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Monday, October 11, 2010

"Hugs and Kizzie's"

Well, her official name is now On Tyme Robin, after a previous owner had it changed, but Kizzie stuck as her barn name...so she's Hugs and Kizzie's to us! 


Meet Kizzie.  Our 11 year old Grulla Buckskin Mare!  She's a sweetheart and we couldn't be more happy!


Here's how we came to find Kizzie! 

As I mentioned in the last post...I've been scouring websites and looking day in and day out to find the perfect horse.  My neighbor Mindy has been really instrumental in helping me know what to look for, and what to stay away from.  It's been so wonderful having her non-pushy, but educated opinion on various horses that we had seen pictures and videos of, and ones we were planning to go look at.  We spent countless hours looking at horse after horse on www.Dreamhorse.com, went to look at one together (who turned out to be, well lets just say...not the horse for us), and had plans of looking at a couple of more this last weekend as well.  It's been really fun!

So...through all of that, Mindy had also been talking to some of her other friends in the "horse world", getting their opinions, and seeing if they knew of any good horses themselves!  In comes Staci!  I've known Staci for a while, through her husband, and soon after we moved in, realized that Staci and Mindy were good friends as well...sorry...side story.  Anyways...Staci new of a horse that one of her 4-Hers was selling, and thought she'd be perfect for us.  She had been doing Western Pleasure, and trail shows, she was smart, well broke, and beautiful...a nice plus!  Anyways...she was quite pricey, and I told Staci she was way out of our price range, but thank you for sending leads my way, and let me know if you find anything else!  I moved on, kept looking, and made plans to go see a couple of horses down in Eugene that I knew would be a far cry because of one's young age, and the other's cost...but if nothing more, I'd gain experience while looking!  Fast forward to Friday, when I got an email from Staci saying that her friends would consider lowering their price for me if I liked her and found her to be a good fit!  They really needed to sell her, and wanted her to go to a good home.   

So...Mindy and I woke up bright and early Saturday morning so we could ride Kizzie and get a feel for her before we drove down to Eugene.  That way we had something to compare the Eugene horses too.  The weather was nasty, the cold rain was falling, but the horse was wonderful, and I instantly fell in love.  So much so that I went right home, called and canceled the Eugene appointment, and started making arrangements for a second ride/placement in her new home.  I was that confident!  I had her family drive her to the barn we would be boarding, so we could have a second trial ride in the arena, in hopes of just leaving her there when we were done...all the while making her ours!

Well...that's exactly what happened.  They brought her, and not only were my feelings about her confirmed, but Kevin agreed as well.  The kids LOVED her, and Kizzie was fantastic with them.  Being 3 and nearly 5, they are still a bit young, and unaware, but Kizzie did great.  New people (little people at that), new (literally, brand spankin new) barn, and new horses all around...and she remained unphased!  I saw no reason to let her pass us by, so we bought her!

So there you have it.  Our new addition to the family!  We love her and can't wait to see where life will take us now that we have another adventure thrown it's way!  I'm such a beginner horseman, it's not even funny, but I'm excited to learn all I can about horses, and myself along the way as well!!!  I'm sure you'll be hearing more and more about miss Kizzie...so stay tuned!







Tuesday, October 5, 2010

A Bit Preoccupied

I know, I know...I've been MIA from the blogging world.  That's a little in part to hustle and bustle of the fall season, with the kids school starting and all...but that's also in part to my new obsession.  Let me back up a bit:

Ever since I was a little girl (like most little girls), I've wanted a horse.  I used to ride at my girlfriends house, and used to drool over any and every horse I'd see along the side of the road.  My mom, not even being a cat or a dog person, sure as heck is not, nor will she ever will be a horse person.  So...my chances of owning my own horse as a kid, were slim to none. 

Fast forward to highschool when I met and started dating, Kevin.  From the beginning, we had talked about getting married, buying a house, having a dog, 2 kids, a boat, trailer, and property with horses!  That was our dream.  Soon the dream started to become reality.  We got married, bought a house, a boat, then a camper, and then started our family.  The horses and property were still in the back of our mind, though our time was spent doing all of the other things we loved, and it soon became apparent that we'd either have horses, and eat, sleep and breath them...or we'd do everything else we wanted to do...but we couldn't have it all!  So...the property and horses got put on the back burner!

Fast forward again to the fact that our current neighbors have horses, my brother and sister-in-law have horses, and my kiddos are obsessed!  I started looking into options besides having property with horses, and realized that while it might not be ideal for everyone...boarding a horse at a local barn, was a rather good option for Kevin and I.  The kids and I could have our horse, board it at a reputable place where it's daily feed and turn-outs would be taken care of by someone else, and we could in turn enjoy our horse in our spare time, all the while still enjoying the many other things we love to do!  YAY!!!  Problem solved! 

Soooooo...present day...here I am, devouring various horse selling websites, craigslist, and youtube to find the perfect family horse.  Every spare second I have, I'm on the computer looking at horses.  I am rather obsessed, yes...but I'm loving it, and looking forward to adding another member to our family, all 1000 + pounds of him or her!

In the meantime, I've been taking weekly lessons in order to learn all I can!  The kids are quite jealous, but hey...sometimes mommy gets to do something for herself!!!  So...I appoligize if I've been MIA, but I've been a bit preoccupied!  We're going to look at 2 very special horses on Saturday...so who knows...maybe 1 of them will be "the one"!

Oh...and I'm selling my car in order to help pay for my new "ride"!!!  So if you know anyone who needs a 2000 Limited Edition Ford Excursion (which they don't make anymore...by the way), let me know!  I LOVE my car and will be sad to see it go...but I'm pretty sure I'm going to love my horse more!!!