess with my wife...........she'll never quit 'til it's right." I remember laughing awkwardly at that comment but Dave had half laughed when he said it and BG laughed at the words like he understood.

Somehow I related it's feeling to poor Dave and the hard time I give him when he doesn't follow through for me. I felt bad like maybe I was being too tough on him. It never occurred to me that ihis statement could be prophetic or that it really was a warning from Dave to BG.

I asked Dave later that day about his comment and he just shrugged his shoulders. I've asked him now and he's still shrugging his shoulders. He doesn't know where it came from, just that he felt the need to say it. He finds himself wondering if he didn't see this on some level too and just not trust himself. I guess we will always be wondering about it.

With all this supposed excitement going on around us over this purchase of Storm, I continued to haul horses to work at BG's place. With Storm no longer in my trailer, Reflection there being boarded, I had six horses coming to that facility in two trailer loads . With the three geldings, now Vee and Hope were added into the mix. Legs rounded out the number to six.

While I was bringing that many horses over there not all the work was being done by BG. As things had been before the contract, they continued on afterwards. Some work was done by BG and some by me.

Both Vee and Hope had been well started by me. The only reason for Vee to be there was that issue with her lead to the left. Hope was there to figure out what discipline she might be inclined to do. The mare wants to be very upright like an english horse but I wasn't sure if she had a big enough trot for that. Another set of eyes was supposed to help that.

The geldings were not at a point it was safe for me to ride yet so they were worked by BG and his assistant. Vee was worked in the long lines by BG and then ridden. Sometimes she was ridden by BG's assistant or she was ridden by me. Later on she was ridden by BG as well. It would be fair to say we traded off on that part.

BG's idea of working Hope was for him to put her in the long lines and then he put a kid from the barn on her. He was right, the kid was as cute as a button sitting on the refined mare, Hope, but the kid didn't have enough experience to be riding a green horse.

It was pretty clear to me right from the start this girl matching up this young girl with the green horse was not a good fit. This was not my idea of training. I told BG I was putting a stop to the girl riding the mare. I didn't want to hurt the girl's feelings but Hope shying at the gate each and every time they went by without consequences was really teaching the mare the wrong things. The gate alone was not the only issue but clearly the most obvious. I could write a post on what was wrong with the picture but from here on out the only one who was going to ride Hope was me.

In those early days there was talk of me bringing a third load to get more horses going but to honest that third load was more talked about than actually done. As it was the horses that got started that fall were the three geldings.

There were a few days when a horse from the regulars was left home because of girth sores and once when Legs was sore, when another horse was traded out for that spot in the trailer. Dancer came to visit during those times to be started. That ended with a bad wreck within a few days which I have yet to post. Lucy came just to determine if she really had been broke before I bought her. She was there no more than a few days. Other than that there were no other horses of my breeding or my broodmares worked at their facility in late 2008.

Right after I first got Rhet which was sometime in November, I took the secret horse over to the facility for BG to see. I hadn't posted about him yet because no one was supposed to know I had the horse. Since I was going to need to condition him for the ring, there was no way I could do that without BG and WF being included in the circle of people who knew I had the horse because I was going to need the use of their facility to get the horse worked.

Rhet was good getting into the trailer here but he was ever so naughty getting off the trailer there. Even though BG worked in the arena with Rhet on leading for a while that day, the horse was still every bit as obnoxious when BG handed the horse back over to me. There was no residual from the "work" that had been and it was pretty clear to me that I would have to be the one to teach this horse to lead besides, it had never been my intention for BG to train Rhet in anyway.

The horse was pretty much trying to drag me wherever he wanted to go but I got him back into the trailer in a very direct route although I worked up quite a sweat. I couldn't even get the horse's attention on me he was so overly stimulated by these new surroundings. I decided then the horse wouldn't return to BG's until those issues were fixed. Rhet's time there in 2008 was limited to that one day.

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

More Talk and a Little Shift...

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