I honestly think this is the hardest time I've ever had selling a horse, not just because it took for-freaking-ever (seriously, like a year and a half?) but because I became so incredibly attached to her in the three years that I've owned her.
For those that don't remember, Misty was an impulse purchase. Yeah. My previous BO bought her from a ranch in the eastern part of the state. Her name at the time was Sissy. I thought she was fairly nice, especially for a stock horse. I watched her take a couple dressage lessons and was very impressed with her movement. I was pretty bummed when my BO sold her (I didn't realize she was being sold), but a couple months later she popped up for sale again. I mentioned to my BO that I wish I could afford her (but she was way, way, way out of my price range). My BO ended up contacting her owner and she dropped her price by over half for me, in addition to letting me do payments. While she was a cheap horse, she's still by far the most expensive horse I've ever purchased.
I remember the night I bought her drinking an entire bottle of wine, then asking my roommate to pick me up some more because I just bought a new horse sight unseen (at least in her current condition) plus I'd never ridden her before. You can imagine how that night ended for me.
But she made up for that my how amazing she ended up. Her first ride with me was lackluster. She didn't know how to jog or pick up the right lead very well, or just bend right for that matter. She didn't know how to take contact or do smooth transitions. She was broke, just not trained.
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| Being a dork |
From there she had her first dressage shows, first time jumping. Lots of trails and giving friends pony rides. First time galloping cross country. My first time competing at sorting and doing ranch horse competitions. Both of our first recognized dressage competition.
Ultimately, she's literally the best horse I've ever owned. She gives Jazz a run for her money (my childhood amazing horse). While I want to have a sporthorse - some sort of WB or TB because my true love is eventing - I will say that stock horses are amazing. You can't find more heart and try, with such solidness and lack of spook in many other horses. Or maybe that's just my bias ;)
But enough about that, let's talk about her new home. Geez, was this an ordeal. It started with a phone call almost 2 months ago from a lady in California who lives outside of the Bay area. We'll call her TG. She was very interested in Misty. She'd been horse shopping for a while since her last horse died of cancer. She hadn't ridden in quite a while and was looking for something she felt safe on. She just wanted a horse to take on trail rides around the property and take some dressage lessons on, probably not compete.
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| Napping while grazing the Misty-moo |
Since she was an almost 11 hour drive away, she had some friends that lived just north of me come down to try her since they could tell her whether Misty was worth coming to see. I
really liked these people. Really laid back, solid horsemanship, no drama type of people. The kind I grew up with basically. They had started riding a few years ago after meeting TG, though they rode western. Through our conversation we learned that we had some competitions in common since they liked to do competitive trail riding (mountain/cowboy trail competitions like I used to do on Jazz). They loved Misty a lot and it was pretty neat to watch someone ride her western since I had never had anyone actually ride her western. Misty was super responsive and just fantastic. Rode her on a loose rein. She stopped when they said whoa, did her roll backs, moved off the leg perfectly, neck reined, the whole deal. It made me so proud. They even said they might start a bidding war with TG on her!
A few weeks later TG finally made the long drive up. She hadn't ridden in a long time, but Misty was very good for her and she said she felt really safe on her. I mentioned the experience a few posts ago, where Misty broke the cross ties and ended up lame. She understood though and Misty was very good.
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| All the treats |
We scheduled the vet check a couple weeks later since she wouldn't be able to come get her for a while. The vet check went really well, I thought at least. Misty flexed a little positive on her right hind, which I knew would happen. It was much more subtle than the last time. Everything else was perfect. She took x-rays of both hocks and her front leg with the scar. All the x-rays looked beautiful, with no sign of arthritis.
TG texted me after the pre-purchase to say that she couldn't pay the purchase price we'd agreed on because Misty would need all these expensive joint supplements and eventually injections. I dropped her price a little, but explained for her history and age, I wouldn't expect her joints to be anything else. She'd been sound in pretty hard work, and with the drop in her work load that she'd have with TG, I expected her to be sound for many more years, even if she did need some joint injections eventually. At that point I expected the sale to be over. But, the next morning I got another text that she thought the price was fair and she was still going to get Misty.
I think this is going to be a really great home for Misty. She has a big paddock to herself, lots of trails to ride and an owner who will spoil her. She mentioned that once she can afford it, Misty will get a custom saddle. She already bought her some boots, a bridle and a half pad. She was texting me about how she started taking riding lessons again and doing pilates so that she can be fit, and have an independent seat and not pull on Misty's mouth.
While I'll admit that I wish she was going to a young girl who wanted to compete her in 4-H or High School Equestrian team or Pony club, and I'm a little bummed that she won't get to be shown, in reality, it's a great home and I couldn't ask for anything better. I'm going to miss my little roany paint pony more than words can convey, but I'm happy for her next journey in life.
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| Goodbye hugs |
(pictures are all from yesterday while we were waiting for her ride to arrive)
