Time to Buy a Lottery Ticket

What are the Odds?

I own three horses. You'd think, on a day when everything else was just right to try a short ride with my new knees, that the odds would be with me.  Stacie was on her way home from a saddle fitting and my house was in between, so she arrived to help supervise.  The weather was lovely with a slight breeze and cool, perfect riding temperatures.  There were essentially no flies.

Chance was, of course, out of the equation as he is still not quite sound from whatever lameness he has.  That left two options: Toby and Tucker.

I opted first for Toby as he is the best trained of the three and usually pretty reliable. We brought him in but as we groomed him, Stacie found a bit of a bump on his back. At first that's all it seemed to be, but as we tested around it, he flinched and sank down.  Since the saddle could put some pressure there, I decided not to take a chance.

That left Tucker. We brought him in and as he came through the barn door, he was a little hesitant stepping along.  There was some mud there, so at first I thought he may have slipped a little. But as we were grooming him on the crossties, Stacie told me he just didn't look right in one hind leg when he moved.  We took him out to walk him and, sure enough, he was "off" on his right hind.  The lameness was slight, but definitely there. That ended his riding afternoon, and mine.

I've called the vet--no emergency in this case.  Dr. Klayman will be coming back on Thursday anyhow to look at Chance, so unless something more severe shows up in the other two, I will just wait and see.  I did notice some bit of ragged frog in Tucker's foot and Debbie, my horsesitter, thinks there was heat there. So I have put some Icthamol on it and a light wrap.

Toby is on his own for now. He looks just fine on all four legs and was leaping and bucking quite happily when I took Chance out to hand walk him so he certainly isn't in any significant pain. It could be just a skin thing or something simple.  No biggie as long as he's happy.

So, I did not manage to get into the saddle.  I am a bit disappointed as I really did want to see how it felt, but it's OK.  Fate was not smiling on me this time.

However, my horsesitter had far better luck. She has been looking for a driving pony for her son for a while now.  Just the other day, I was able to talk to a good friend who has driving ponies and from her, got the name and address of a reliable pony guy out in Pennsylvania.  Debbie was preparing to get in touch with him when.....

An adorable little Haflinger gelding showed up at the local horse sale: Camelot Sales (They are involved with dozens of rescues around the country and save dozens of horses each week from the "kill pens")  Bob, the Haffie, was advertised to ride and drive and had even been used to mow lawns by pulling a mower.  I saw him on the Camelot Facebook page and figured he'd be a super prospect for Debbie. Fortunately, Debbie happened to go on the Facebook page early Thursday morning herself and, in short order, called in, staked a claim on Bob and withing a few hours had him trailered home with her!!

From all the evidence, Bob--renamed Blazer by her son--is going to be a star! She long lined him yesterday and said he was a good as gold. I should think if he was pulling a lawnmower for the Mennonites that he is a solid driving pony with a good mind--perfect for a young driver who hopes someday to do combined driving.

Fate is a strange lady.  The stars lined up just perfectly for Bob, that's for sure.

Maybe Fate had an ulterior motive in  mind for me too. I just wasn't supposed to ride today.