Bloom Where You're Planted Farm

Interacting with horses creates more happiness and/or more anxiety for me than anything else I do.I’ll admit I’m a bit of a novice so probably take these ups and downs more personally than a more experienced horsewoman would.When I’m working with them and something goes well – like a great ride, or the first time I got skittish 2-month old Dash to let me pet her – I’m on Cloud 9.When something goes bad – like a bad ride or a health concern – I’m miserable.

There were some ups and downs in my horse life this weekend.Saturday was a beautiful day and we enjoyed some quality time watching the horses frolic in the warm sun.Then, on Sunday, we finally went to get our mare Sachi from the horse “trainer” (I use this term very loosely).It had taken him eleven weeks (that’s 77 days) to complete his promised 30 days of working with her—not a good sign.This fella had been recommended to us by a friend, and was less expensive and much closer to home than the great gal we took Sully to for his training.So, we took the gamble.Long story short, when we picked her up she was no better trained than before and in a worse state of mind.We had wasted our money (we paid up front, of course!) and had an unpleasant “discussion” with the guy, who was resentful of US for expecting him to call us back when we called to check on her status after two months. (Weren’t cell phones invented so busy “cowboys” could stay in touch with the rest of the world?)All that aside, we’re thankful to have her home with her family and we’re all trying to put this whole thing behind us.There was some good news when we got home and discovered that she and our other mare, Abbie, could cohabitate fairly peacefully.Both are used to being the “boss lady” and we had been worried about how they would get along together.

The really good news in my Horse World is this:I write a weekly newsletter for our community website (http://www.avocanebraska.com), and a couple weeks ago ran some information about a local family looking for a good home for their horse.“Freedom” had a joint problem and could no longer be ridden strenuously or by anyone heavier than a child.She needed occasional medical care, and the family was hoping someone would adopt her as a pasture pal and allow her to live the second half of her life on Easy Street.I learned this morning that she has indeed found a new family, and that news did wonders to dispel my bad feelings about our bad trainer experience.There are good people out there who love and care about horses as much as I do, and I thank heaven for that!