Excuses, excuses.

Me at work

 I hope to resume posting more often -- I had been posting daily since some crazy date like 2006?  With Harv gone, and Ri for sale (at one point), I think I had less to blog horse-wise. I will get some video of Ri-Ri up at some point BTW.

I do have an honest-to-God valid reason, aside from that, for being MIA on the blogging front. New job! I'm at the same university, but did get promoted. Same office, new roles/responsibilities, and yes, more work. More having to do with budgeting, and I'm not at all math-y.

I'll try to get back to the business of writing about horses. See ya!

Laura, for sale! So unfair that I'm not in the market

Posted to Facebook: "Laura is a beautiful filly with a look at me attitude, quality gaits, by DHH Stallion Graaf Kelly. Located in PA, OTHERS AVAIL. 646-761-6541 -- love the little bit of white on the stifle.

Anyhoo. Keeping Ri

There are many horror stories about buying and selling horses. For the most part I encountered normal folks, nice folks, and if it was not exactly "fun" it was not miserable either.

We've all read Black Beauty and we know how quickly a horse's fortunes can turn in one sale.  When you sell, you lost control of your horse's future. I felt responsible, and afraid, for Riley changing hands.

Talking to Buyers
I figured the best way to ensure a good home was to find the best fit for Ri. When people called I was honest to the point of being confessional. Ri had been going great, but he's a horse that needs a particular program to thrive. Everyone got "my spiel" about his history and the kind of program he does best in -- turnout especially.

A complicating factor, at least the first month he was for sale, was that after 3 years without losing a single shoe, he lost a shoe and stepped on the clip in February. It took about a month for that to really resolve.

What happened...

• About eight people came to try him. Most of the buyers were capable riders, but no one 'clicked' with him amazingly. I had really been banking on everyone riding better than I did -- didn't happen.
• His right front x-ray concerned people -- they either walked, or they used it to bargain price. I know those radiographs, and I know Riley and his history, but the buyers don't have that knowledge -- can't really blame them for skepticism, but it gave me pause.
• He was in training while he was for sale, and I didn't ride him most of the summer. Then I thought, what the hell -- I started riding him again after 3 months in training. He felt freakin' awesome.  A friend who had been goading me to sell him came out one day to watch a lesson. She took me aside afterward and said, "Don't you sell him now."

So Ri is not for sale. I'm now riding him 2-3 days a week myself, one lesson, and my trainer rides him one day.  I'm on a high after a super ride yesterday.

I don't know... The sales process may have just been the journey we needed to get to the next step. I feel like a huge weight has been lifted...

Ri-Ri off the market :-)

Hi All, I've been AWOL for a bit -- thought I'd let you know that EVERYTHING'S FINE! It's been a great summer with a lot of non-horsey goings-on, and time for blogging just slipped through my hands.

The "big" news is that Ri is off the market (has been since around June).

Belated retort to anonymous poster
Someone posted a comment anonymously, suggesting that I was hiding Ri's condition (perhaps because it did not appear in all caps in the ad). If you give this any thought, it's a laughable accusation.

Ri is the most blogged about and posted about horse in the western hemisphere, a veritable equine Truman Show. Practically every surgical photo, x-ray, vet result, and yes, his entire right front rehab story out there on the Interweb. I have nothing to hide. I prepared a reply template with the whole story for each email, and for people travelling from a distance I had the x-rays on my Google Drive for sharing. So anonymous-naysayer, your mock-concern was for naught.


I'll tell you more in the next post -- believe me it's all good.