Pony #2

B sort of stole the spotlight in the introduction post. I tend to ramble on, and on, and on about him, mainly because he's been my right-hand man for so long. But lest we forget that I have TWO horses. Meet the anonymous "P," a coming 4 year old WB cross:

For several years, I boarded B at a breeding farm. Being a poor college student, I had an arrangement with the farm owner to work off my board. (A side note: I worked off my board my entire horse-owning life up until about 2 years ago. I truly hope I never have to go back to that. The situations always turn ugly. Always.) I did a little bit of everything on this farm-- cleaning stalls, feeding horses, helping with breedings and foalings, working with the babies, riding the greenies, handling horses at shows and inspections, etc. You name it, I did it.

After my college graduation, the breeder gave me the gift of a foal in-utero. It was the unborn foal of a mare that was sold to another local breeder, so it was actually a convenient situation for the breeder. She no longer had to worry about selling the foal quickly. Plus, I would have my own gorgeous foal to raise and show as I pleased. Win-win for all, right? Riiight...

On February 26th, 2005, P was born.



Unfortunately, no good deed goes unpunished. That same month, I had taken my first, real, full-time, 40+ hour a week job. Post graduation, I had been working at the racetrack, which complimented working at the breeding farm perfectly. I'd be done at the track by 11am and was then free to spend the entire afternoon helping the breeder as needed.

The new full-time job proved to be not so accomodating.

The breeder and I had discussed my new working arrangements prior to me taking said full-time job. Though we had mutually determined it wouldn't be an issue, the full-time job DID interfere with my ability to fulfill my obligations at the breeding farm. And being a mere entry level position, my full-time job didn't compensate well enough to afford board for two horses. Moving to a more affordable farm wasn't an option, now owning a suckling foal and all. And the breeder was much too kind a person to "repossess" the foal in retribution for board for B, as P was a gift to me.

The months following P's birth were nothing but awkward and uncomfortable. As a friend, the breeder insisted I keep both horses at her farm, but was also understandably very angry about not having sufficient help. A riff continued to grow between us. Upon weaning, I brusquely moved B and P to a different farm, thus terminating a long friendship between the breeder and myself.

I absolutely adore P and am forever indebted to the breeder for such a generous gift. While I have worked with foals and young horses most of my life, there is nothing like raising a horse who is all your own. At the same time, there is always a little bit of sadness and a whole lot of guilt in the manner which I acquired her. I'd like nothing more than to be able to share P's stories and experiences with her breeder, who was a great friend and mentor to me. To this day, I still hope that P would make her proud.

Also, as a result of our falling out, I've had to raise my young horse at some less-than-ideal-for-young-horses boarding farms. This has made our lives rather *interesting* at times.