“It can’t hurt just to go look!” That’s what my trainer told me. “We’re not going to buy this horse, we’re just going to take a look.” That’s what I (very earnestly) told my husband. “Oh, it’s never just looking!” That’s what all of you said to me after I brought my new filly home, just two months after I first laid eyes on her, the newly named Fürst Look OE (Fürst Impression x Movado’s Contessa/Lansing).
To be fair, I wasn’t looking, not really anyways. Many months into Beau’s rehab when it became clear that he wasn’t going to recover to the point of being my show horse again, my trainer and I talked about the possibility of a new horse once Beau fully retired. It felt overwhelming, beginning the search for a new partner when I was so attached to the one I’d just lost. And while I knew I didn’t have the funds to go out and buy a Third Level horse to pick up where Beau and I left off, I wasn’t prepared for what she told me. When I told her what my budget could be, she said that could get me an unbroke two year old.
So needless to say, I wasn’t brimming with excitement at the possibility. Frankly, I was scared. And also still consumed with my seven day-a-week hand walking routine. But after his re-injury and official retirement, it became clear that was my only option: find a new partner or let go of my dressage dreams. I looked vaguely online. I sent Lisa video links which were quickly whittled down to one or two maybes. I didn’t look very hard or very long. Most of my free time was dedicated to searching for retirement farms for my Beau.
Then came my first stroke of luck. While horse shopping for a client at High Point Hanoverians in Maryland, she asked the breeder if they had any two year olds suitable for an ambitious amateur on a budget. They showed her a small, plain brown filly with a sun bleached forelock and big inquisitive eyes. Lisa snapped a picture and texted it to me saying, you should take a look at her! I admired the photo then filed this all away in the back of my mind while life hummed along.
A few weeks later, another little nudge from fate. My husband got an unexpected day off after the 4th of July so we quickly planned an impromptu trip to DC. The information I’d filed away in the back of my mind, crept up to the front. DC… Maryland…. I wonder if we could stop and just take a look at that baby horse while we’re in the same state. Hmmm…. I pitched the idea to my husband by saying, “Oh hey, can we take a little detour and look at that horse? I know I’ll buy a new horse someday, and I really need to just get my feet wet with the horse shopping process. I want to be confident and ready when we do find the right horse.” I may have mentioned that the farm was “on the way.” He’s pretty easygoing and unbelievably supportive, so the short answer was “sure, why not?”
The farm wasn’t what most people would classify as “on the way” and the little detour may have been more like 3 hours, but lucky for me he’s easily bribed with food and did I mention unbelievably supportive?? He picked a spot to eat oysters in downtown Annapolis and I set up a time to visit the horse I was definitely, absolutely not going to buy. I was determined not to fall in love. I barely told anyone we were planning to do this for fear of getting my hopes up. And after all, I was just looking. I repeat: I was NOT going to buy this horse!
That all changed in a few short minutes. We met her in the barn, where she calmly watched us with those big, captivating eyes. I held her while she was groomed and she batted those lovely long eyelashes at us, melting at least one of us. I told myself I wasn’t a sucker for a pretty face and internally maintained my “I’m not buying this horse” stance. We were there just to go through the motions, to ask the questions, take the video, get my feet wet, that was all. That changed once we got her to the arena. As soon as she started trotting she transformed from a small plain brown horse into something magical. It didn’t take more than 30 seconds of her floating over the ground for me to internally groan and say to myself, “Oh sh!t.” I was NOT supposed to fall in love with this horse.
I told myself to play it cool, no one had to know I was losing my mind over how unexpectedly fabulous this horse was. I left it with a non-committal, “I’ll call you,” and we got started on the non-horsey portion of our weekend travels. We had a lovely afternoon in Annapolis and a memorable dinner in DC… the little horse was out of sight and out of mind. But the next morning, while my husband snoozed next to me, I was hard at work on my phone, pouring over spreadsheets, drafting budgets, and checking all of our bank accounts. I watched the videos a hundred times. And as soon as Art woke up, I said to him, “I can’t stop thinking about her.” The best horse husbands know that they don’t know the first thing about horses, so in his infinite wisdom, he said, “I think you need to talk to some people.” So I did. I sent the videos around and texted a friend about meeting her, saying, “When I watched her, the part of me that used to dream started to wake up again” Her reply? “Then you have your answer.”
The third stroke of luck came a week later. The thing I’d really been searching for finally fell into place: I found the perfect retirement home for Beau. It felt like a sign. All systems pointed to go. I recalled the lessons I’d learned from all my years with my heart horse: if you really want something, go for it. My dreaming and scheming mode kicked into gear, and with a lot of help from a lot of people and several harrowing trips back and forth over the Chesapeake Bay Bridge, two months later I’d brought a feral two year old home.
So there you have it–the story of how I am now the proud owner of not one, but TWO horses I cannot ride! I am looking forward to all the adventures and surely the challenges to come and I am ever grateful that fate opened up another door for me and has given me a chance to keep chasing these dreams. It couldn’t have happened without the support and encouragement of my trainer, Lisa Hall, who I hope is ready to help me navigate baby horse land! I also need to thank Katey Simons for welcoming my hooligans into her perfect little farm, giving Beau the ideal environment for recovery and retirement and little Lucy a peaceful place to learn the ropes of being a real horse! I want to thank all of my friends for keeping my secret so we wouldn’t jinx it! And for the words of encouragement along the way–it was nice that you told me I wasn’t crazy, even though I’m not so sure myself! A special shout out to Emily Stumm, who willingly spent 13 hours in a truck with me for nothing but a bag of a Fritos and a hug. Thank you to Larissa Barilar of High Point Hanoverians for breeding such a fabulous horse! And last but not least is a thank you to my horse husband who has seen me through all the ups and downs of the last 10 months, and believes in me like no one else. Who knows where this wild ride takes me next, but I’m thanking my lucky stars for all the wonderful humans and horses who will be a part of that journey!
