Heather part 1

I've been meaning to write about Heather for a while now, but with things so hectic I really hadn't spent much time with her. Since today was so lovely, and we may not have very many more days like it left this year, I decided to spend some time with her.

First, some background. I went to the feed store earlier this summer and saw an advertisement for 'an older Arabian mare' for sale, $600 or best offer. I took down the number, as there aren't many Arab people in the area and I was curious. Plus, the faded picture looked a lot like one of my mom's foundation mares: liver chestnut with a blaze and stockings. I called the owner later in the week, and after a long chat about Arabians and such we arranged a day and time to meet.

I arrived at the farm without any difficulty. It wasn't far from my farm, just tucked out of the way on a back road that I hadn't traveled before. Nice place, shiny happy horses, plenty of grass and a nice barn. The owner was friendly and talkative. She introduced me to another horse that we had talked about on the phone, an 18 yr old gray Arabian with almost the same name as my mare that passed on 2 years ago now. Tiara, the gray mare, was lovely, but she had a big problem: she ran the fence in a big way. Even when placed in a pasture with other horses, she would run back and forth along the fence. The owner (who wasn't her first) tried to get her to stop by placing her in a pen by herself and making it odd shaped, but it didn't work. She was wearing herself down, and the owner just didn't know what to do. She offered her to me for free, but I'm not equipped to handle a horse like that. So, though it broke my heart, I had to decline. Then she took me to see Heather.

Heather in person looked even more like Bahara, mom's old mare. She was wonderful, smart, steady, healthy, and apparently 30 years old! Yikes! She was fit and in good shape, so I had Jac ride her first, then I took a turn (nothing strenuous). We went back to the barn, and the owner showed us Heather's trick (nodding her head for a treat when you ask if she want's one), and then introduced us to the rest of the herd. After that, I said I would get back to her about Heather, and we took our leave. I kept meaning to call and tell her that i couldn't justify the $600 for a horse at the moment, but the weeks just went by.

Just days after Sketch died, I get a call from Heather's owner. I apologized profusely, telling her I meant to call and explaining about Sketch. We talked for a bit, and then she said 'If you still want Heather, I'll sell her to you, and only you, for $150'. Stunned, I told her I'd have to talk it over with Ken, but I'd let her know. Well, a week later I called back and said 'Sure'.

September so far

It's been pretty busy around here since my last blog entry. I didn't do much for most of this summer, but the halfway through August I seemed to be doing something every weekend! I went to a Trakhener mare inspection and branding on August 23, photographed a local dressage schooling show on the 24th, attended the county fair from the 27th to September 1st, went to see a local band in Wausau on September 5 and stayed up all night, and on the 14th I traveled down to Mequon with some friends and their horses to see an Oldenburg inspection and branding. I was planning to go to the Michigan Renaissance Festival this coming weekend, but I'm not sure I can make it, I may have to push it back to the 27th and 28th.

I promised in an earlier blog that I'd write about Heather, my newest addition, and I will, but I think she needs to have her own entry with pictures and stuff. I'll try and write that up tomorrow.

Other things in the news: I was on a ladder, without a spotter, and of course fell off and screwed up my knee. It was dumb, really dumb, and I knew better, but for some reason I did it anyway. Hopefully it will continue to heal nicely, and I won't see any lasting effects.

Otherwise, there's not much going on. I should get back to working on pictures for Ken, and stuff for Cafe Press. I finally subscribed to the pro shop, and hopefully I can get it to generate enough money to cover the feed bill this winter. Maybe if I'm lucky, I can make enough to get shavings too.