Dream Horse... What's That?

I have officially moved out of the teenage horse obsessed little girl stage that I was once in. Don't get me wrong, I moved straight into the broke horse loving adult stage which is arguably more detrimental to many more aspects of my life, so all is not lost. Today I was missing the simpler times. A lot has changed in the last ten years and not all for the better.

As that little girl who was so horse obsessed I led my Grand Champions around the house like full sized horses, ANY horse would do. I wasn't picky when I asked my dad for a horse. The thing could've been 35 yrs old and dead cripple and I would've been screaming and shouting thanks at the top of my lungs. The teenage me obviously did want a rideable horse but even that girl was not going to be excruciatingly picky.

Color didn't matter, age didn't matter, and there was a time in my life when discipline didn't matter either. I browsed the internet looking at horses for sale. I found them everywhere; Saddlebreds in Tennessee, Thoroughbreds in Kentucky, Quarter Horses in Texas, Morgans in North Carolina, jumpers, reiners, ropers, saddle seat horses. I didn't have a price range because, at that point, even a free horse was out of my price range. I had just gained access to the internet so I definitely couldn't drive or work! I obviously hadn't worked out logistics like how to get that Thoroughbred from Kentucky to Texas or where I was going to keep this newly acquired horse or how I was going to ride it since the only piece of equipment I owned at that point was a foal halter given to me by my grandmother's boyfriend.

Now when you sit me down and talk about horses my whole demeanor has changed. I suppose I was operating under the idea "beggars can't be choosers" in my younger years and technically, that's still the mentality I need to have (seeing as I haven't yet started my first day at my million dollar per year job). A goal, a job, and quite a bit of knowledge have narrowed my options from ALL OF THEM, to a very small corner of the market.

Don't get me wrong, I love the boys and am expecting them to go far, but the prestige of an $800 horse is lost on most people, myself included sometimes. There's something about not coughing up a house payment or 10 that makes you wonder if your horse is going to be able to do the job. Please don't take this as me being snobby, I have never had the financial capability to even dream of spending a small fortune (or over $2k) on a four legged accident prone beast with a mind of its own. I sincerely love the idea of the "diamond in the rough" horse and I think there are plenty out there who are more athletic than their current owner gives them credit for.

Who's to say how much potential he has just by
looking at him?

More than the money aspect, my dream is to buy a horse with good breeding, fantastic conformation, preferably a cool breed or at least a fancy looking Thoroughbred and never again have to worry about the athletic capabilities of my horse. I also don't ever want to worry about lameness, colic, cuts, or other things of that nature. Then I realize that no matter how much you pay for a horse, those things are always going to be worries. A $50,000 horse doesn't know it's any different than a $500 horse and wouldn't care if you were to tell it. I've heard plenty of horror stories of a perfectly healthy horse bowing it's tendon within a month of purchase, or having to undergo colic surgery, or being out of commission due to a bad cut in the pasture. Or what about the horse that has no health problems but you just don't get along with it? No one has enough money to guarantee impeccable health, no one.

So I've decided there is no such thing as a dream horse, per se. There are dream circumstances and amazing horses but you can't blame the circumstances on the horse or the horse on the circumstances. Everyone will have that time in their lives (if you stay in the sport long enough) where the horse and the timing just match up perfectly and you ride the cloud of euphoria as far as it can take you and hope that you are lucky enough to find that again.

Until then a quick description of my dream horse might look something like this:
Short cannon bones, well proportioned all around with a bit longer legs, good hock angles, straight legs, medium length back, soft eye, refined bone structure in the face, well proportioned ears, Irish Sport Horse, mare, 3-4 yrs old, and either bay, black or grey (but not fleabitten grey) with some chrome and an extra cool face marking.
I think that I am dreaming of a horse that, right now, exceeds my capabilities. I haven't started to compete at events yet and I am not an Olympian by any stretch at this point in my life. I don't NEED a horse that will take me 4' easy. Not yet. I need to ride the roller coaster that is the boys and learn as much as I can.

...And save up a pretty penny for that dream horse in the sky!