Letting Go

I was pretty sure it wasn't a good reason to buy a horse but I did it anyway. My stepson was going through a rough time, on the verge of a divorce only a few years after a botched back surgery had left him paralyzed from the waist down.
He was throwing money at his girls, anything to make them happy, and he insisted that they needed to have a horse "of their own" to ride when they came to visit us.  Kind of a sketchy proposition considering they live in the east and we live in the far west.  I already had two geldings, one a retired pasture ornament and one that I ride regularly.  The idea of a third horse, completely paid for and maintained by someone else piqued my interest though.  After all it's fun to go horse shopping! I saw the ad, saw the horse, rode her for all of 10 minutes and she was bought and paid for.  

My opinionated little blue eyed mare Molly.  Yep the same one who helped me discover the remains in the desert in my story "Finding Herman", March 2012.

She was the perfect size for the kids, barely 14hh and seemed cooperative enough. She had been well cared for and the seller seemed honest. Five years later the girls had ridden her a total of two times and I struggled to give her the attention and exercise she deserved.  A friend had ridden her the better part of last summer and she had proven to be the awesome little trail horse that I knew she was.  Problem was I'm close to 6' tall and she was darn near pony size.  Even though she was a big horse in a small package I always felt outsized on her and felt like I was throwing her off balance on tricky mountain trails.

She went to her new home on a 30 day trial a week ago and I bawled like a baby.  The two boys, Jack and Dewey, stared at the road, I swear, for two days straight waiting for her to come back.  Don't try to tell me horses don't have some pretty deep emotions.  

Heading out for her first pack trip in 2012

Her prospective owner has never owned a mare, he was of the opinion, like a lot of people, that mares are trouble.  They are different, I'll give you that.  Trouble?  Not in my opinion anyway.  We shall see how it works out for the two of them.  I won't be sad if he packs her suitcase and sends her home after 30 days.

There's a trail here somewhere!