Are We Ready Yet?.............

 Part 1 of the Black Years
Before I continue on with this story there is some background  I want to share.  The rarest and most sought after of the bloodlines on my farm seem to be my Gamaar bred mares. Many of the younger breeders don't understand what those old lines represent but the old timers do. Many of the big name horses of today trace back to bloodlines I hold dear. I have made preserving them part of my mission which is interesting for me to admit since I have never considered myself a preservation breeder.

Regardless of what I call what I've been doing, I have been very pleased with the horses I have bred to this point. The only reason I was even considering parting with this mare was because my illness has interfered with my ability to breed her but my criteria for a home was very specifically based on my preservation mentality. I had no intentions of parting with her if these criteria were not satisfied and I thought these people might just be the ones to do that.

I had had several conversations with these folks before they decided to come to see Faye. They were interested in her specifically because of her grey color and the tail line of her pedigree which is Gamaar's dam. Although color was not the big motivator, her pedigree was. They had called me inquiring about my grey Melba-Sitt mare which is a pretty specific request that told me much about their knowledge and mindset.

Over  the years they had owned a similarly bred mare and she had a daughter for them.  They had lost them both, the daughter only recently, so they were looking for another, as much like what they had, as possible, a very talk order considering the tail/female lines that represents. With the mares I have seen from those lines, KG Phadra Rose, Faye, is a mirror of the beautiful mares expected to carry those rare genes. I had no question she would be what they sought.

These people from Florida were not, however, the only party interested in this mare and/or the bloodlines. I actually had four inquiries within a ten day period. The Floridians were the first to make the trip to my farm but they were not the only ones to appreciate the rarity of these bloodlines and what they represent.

As the phone call telling me they were just ten minutes away ended, the  composure, I had felt, because I thought I had two hours to be ready,   disappeared and panic replaced it.  A few horses, whose manes I had hoped to untangle, where still in their stalls so I quickly put them out and let go of my usual standard of having every single horse spit shined and show ready.

I didn't know how long these people would stay and I hadn't eaten yet. I needed to put on clean clothes too so I had to run to the house while I still could. I hoped these folks were farther away than they thought or that traffic was heavy so I would have some time to get these things done.  My ten minutes were already up when I'd walked into the house so I wolfed down a banana and a glass of milk while changing into clean light weight clothes with pockets.

I don't ever take meds early but it was not quite time for my next round of medication so I needed a way to carry my next dose with me so I could take them at the proper time.  No way I would be able to show all of these horses and answer questions if my pain got any worse. I got my water bottle lined up too so I was as ready as I could be for them to be here. My wish for them to run late was granted because I got the opportunity to do these things and to sit under my blankets with my feet up again for several more minutes until the visitors arrived.

When I heard their car in the drive, I painfully pushed myself to my feet. My legs quivered and I dug deep and gritted my teeth to get through this. Nothing about this day had gone as I'd expected and with the experiences I had had since my illness, I was really dreading this. Nothing about having people here seemed enjoyable to me. It looked like a necessary evil and nothing more.......until, of course, we got to the horses.

When I turned Legs out in the round pen, I then put Faye in his stall so she would be up front and close to her buddies when the people came. Not knowing what their expectations were for how they wanted to experience her, I figured this would be the best way to start. She would be clean and accessible and when they were done all I would need to do was turn her loose right outside the door so she could join the rest of Legs' wives since I turned them out in that field right after I'd put her into his stall.

What I hadn't figured on was Faye screaming her lungs out because the other mares immediately ran off to the farthest reaches of that field.  She was so upset, I worried she'd be all lathered up before the people ever arrived but there wasn't much I could do short of turning her out. If I did that, my guess is she'd have gone straight to the manure pile to roll so I didn't dare do that. There was no doubt that sweat was better than poop.

Still I worried about how stressed out Faye was getting  as I waited for my visitors so I checked up on her as I scurried around tying up those loose ends. As I was going into the house I noticed that Heiress,  hearing Faye's distress, had come up to keep her company so I went on into the house knowing that Heiress staying with Faye was better than I could have hoped for. I didn't know if it would be enough to settle Faye totally down but she was no longer whinnying. Maybe she wouldn't be sweaty when the visitors came.

I greeted my guests and we chatted about all the travel mess while my pain levels sky rocketed from standing still. I realized I was squirming in place as I caught them casting concerned glances at each other. Before they could ask me if I was all right, I told them we would need to get moving so I could get them through this tour. We could sit down and chat at the end. They nodded in agreement and we moved on towards the barn and the horses.

To be continued....