The Next Horse

This might seem like a weird time to talk about buying a horse – I have a small child at home, we’re hoping to have more small children in the coming years, and my perfect perfect Francis is on lease because I don’t have time to ride.

But isn’t it always the case that when you’re out of the saddle, you have plenty of time to daydream about the days you’ll be back in it? I figured it would be fun to share my daydreaming!

Side note about why I’m thinking about another horse even though I own the world’s most incredible creature to ever exist: While Francois will always always always be a part of our family and have the best care I can possibly provide for him, realistically he is starting to show some signs of age and we are adjusting our performance expectations accordingly. By the time I’m ready to be back in the swing of things, he will be solidly into his 20s and it will not be fair to ask him to go out and do the same job just like he did when he was younger. And that’s ok! He will have a job as long as he wants one at whatever level he is comfortable doing, and he will retire when he wants to. He’s the boss. His needs come before any theoretical second horse.

This patient, kind, generous, big-hearted caretaker of a moose can do literally whatever he wants at any time and I will enable it.

Back to the daydreaming.

My original thought was that it would be fun to invest in a well-bred fancy youngster in the next few years, hand it off to my trainer to get going, and then return to take over the ride once my human child(ren) don’t need to be attached to me 24/7. I still like this idea and it’s still on the table! I may or may not be trying to convince my trainer and barnmates to make a fun little girl’s trip to Ireland and pick out some pretty 2-3yos at one of the nice sporthorse auctions. I stalk the Go For Gold catalogue every single year.

But then I got to thinking: what are my goals? What do I actually want to DO with my next horse?

It came down to a couple things that I want:

• I want to eventually compete in the jumpers
• I want to feel safe and confident
• I want to enjoy their company on the ground
• I sometimes want to win pretty ribbons
• I want to be able to enter different divisions sometimes when I want a shakeup

It’s not that I want to do the hunters, but I’m a sucker for a shadbelly so throw me in the derbies

And there are a couple of things I don’t care about so much:

• I don’t much care about the jump height past 1m. I’m open to doing higher if the horse shows an aptitude, but I feel like there are so many programs and options at 1m and I feel really confident at that height, so if that’s what I stick around in that’s fine by me.
• Getting in the show ring immediately. I know my budget will realistically get me something greener and younger, and I’m fine hanging out in the lower levels for a while as we bring something along. I’ve got a great trainer and other resources to call in as needed. No biggie. I’m not aging out of anything so there’s no timeline.

Must also be extremely photogenic

And then I had this weird AHA moment. It seemed so obvious that I don’t know how I didn’t think of it before.

I’m pretty sure I want my next horse to be an OTTB. This would literally check all my boxes.

The TB jumper division is at 1m, so I would have multiple divisions to choose from at shows once we’re up and running. Need a change of pace? There’s the 3′ TB hunters! Not to mention that literally every other class is also an option. But the pretty ribbons in the TB classes? The incentive programs? Yes please.

Our zone is also extremely TB-friendly. Virginia is for lovers, but Virginia is also for Thoroughbreds. The TB divisions are at pretty much all the rated shows around here and they fill. I hear a lot of noise about how judges sometimes don’t like TBs, to which I say head our way, because they are alive and well and beloved around here.

I also just like that style of ride. I’ve ridden big dumbbloods and I’ve ridden ponies and I’ve ridden OTTBs, and I feel very comfortable with that TB style of going (don’t yell at me, I know tHeRe IsNt JuSt OnE sTyLe ThEyRe AlL dIfFeReNt).

Added to this, my trainer is extremely experienced with and LOVES a good TB. She’s participated in the RRP multiple times, often has at least one young OTTB she’s training up in the barn, and has a deep appreciation for them. When I mentioned this idea in passing, she was enthusiastically on board.

So enthusiastically on board, in fact, that she sent me an ad for exactly what I want. Big tall bay OTTB gelding, 5yo, lightly restarted with a lovely rhythmic canter, great personality and calm brain, and showing promise over small jumps. Yes please. If I was anywhere near ready to buy, I would’ve jumped all over this one.

look how CYOOT he is!!!

But we are still in the daydreaming phase, so it’ll be a few more years before Frankie gets a horse sibling. In the meantime, I’ll be saving my pennies and stalking the sales sites for my mom-era jumper!