Looking For A Suitable Mount

The turn from the single lane road into the narrow driveway was too sharp to make with the horse trailer, but there was supposed to be a big parking lot ahead where I could turn around & come back at a better angle.  The church was there, but the big lot was blocked by construction debris.  I managed to snake through the roundabout with only a slight scratch.  Heading back, I turned into the driveway which was steep enough that the tires were tossing gravel even in 4WD with an empty trailer.  (What do they do in the winter?)  At the top, there was a tiny flat area with a house.  I had to use the lawn to turn the rig around.  No real surprises so far thanks to Google's satellite view.

The barn was about a hundred feet below us.  We slipped down there (Literally, since the hill was steeper than the lane we drove up.) to find Preacher, the horse we'd come to look at.  He's a 9 year old Missouri Fox Trotter gelding, a breed I'd never heard of much less ridden before.  I don't know anything about gaited horses, but he seemed like a possible replacement for Chip, my last pony.

I'm looking for a mellow gelding around 14h (56" or 142cm) without a pronounced backbone or withers since I ride without stirrups due to a chronic sesamoid fracture in the ball of my foot.  For the most part, I just ride around the farm bareback when the mood strikes for half an hour & occasionally in a bareback pad when we go on trail rides for an hour or two.  I don't really want to jump anything over two feet or so any more, either.  That's not a lot to ask for.

It shouldn't be too difficult to find such a horse under $3000...

Finding Preacher meant my wife weeded through dozens of crazy ads.  What do you make of "this mare was gelded last year" or "15 years old & has some growing to do"?  The humor is quickly lost & there's a temptation to skip to the next, unless you're looking for an inexpensive (none are 'cheap') horse.  It's surprising how often the sellers can't seem to get such 'minor' details right.  Pictures should help, but too often the horse is saddled, standing with one hoof in a hole, &/or twisted around like a pretzel so we can't see their conformation or other details at all.  Many are half feral & are being sold because they're starving in awful fields or they're lame.  Sellers are often slow to respond & don't answer the questions when they do - if they do.

Eventually Marg found Preacher & spoke to his owner, Sally.  She lives nearby (one of the reasons Marg contacted her) but he is at her friend's house which is, of course, an hour away in the wild hills of Kentucky.  Still, she answered the rest of the questions my wife had well enough.  He seemed like a good enough prospect that we brought the trailer in case we decided to buy him.

Unsurprisingly, we found more details wrong.  Preacher is 15h or possibly 15.1h, not 14.2h which was already taller than I wanted.  The pictures didn't show just how high his withers are, either.  Bareback rides would be very short indeed, but he might work out with the pad.  He wasn't terribly happy as I looked him over, but he seemed sound, fairly quiet, & generally in good shape.  Close enough to at least try him after the long drive.

He didn't seem to like it when I put my bareback pad on him.  Is he a little girthy?  My daughter, Erin, tightened up the girth a bit more & he seemed OK with it.  Something wasn't quite right, but I couldn't put my finger on what it was...

Where's the bridle?  Sally forgot to bring hers.  We found one that fit, but Sally muttered something about the bit just being a snaffle.  It took some prodding, but eventually I found out that she normally uses a twisted wire.  That's a much harsher bit than a snaffle.  Hmmm...

Erin wanted to ride him first & he went pretty well for her.  She had some trouble rating him, but Sally told us it's the first time he's been ridden in weeks & the area was fairly small.  It was really interesting watching him do the fox trot, his ambling gait, for the short times he kept it.  I've never seen it before, but it looked smooth.  I was anxious to try.

I hopped on & we walked around for a while feeling each other out.  He held his head higher & felt tense, so I kept walking him, but he never really relaxed.  Eventually I asked for a bit more speed.  We went into a fox trot for about 3 strides & then burst into a gallop.  I pulled him back, but he didn't want to slow down.  Eventually, I had to saw at the reins & he slowed down just enough to put in a series of bucks with his head held high.

As we flew by the girls, I heard Sally exclaim, "I've never seen him buck before."  Really?  I've rarely had a horse buck so well with their head up this high, either.  It's just a day for wonders, isn't it?

On the plus side, his footwork was quite adept.  He never slipped or felt as if he might go down even as we approached race track speeds while describing tub-sized circles with his nose tucked into my knee.  He always felt solid & balanced even when I landed on his neck after a series of bucks & a sudden halt.  That's quite a trick, but we seemed determined to show each other everything we knew.  Unfortunately, neither of us liked what we found.

I managed to calm him down & we walked around some more.  I tried a few other things, but it was obvious that we weren't going to enjoy riding together.  He didn't want to do a thing I asked & I wasn't going to put up with his nonsense, so it was a constant battle.  Why?  It turns out that I'm the only man Sally knew who has tried to ride him.  That could be it.  I've known other animals that were wary of one sex or the other; usually men due to previous abuse.  We couldn't come up with a better reason, but it doesn't really matter.  He & I were not cut out for each other.

I haven't ridden much since we had to put Chip down & I got quite a workout with all Preacher's gyrations.  I never came off, but my legs knew what was required of them to stay on & they've been complaining about that abuse for days.  I hope I'm all over it by this Sunday.  My wife has made an appointment to try a Halflinger mare...