The Horse You Bought

Thank you to Cathryn at Two and a Half Horses for more blogging inspiration!

This blog hop came along with pretty great timing, because facebook reminded me this morning that it's been 4 years since we brought Bridget home!

The horse I bought was not the horse I wanted to buy.

My wish list:

- 15 -16-ish hand been there done that, capable of jumping 2'6ish course and packing me around safely. Solid on trails. Solid basic flatwork. Nice enough for regional showing jumping/eventing, but doesn't have to win. Safe enough for G to handle on his own if needed. Could be older, provided no major vet issues.

What I bought:

A Bridget!

Turns out, what I really just wanted was SAFE. I was visiting Ginger's breeder to look at another horse, and ended up hopping on too young/too small/not trained Bridget, and liking her, even though the steering was non existent, she didn't wear a bridle, and trot was her fastest gear. When I found out she'd only had a few rides before I trail rode her all over the country side I was even more impressed with what a great mind she has.

Sept 2014. She was not a fan of contact or forward. Still isn't TBH, but it's pretty solid now.

I actually still didn't commit for a couple of months, because a super green pony was definitely not on my wish list, but I eventually ended up buying her, with the thought that worst case I could put a ton of trail miles on her and gain confidence for us both, and always resell once I found the 'right' horse. But, here we are 4 years later!

Navigating poles for the first time, fall 2014

First flat clinic, winter 2015

First xc clinic, spring 2016

There have been many great adventures along the way. Who would of thought that lazy pony would turn into my original wish list horse and then some? (albeit at 14hh a little shorter than planned!)

First event, 2016

Dressage show, 2017

XC camp, 2017

Lesson learned - the right temperament is far more important than training, at least for me.

Chillin' at the lake, summer 2018