A Gray and a Bay Today

After I drop my husband off at his colonoscopy appointment this morning, I am going to pick up my trainer and head to northern San Diego county to try out two horses. I feel a little guilty that I’ll be doing something fun while Mark will be. . . I’d rather not think about what he’ll be experiencing. By the way, he read up on the Miralax (which is pre-colonoscopy required drinking) and he claims it is essentially anti-freeze. That could be a whole post unto itself.

Both horses I will see today are 10-year old Thoroughbred geldings who are 16.2. The bay horse is Kentucky bred and was sold at the Keeneland yearling sale for the same amount of money we paid for our house four years ago. In Orange County. In California. Our house was a total dump when we bought it and we continue working on bringing it to it’s potential, but it was still expensive. (Watching House Hunters is frustrating for me because I see what level of awesome people attain in other states for about half of what we paid for our fixer.)

Back to the bay: his sire was Pulpit and when I looked up his pedigree online I saw names like AP Indy, Secretariat, Seattle Slew and Bold Ruler. My chef friend was over when I spoke to the owner on the phone. I grabbed a legal pad and furiously scribbled down every detail the bay’s owner offered. When I finished the conversation with the owner and had set up the appointment to ride, I told Chef Beth, “I have the chills! This horse has royal breeding.” Beth’s not a horse person, but a heart friend and she was so excited for me and asked questions and was interested in a way that a good horse friend would be.

The bay is gorgeous and I almost cried when I first saw his video because his coloring and white face and way of moving made me immediately think of DC, my dearly loved Thoroughbred I had for 16 years.  This horse is a better mover than DC, but has that same elegant and proud look. He’s shown on the A circuit (I’m not sure how extensively) and he clearly knew what he was doing in the jumping videos, one at a show and another at home. His current owner bought him based on his picture on the Kentucky farm’s website and had him shipped out West. She’s had him for six years and it sounded like she was his primary trainer (working with actual trainers here and there). She rode him herself five days a week. Now she’s going through a divorce and said, “Life changes and I just can’t afford him any longer.” She says he’s sound.

The gray is cute and I don’t know much about his history except that he did race, but after that was owned by a woman who did dressage with him and then he did a little eventing. Sounds like he’s been at this current barn for about a year and a half as the trainer said he passed a vet check a year and a half ago and he’s sound. His owner is a mom and selling him because she is putting more money into her daughter’s horse pursuits. He is less fancy than the bay, but as my trainer said when she saw the video of him jumping, “I like how relaxed he looks the whole time.”  His trainer said he only has front shoes and he is good out on the trail. She also thinks he would be fun as a jumper because he can do quick turns easily.

That’s the scoop for today. I’ll let you know how it all goes. The game plan is that if we don’t like the two horses we see today, my trainer and I will return to see the chestnut I rode Sunday.

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