Free Range

Annual 4th of July Trail Ride 2015

So far, Ryon has had almost three weeks of downtime and seems to be feeling much better.  He’s only in light work and no more jumping or formal training.  As of now, the near-term plan is to free range Ryon for a period of time - half a year or so - and give him some down time.  It’s not easy being a horse in a commercial show barn like ours, boxed in on all sides by more screaming horses and arenas.  He has no real barn buddies, and my barn friend caught him trying to escape from his stall on Friday evening.  After we finish with this round of medication, we are likely going to pull his shoes off and ship him out to a pasture 30 minutes from town.  Ryon will get a chance to graze and get all woolly, generally be a horse, before deciding what to do with him.  Hopefully his arthritis stops getting worse and he also gets a mental reprieve from five days of work a week.  If only the rest of us could be so lucky, right?

In the meantime, the medium-term plan is to look for a new project horse - most likely a baby off-the-track-thoroughbred between the age of three and five.  Much like we did with Ryon, I’m hoping that we find a green broke horse with a good mind that we can teach and show the ropes both in and out of the saddle, which is honestly one of my favourite parts about riding.  The older I get, the less jumping captures my attention and the more I’ve started to focus on overall horsemanship.  I love being able to teach new horses the confidence (and even cockiness) to go out into an arena or field and feel comfortable and at ease.  We have trails galore by my barn and going through the varied terrain eventually turns into a zen-like experience the more they trust me and themselves.

As of right now, although it feels like everyone is trying to unload their horses before the winter, it seems as though no one wants to sell ME their horse.  I’ve reached out to rescue organizations, online horse ads, and Facebook.  Sellers are extremely interested until I ask about veterinarians close by to perform a pre-purchase exam and give them my references.  Then, it’s dead silence, which I have a hard time understanding.  I know I’m not known for being the most patient person but geez louise folks, if you’re trying to sell something, maybe you should respond to potential buyers.  It’s almost like being ghosted by someone you’re interested in.  The ups and downs of this process are already getting to me and I’ve only just begun.