Delivery Day - Aug. 24, 2006

It was hard to leave this horse at Hemphills. He was put out in a paddock with wall to wall horses and a cow. I guess I could have brought him home myself but because he didn't belong to me I didn't want to assume the responsibility of trucking him. I didn't know how he trailered and the ride home is approx. 1-2 hrs depending on traffic. So I left him there knowing that the 2 weeks would be long, but I decided to keep myself busy with other things and tried not to think about his housing situation.

Finally the morning of August 24th I got the call that my horse would be delivered that day, sometime between the hours of noon and 4pm. They had 4 horses to deliver and he was the last.

I had to admit that life was a little easier without another horse. Was I crazy to be getting one so soon after selling Lanie? Yes I was crazy, but the need to fill the hole I was feeling without a horse was way to big. Regardless, he was on his way.

I was going to board him at A's place for a couple of months while I got to know him. I would have friends to ride with and some much needed training. I arrived at A's a little before noon and of course he didn't show up until 4:30. All that waiting gave me plenty of time to wonder what shape he would be in after all day in a trailer. I pictured this wide-eyed, nervous wreck of a horse bolting off the trailer to find himself at yet another place. So I decided that I was going to let the driver unload him and put him in the paddock. I would stand close by watching and hold the gates open.

As I sat there reading a book I finally heard the trailer coming up the road. It was a huge 30' stock trailer. The driver backed all the way up the long driveway. Once I thought he was going to fall off the road into the ditch, but he didn't. He got out of the truck, I paid him the trucking fee and signed the paper, then he opened the trailer. There was #131 the sorrel QH standing tied to the trailer. Yep, it was the right horse, 2 front socks and a white spot on his withers shaped like Australia. The driver untied him, they walked into the paddock where I had water and a couple of flakes of hay waiting. The horse looked around and very slowly and quietly went to the hay and started eating. So much for the wide-eyed nervous wreck of a horse I was picturing. I'm really glad I was wrong.

The driver left and I stood with the horse checking him out for any bruises. He was just a little thin compared to some of the other horses at Hemphills, his mane and forelock where very thin and scraggly. His tail was absolutely beautiful. Thick with many colors in it. He ate and I sat nearby watching him. The only thing that made me nervous was the way he was standing. With both front legs way out in front of him and both back legs way out in back. I called the vet and she said it was probably from the long drive, watch him for signs of colic. He ended up being just fine. 7 1/2 hrs tied to the inside of a trailer would have stressed me out too.

Well, he was finally here. I took the collar off his neck that had #131 written on it and gave him a new halter. Now he needed a name. Nothing was coming to me, naming him was going to take a while.

My First Post - Finding Chance

After reading my friends blogs I have decided I might like to try this. I'm not sure if I'm disciplined enough to keep up with it or continue but I think it might be fun. And helpful
with my horses.

I have named this "My Journey with Chance" because thats what I have decided I am on...

a journey with my new horse.

I have a lot of catching up to do with my blogging because I am going to start at the beginning with Chance. When I go back and read this it will just make more sense to me this way.

I started looking for a horse early last summer with no luck. I'm not sure how many horses I
went to see, e-mailed and called about. There are hundreds out there for sale, but for one reason or another none of those horses worked out. Then I decided I was going to take a
ride to Hemphill's and look. I have no idea why I thought looking for a horse at a horse dealer and knowing nothing about him was going to be better than buying one from an actual person.

It was a scary thought but the option to lease for a few months before writing the check made the idea sound pretty good.

So off we went, myself and a my good friend A. Hemphill's is a little overwhelming to say the least. So many horses, where to start? We made a list, gelding, approx 15h, back from summer camp and the camp had to want the horse back, and he had to be visibly healthy. I'm not sure how many horses I looked at but the only one that had everything on my list was #131, the sorrel QH. He happened to be the 1st horse I looked at. The deciding factor was when my daughter rode him. She is a teenager but hasn't ridden for a few years and I was a little nervous about letting her ride a complete unknown. When she got on his back, he dropped his head and looked me straight in the eye, it was as if he was telling me, "Don't worry, I will take care of her." My friend told me he had the same look when I rode him. The other part to this is when I watched somebody else ride him. He had a completely different look in his eyes, he did not want this person on his back. He did all that was asked of him, but seemed relieved when the man got off.

Well, that was it. I signed the lease and #131 the sorrell QH would be delivered to me within 2 weeks. They gave me a copy of his negative coggins, told me he had a rabies shot and they thought he might be around 6 years old. He was delivered to them in June from a place in Minnesota. They sent him to a summer camp for 2 months and now he was back. That was all the information they had on him.

It's funny, I thought when I found "my horse" I might fall instantly in love, see fireworks or have butterflies. I don't know why I thought that, but I did. But no, there where no fireworks, no butterflies, just a nice quiet calmness. It was strange bringing a horse home that I had only spent about 30 minutes with, I would have until Dec. 1st to decide if I wanted to buy him.