One day as I was working at Piper Ridge Libby came to me and again out of the blue I hear "You should really consider buying Karma." I had not thought about her after leaving the barn the day Frannie mentioned her to me.
That's when Libby told me about all of her concerns with Chance. It was so hard to hear. How could this end like this? After all of this time and work? It wasn't fair.
This was so wrong. Chance and I were going to start again this summer. We were going to canter off into the back pasture behind Piper Ridge and ride the trails. We had so much to do.
Karma was coming the following weekend for a 3 day clinic. She would sell quickly. If I was even going to consider buying her I didn't have a lot of time to decide. This was huge for me. Buying her was so much more than just getting another horse. It meant letting go of Ginger or Chance. Letting go of Ginger wouldn't be to hard, finding the right home for her would be tough, but it could happen. Letting go of Chance was an option that I couldn't wrap my mind around at all, or my heart.
Saturday, January 21, 2012
Karma
I spent a lot of time going back and forth with this. I was signed up for another clinic. I was really hopeful that with some time on the doxy Chance would feel better and we could start again.
Jaye and I had stopped by to visit Frannie and Libby after watching a round penning demo at a different barn. The demo was hard to watch. It was a terrible example of how to work with a horse. Lots of pressure, pressure, pressure on that poor horse. It made me wonder about Chance's beginning. And it made me think about how all I wanted for him was happiness and a pressure-free life.
So while we were visiting Frannie says to me out of the blue - "You should buy Karma."
Karma is a young 4 year old. filly who belongs to my farrier's wife Marie. I was quite shocked by her statement. Why was Karma for sale? She's a wonderful Appendix Quarter Horse. She was started by Joe Wolter and had 3 months of training with Libby. What a wonderful beginning for a horse! Why would anyone want to give her up? She was born at Marie's house. I just couldn't imagine why she would want to sell her. Another horse was out of the question. I already had Chance and Ginger. I didn't have room for another or the money to buy her. And buying another horse meant that I was really starting over, it meant that I would make the decision not to ride Chance anymore. That wasn't really an option for me.....yet.
Jaye and I had stopped by to visit Frannie and Libby after watching a round penning demo at a different barn. The demo was hard to watch. It was a terrible example of how to work with a horse. Lots of pressure, pressure, pressure on that poor horse. It made me wonder about Chance's beginning. And it made me think about how all I wanted for him was happiness and a pressure-free life.
So while we were visiting Frannie says to me out of the blue - "You should buy Karma."
Karma is a young 4 year old. filly who belongs to my farrier's wife Marie. I was quite shocked by her statement. Why was Karma for sale? She's a wonderful Appendix Quarter Horse. She was started by Joe Wolter and had 3 months of training with Libby. What a wonderful beginning for a horse! Why would anyone want to give her up? She was born at Marie's house. I just couldn't imagine why she would want to sell her. Another horse was out of the question. I already had Chance and Ginger. I didn't have room for another or the money to buy her. And buying another horse meant that I was really starting over, it meant that I would make the decision not to ride Chance anymore. That wasn't really an option for me.....yet.
June 2011 clinic
We spent most of the week doing groundwork. The goal was to help him get ready to re-start. Mon-Wed were hard, but went well. We were ready to give riding a shot on Thursday.
After a short ground session in the big ring we headed to the round pen. I got on and Libby stayed on the other end of the lead line. I was just a passenger. It had been a year since Chance had been ridden and we didn't know how he would handle it. He was awake now and it could go any way. He was less likely to buck with Libby leading him around.
He did great! Lots of turns, a little trotting and he was ok. My emotions got the best of me. An entire year of helping this horse wake up. It's a good thing Libby was on the end of the lead line, I was crying and an emotional mess! Happy tears! Tomorrow I would ride on my own.
Friday came and I saddled him up. He didn't feel as good. He felt tight. His head would drop and wasn't the same as yesterday. I didn't feel ok about riding on my own so Libby continued to lead us around. We kept it short. I was crushed, what was wrong?
I packed up and trailered him home. When we got home I ran my hands down his back, he was sore. He flinched a lot. I decided to give him a few days off and would try again at home. In those few days I noticed his personality changing. He was grumpy, spooky and still sore. The lyme had come back. Maybe the clinic was too stressful for him. Maybe his back couldn't handle a rider. Too many questions again. I started the doxy again.
Libby had some concerns, was his back injury just too much for him? Was the pain from the injury what shut him down in the beginning? It was time to get real, Chance
may never be ridden again.
After a short ground session in the big ring we headed to the round pen. I got on and Libby stayed on the other end of the lead line. I was just a passenger. It had been a year since Chance had been ridden and we didn't know how he would handle it. He was awake now and it could go any way. He was less likely to buck with Libby leading him around.
He did great! Lots of turns, a little trotting and he was ok. My emotions got the best of me. An entire year of helping this horse wake up. It's a good thing Libby was on the end of the lead line, I was crying and an emotional mess! Happy tears! Tomorrow I would ride on my own.
Friday came and I saddled him up. He didn't feel as good. He felt tight. His head would drop and wasn't the same as yesterday. I didn't feel ok about riding on my own so Libby continued to lead us around. We kept it short. I was crushed, what was wrong?
I packed up and trailered him home. When we got home I ran my hands down his back, he was sore. He flinched a lot. I decided to give him a few days off and would try again at home. In those few days I noticed his personality changing. He was grumpy, spooky and still sore. The lyme had come back. Maybe the clinic was too stressful for him. Maybe his back couldn't handle a rider. Too many questions again. I started the doxy again.
Libby had some concerns, was his back injury just too much for him? Was the pain from the injury what shut him down in the beginning? It was time to get real, Chance
may never be ridden again.
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