This message is from: GD <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Since I just sent a message to the whole list that I meant to send to
Linda privately (with some personal details), I guess I should
introduce myself.
I have been riding on and off all of my life (with several long
breaks along the way) and have owned 3 horses over the years, any
appy, a Morgan and a Hanoverian. As I get older (51), I am looking
for a horse that is lower to the ground and kind and gentle. I have
loved Fjords from a far since the 70s when a friend and I had dreams
of breeding them. We lived in the same town in Florida in college
and then in Ann Arbor, but when her family moved away our shared
dream was lost.
I have been leasing a fjord for a 6 weeks and have been planning on
buying him - he is 6 and still pretty green. Since I started reading
the list, I have seen how many wonderful fjords are out there for
sale that are much further along in their training and life
experience. This has led me to do a little looking around. I am
trying to decide whether to buy a lovely fellow from Anvil Acres
sight-unseen and have been emailing back and forth to, and talking to
Anita. But in case I can't decide in the next day to buy a horse
sight-unseen, I am continuing to see what is out there.
My last two horse purchases were not good ones and I am a little
gun-shy about the whole process. I bought my Morgan to retrain in
dressage and he didn't want to have anything to do with lifting his
back, coming on the bit and relaxing. My trainer had no luck with
him. Since I was doing dressage, I decided to go the warmblood
route. When they say no feet, no horse, believe them. Front leg and
hoof conformational issues and injuries made her very uncomfortable.
So as lovely as she was, and as much as my trainer and friend loved
to ride her, she never seemed happy and even started bucking. She
was too much for me. So now I am coming to grips with who I am at 51
and what I really need to continue riding into old age - a Fjord.
I have also changed trainers and found one whose philosophy and style
fits mine and I am riding better than ever. She is kind and
supportive and only pushes me so fast. Two bad falls in the last few
years have made me very cautious. Riding a Fjord, I am just learning
to trust horses again. I get tense when ever something happens that
my last two horses would have reacted to - Finne wonders what I'm
upset about. So I'm the one who has to learn to ignore my
surroundings not him.
Genie in Ann Arbor, Michigan.
