My new boarder is laying-up her six-year-old Thoroughbred until we find out what is causing his issues.  Now you know that none of us can go very long without a rideable horse so she’s horse shopping.  She bought her current horse off the track three years ago and has been trying to fix him ever since.  This is her baby and she loves him dearly.  She’s brought him along in his training since the beginning.  He’s her dream horse, but…..  So now her quest was to by-pass all the years of training and just go for a “ready to go” show horse.

She’s tried a young green mare that she is falling in love with.  But that’s not what she wanted.  She didn’t want to start from scratch again.  She’s ready to hit the big time, but the horse isn’t.  What should she do?

Okay, the Libra in me goes to the scales.  Weighing the positive reasons against the negative reasons.

So I told her my story.  I was there at one time.  My black mare was done.  Her stifles were shot.  It was time for her to surrender her position, retire, and live out her life as a lawn ornament. I was a Whipper-In and needed a finished horse to take her place.  All our horses were getting long in the tooth, and their bodies were starting to show the signs of too many years of hard hunting.  Other than my black mare and a dark bay gelding, I had always raised my horses from babies.  Both those horses were fabulous hunt horses, but they came with issues.  The gelding was a barrel horse who wouldn’t go through gates for three years without rearing.  The mare just used to dump people when she was done and go home.  She was an Alfa mare to the end.

When you raise a baby and start their training from the beginning you have a horse that knows you and what you are asking.  They are agreeable and will give you the moon and the stair to please you.  There has been no abuse, or holes in their training.  Your hand print is all over them and they are what you have always dreamed of.  Well most of the time.

So I spoke with this young woman about the pros and cons of buying a green horse as opposed to a finished horse, thus my title Made or Home Made.  Yes you can ride off into a show ring in higher divisions immediately.  But let’s think about the sense of accomplishment you have with your old horse.  He is a product of your time and love.

Before I replaced my black mare I was borrowing horses to hunt.  I couldn’t believe all the people who loaned me horses.  Whipping is hard on a horse, but the owners wanted their horses to experience the schooling that went along with the job.  However, I realized that I didn’t want someone elses mistakes.  I needed a horse that was ready to go, but ready to go with the schooling I was used to.

The bottom line of my story is that I bought another baby and trained her the way I wanted.  I kept Magic on her feet for four more years.  What this woman’s decision will be, I have no idea.

It’s a matter of preference, time, and money.  What matters most to you.  All I could tell her is that if you have peace in your heart about your decision, it’s the right one.  Time will tell.

Down here we are in full-blown Spring, but my friends up north are getting hit again.  It’s not bad enough that they have had four nor-easterns, but now some of them are getting hit with something called Wilbur.

My first husband used to wake me on April Fools Day with “it snowed last night,” which would make me leap out of bed in a panic.  This year it wouldn’t have been a joke.

We on the other hand need rain desperately.  There are 1100 wild fires burning right now in the state of Florida.  Not by us, but this morning on the news they were telling people how to protect their homes.  We have two deep wells, and golf course type sprinklers all around the property, so we’re in pretty good shape if one should come our way.  But look at all the poor people who lost their homes in California.  Weather is just kind of crazy.

With all that said, what do horse people do when winter won’t quit?  Beside slit their wrists.  My suggestion is learn.  There are so many different ways to learn about different disciplines now-a-days.  You can watch top trainers on TV, get videos, go on-line, and of course the “old-fashioned” way of reading books.  No matter how much you think you may know, there is always something new to be learned.  You may have read something a million times, but when you do it one more time, you may find a nugget of something that didn’t register the times before.

If you think you’ve heard it all, go to a different discipline, and see what comes up.  You may see the same old thing described or taught in a different way.  The light bulb moment may appear.  I love those a ha! moments.  I learned a lot of good training tips through other disciplines.

There is just so much out there, and it appears, so much bad weather left.  It will serve you well to explore different ideas.

Now you must prepare for the next season of “mud.”  You know the shoe pulling, boot sucking off mud.  But be encouraged, the days of heat and bugs will jump out at you real quick.  I don’t think there will be a spring folks, you’re going from snow right into summer.  Kind of like Florida without the snow.  Below freezing at night and boom! sunny and 80 the next day.  Makes you crazy.

Sorry, I don’t control the weather, and the meteorologists just don’t seem to get it right either, at least down here they don’t.

Have faith, it can only get better.  Soon.  Real soon.  I promise, I just don’t know exactly when.