On Letting Go

It only took about a week for someone with serious interest to contact me about Leo - I targeted saddlebred sporthorse groups on Facebook, which generated a ton of interest in a short amount of time. She lives in Louisiana, has been riding for most of her life, has experience with saddlebreds, and Leo checked off just about every box on her list of dream horse qualities.

Briefest of brief meetings

The only real issue was the 14 hour drive from Missouri to Louisiana. I spent hours talking to her, telling her the good and the bad (complete with video evidence), and gave her the link to this blog. Nothing made her run away screaming, so I offered her a 30 day trial to see if she and Leo would make a good team. My friend E had the week off for Spring Break and offered to haul, so Leo spent a weekend at CEC (we figured separating him from Saja was best done in stages) and then headed south.

A brief reunion of former bffs

Despite minor anxiety all around, Leo handled the trip like a complete pro and arrived safely at the buyer's (kick-ass) boarding facility in Louisiana without issue. I cried when I put him on the trailer, spent the day in a funk, and cheered up when he got there and the buyer started sending regular messages about how much she already adored him (complete with pictures).

Sorry for sending him with such a goofy mane!

It took about two weeks for the buyer to decide that she was head over heels for Leo - two weeks of her slowly and patiently working him at the walk and trot, never pushing and holding off on jumping anything bigger than a ground pole. I crossed my fingers so hard that she would buy him - she was (and is) exactly the kind of person a horse like Leo needs. She never once tried to push him too hard.  And, well before her 30 days were up, she offered to buy him!

I couldn't have asked for a more perfect owner for Leo, and although I miss his silly adorable face, I am so happy that he found such a wonderful situation. Last week their barn hosted a schooling show, and they entered a trot-only class with tiny crossrails. Although the first day was a bit dramatic, the second day they got a 1st and a 2nd! She's hoping to build up to jumpers, and possibly do some lower level eventing. (:

The rest of my life, unfortunately, has not been going quite as smoothly as Leo's sale. I moved out of the beautiful country farmhouse the weekend after Leo sold, leaving a relationship that had at long last reached its breaking point after a slow, slow spiral down. I have to sell my truck. Spring went from fancy dressage attempter / badass jumper of all the things to exhibiting progressively worsening behavioral symptoms under saddle, to the point that she is not currently considered safe to ride. She's due to see the chiropractor this week, and will likely be making the trip to the University for the lameness locator and possibly the opthalmologist (despite exhibiting no outward signs of lameness) sometime soon.

Managed to escape all that for a few days, though

So, Spring is on pasture rest (with occasional light lunging sessions) for the time being. I'm back in the lesson horse game, and this time there's no Jordyn 😭. But it *is* good for me - I haven't ridden a horse other than Spring in a long time at this point. And in my non-horsey life, slowly but surely, I'm adjusting to my new normal.