Waiting…
Waiting is an interesting concept.
Not something I good at. Or graceful. I’m not naturally patient… I like shopping online because there are no lines, no drive to the store and I can find what I want immediately. I like making things myself because I can have an idea and then fashion something to meet the need without having to wait and search.
In having scaled back to 1 horse and then having that horse go lame, I have been tested in many ways. Waiting is the biggest. Waiting for him to come around sound again. Waiting to ride. Waiting to get another horse.
Scooping a lot of poop in the mean time.
Nez still gets brushed and feet cleaned ALL the time. He is increasingly uncomfortable and yesterday stumbled just on the downhill into his paddock. It’s time. Now I have a great peace about it… And it helps that I know a lot of other folks go through euthenasia angst as well. And that a very cool gal in Elk Grove keeps reminding us that horses don’t plan for tomorrow, they don’t dread the thought of being put down, they just live for right now. And right now he hurts pretty much constantly. It’s hard to even watch him stand in his favorite spot in his paddock… constantly shifting weight and trying to get himself comfortable. Calling to the other horses that have gone wandering while he stands in the flat spot where he can’t see them.
Now he’s waiting.
As I started looking at the possibility of getting another horse (and getting my increasing butt back in the saddle before I can’t fit into my jeans anymore! gosh, you’d think I could find another form of exercise!) I had a lot of choices to make.
Breed, age, training, cost, etc.
A very wise person recommended that I just pray about it and wait for my ideal horse. No settling.
Great idea, but an interesting concept when my budget is so tight. It’s around zero dollars.
So I make a list. A literal list. Quarter horse (or paint/appy, but quarter horse type), 5-15 years, broke, sound, easy keeper. I want a horse that has a solid foundation in training and has been exposed to LOTS of things already. A horse that has had a rope swung off of, been around guns, kids, cattle. A horse that can travel out alone or is good in groups. A horse that will walk down the trail without jigging. A horse that will pack my husband or kids on occasion. Don’t care about color, but I have a soft spot for big red horses.
And then I wait.
I understand that I might wait for a year, since the last thing on my list happens to be that the horse must also be free or MIRACULOUSLY affordable. And miraculous is the key.
Offers start coming in, but one by one, they tempt me away from my commitment to wait. Slowly, painfully, I turn them down, one by one. Knowing that each one could have been the key to at least getting me riding again.
Then it happens. A whirlwind really- a friend is moving and needs to find homes for his horses. These are GREAT horses. One a flashy palimino (who I like well enough) and one a big red horse. A horse that my husband has been trail riding on. A horse that I rode a through the mountains a couple years ago and fell in love with. Way before I was looking for another horse.
Now would be a good time to mention… the horse is EVERYthing on my list. Except free. And he’s worth paying for, I just don’t have any cash. We’re remodeling our kitchen, praying that we don’t go over budget because it’s so tight already… And I have a euthensia cost coming up. Plus the Bowen certification classes and, well, we’ve all been there, right? Cash poor.
So I just keep waiting. Then, one day, on a whim I ask if there is anything he’d like to barter. Bartering is my friend. Not merely and acquaintance, but a close friend that knows me well.
I don’t have anything that he needs, but hubby might. Hubby calls… I don’t know too much about what happened between that point and now. Next thing I know the friend of ours is in our living room (with remodel going on- oy what a mess!) and when I walk in, he and hubby are shaking hands.
In my mind, there was some “thanks, but no thanks” going on.
But instead it was a good old fashiond cowboy deal. Hubby traded his favorite over and under for my horse. Miraculous.
Surfing cowboy trades brand new shot gun for his woman’s new horse!
For right now I’m back to waiting… waiting for schedules to lighten up enough to get the new guy moved over to our barn. But waiting just got easier. I know that it pays off… I know that there is a plan. And that even when waiting is difficult and it doesn’t seem logical to think it could all work out, logic doesn’t matter as much as I used to think.