[Rallycairn]

How wonderful! I hope you and Stewie have many happy years together.

[blairasb]

sorry guys I fixed the privacy settings if they don't work now let me know and I'll Photobucket them tonight.

[jengersnap]

He's adorable. Congratulations, your friends rock!

[MunchingonHay]

what wonderful friends you have! give them a hug and a pat on the back for me.

[blairasb]

Tonight I rode him. I'm pretty much smitten. He's never been at another farm, hasn't been worked in a while. I haven't ridden in a couple of weeks... And... I get on and we get this:

https://sphotos-b.xx.fbcdn.net/hphot...73688347_n.jpg

And... This:
https://www.facebook.com/v/10152336341010162

He's very very very out of shape right now.... and just had a show shoe and a good inch of foot taken off... New barn, new rider....

I kind of feel like I have a pretty good egg here. (Yeah... understatement of the year there) He got a little nervous when I went to canter him, but didnt do anything bad. Opted to leave it at the trot and end on a good note.

[HungarianHippo]

such a touching story. Was already choked up but then the bit about the Last Cookie did me in. A very merry Christmas to you.

[Bluey]

Thank you for fixing the link.
He is very handsome and I did get to enjoy the picture with the very fetching red ribbon.

[gaitedincali]

What a beautiful boy! Congratulations, and wishing you many more holidays to come with your new boy.

[Elkie]

So happy for you and such a gorgeous boy! Love Saddlebreds!

[skykingismybaby1]

Lovely boy, merry xmas and WHERE IS YOUR HELMET??

[blairasb]

Thanks everybody. Still up on cloud 9 here and randomly going... "AHHHHHHHHH! I HAVE A HORSE!!!!!!!!!!!" and bursting into tears. This is a Christmas not to be soon forgotten, that is for sure!

Due to barn work and family commitments, I didn't get to go out for a second ride yesterday, and my plans to go today were shot down by some majorly slippery driving conditions. Hoping it's better tomorrow because I am just DYING here. I want to get to know this guy as well as I knew my last one.

[oliverreed]

What an aawesome story! You have VERY nice friends! And he is gorgeous!

[ptownevt]

What a good boy! He's beautiful. I'm so happy for you and for him. You both sound like you need each other. He'll love having you for his very own.

[SmartAlex]

I missed this over the Holiday. I'm sorry about your Big Horse and congratualtions on having such great friends! Looks like a nice horse.

[Chardavej]

Very handsome!! Is he a saddlebred? He looks like my boy...

[blairasb]

Thanks SmartAlex- I think he's going to be a blast to bring along. My big goal with him is to kind of chill out, bring him along slowly and correctly, maybe hit some local shows to get ring experience cheaply (maybe continue Andy's tradition of scaring the stock horses in our class so badly that they have to take a time out in the middle. Just off of being a big trotting horse....) and save up for trying to make it to one of the Adult equitation finals in a season or two. That was my ultimate goal with Andy, just never got around to it...

Rode him today. He makes me smile. He was a little jumpy a couple of times because the kids were out and being kind of being noisy, ducks were carrying on, etc... but... It was nice to be on a horse who could startle a little bit and just regroup easily. Andy could really be tough to get to come down if he got rattled, and so I've got to kind of get out of the habit of being on "high alert" all the time. This boy isn't unflappable, but he's definitely not silly about things.

Chardavej- he is indeed a saddlebred. There just isn't another breed that does it for me the way they do.

Hopefully things are looking up in the job department. Today I got two more calls for interviews, bringing me up to an interview at 9am tomorrow (for a resume I sent out just last night. Wow. That was fast), On the 3rd, a second interview for a job at a Chiropractor's office that I think is pretty hopeful as I'm invited in to sit in on the morning staff meeting, etc... not sure what the pay will be like though... but... if it's more than unemployment and it's offered to me, I'm taking it. Might just have to pick up a second job somewhere a few hours a week to support the horse habit. On the 4th, a job with a logistics company that one of my friends works for. That one doesn't pay enough but does have benefits. Would just have to work my butt off to move up in the company while picking up a second gig. And then on the 9th, an interview with an insurance company. Many fingers and toes crossed.

[SmartAlex]

He looks a lot like his daddy. What is his dam's breeding?

[blairasb]

His dam's name is Real Quiet. I'm not an ASHA member currently so can't look her up. From what I understand, she won a decent amount of money as a futurity horse

[rtph]

VERY beautiful horse!

[IdahoRider]

What a wonderful story. OP, I hope you have many, many years of contended ownership with him. He does look like a good egg, doesn't he? I love his head.
Sheilah