Zorro Arrives!!

Zorro steps off the trailer and onto The Farm!

Zorro arrived last night at about 7:00pm. The seller, Linda, arrived with her friend Shelley. Zorro was in Linda’s HUGE trailer with a “babysitter” mare named Tootsie.

We are both a little awestruck.

We unloaded Zorro and Tootsie, lead Zorro around a little, and let him take in his new surroundings. I was a grinning fool the entire time.

Look how pretty he is!

Linda was kind enough to saddle up Zorro for me (with her tack, I don’t have any yet) and we went on a quick ride around the 13 acres of The Farm. Riding him again made me fall in love ALL over again, and I was definitely on Cloud 9!

Our second ride together!

Linda and Shelley stayed over for the night, and we shared lots of stories about horses, trail riding, and life. I know I am just a silly girl with crazy horse dreams compared to these women, who have years of experience and success with owning, training, and showing horses. Some day I will be at their level…

This morning, Linda saddled both up both Zorro AND Onyx, and Mom and I had our first ride together around the paddock! Can’t wait to hit the trails!!

Off we go!

I think we are going to be very happy together!

Taking the Plunge

I’ve had absolutely NO luck with horse shopping. Mom and I have ridden several potential horses, but nothing has even almost been the right pick for us. I was worried I’d fall in love with every horse I saw, but the truth is only one horse won my heart…

On Friday night, my mom bought a horse at an auction. Onyx, a 12 year old Tennessee Walker mare. I’m going over to The Farm tonight to meet mom’s new horse. I was a little put-off because, suddenly, she has a horse and I am on my own to get one for myself. I guess she was probably frustrated that I was being so picky, so she took matters into her own hands.

Remember that horse who stole my heart? Last night, I bought Zorro!!! It was a bit of an impulse decision, but I have really been thinking about him for a whole month now. I haven’t been able to find any horse that even came close to impressing me, and I’m sick of shopping! Even if he turns out to be a bad fit for me, he is a valuable horse, and gaited horses are in fairly high demand.

Linda (the seller) is delivering him 200+ miles to The Farm! That is super nice since Mom and I don’t really have experience trailering and hauling horses. I get him on Friday, Sept 4th. I CAN’T WAIT!! I’m partially thinking, “OMG what did I just do!?” but also “OMG ZORRO IS MINE!! YAY!!!!”

Now that I’m actually getting a horse, I’m going to start saving as much money as I can for horse stuff. Here is a list of stuff that needs to be paid for:

• $100 a month for boarding him at my parents’ farm (includes feed)
• $500+ a year for vet/farrier bills (varies if there are injuries or illness)
• $100 a year for deworming medicine
• $25-50 per riding lesson for me (probably once or twice a week)
• $80 for riding boots (already bought, lol)
• $40 for a good riding helmet (safety first!)
• $25 for a few pairs of jeans from goodwill that I can muck up
• $300-1000 for STARTER saddle and bridle
• $25 for halter and lead rope
• $50 for grooming supplies

And that’s just the stuff I can think of off the top of my head. I was
very well aware of all of these costs before I ever started shopping for
the actual horse. I’ve decided that since I make pretty good money, I’m
not planning on having kids, and I need to spend my money on SOMETHING,
it might as well be a horse. I’ve wanted once since I was 5 years old. I
don’t want to wait until retirement like my mom to enjoy this. So, I
regret nothing!

Can’t wait to see Zorro again!!

Meeting Zorro

Mom and I looked at two horses the other day while we were in Michigan. We found a farm that had a few dozen Paso Fino horses, several of which were for sale. After we test drove a few broodmares (nice horses, but not right for us), we met Zorro and his half-sister Addy. They are both sweet horses; calm and well-behaved too. Zorro especially was affectionate to me. He insisted on standing RIGHT next to me and he often nuzzled me and rubbed his face on my arm. Such a sweetheart!!

Time to test drive Zorro

The seller, Linda (wearing red in the above pic), took mom and I on a trail ride to test drive Addy and Zorro. Mom rode Addy and I rode Zorro. I got him to go into his Special Paso Fino Gait, even though I had NEVER done that on any horse before!! The fact that he was so willing is a great sign. My mom really liked Addy, but I didn’t ride her, so I don’t really know what kind of ride she is.

Isn't he cute!?

So why haven’t we bought these two sweetie-pies? Well, first of all they are $4000 each, but I’m sure we can talk that down to $3000-$3500 each if we buy both and pay cash. Second, they are only 3 years old! This means they have only been ridden the last 6 months or so, and they still need a lot of
training. I don’t know if Mom and I are cut out for the job, especially
because we are newbies.