Our Future

Today's post on Fugly made me think.

Ive had a few people ask me about what I would do with Milo say if he cannot chase the cows and do reining like what I am training for depending on the condition of his hocks. Would I sell him?

My answer is a resounding No. For a few reasons. Firstly, Im not that type of owner. I love my horse too much. Just because he might not be capable (hypothetically) of doing the discipline that I specifically want to do, would not mean that say I couldnt trail ride him, or use him for any other reason. Or even if he was deemed unridable, I would continue to keep him. Milo has given too much to me and taught me so much there is no way that I could dump him somewhere (besides I would hate to see anyone else own MY horse, Im jealous that way).

Secondly, and this is hard for me to admit, but I would not make that mistake twice. As some of you may know about what happened with my first horse, Koalt. Simply, I retrained him as a 17 year old and kept him until he was 22. At 21, he went lame. Understandable, he was an old horse. I was 15. I worked off board, and I wanted a horse I could ride (and my concern at that time was one that I could compete on). I did keep him for another year, gave him the best care I could and loved on him very much. Finally, I decided I was going to give him away and get a new, younger horse. I gave him away to a farm in Yakima. And I have sadly not seen him since. It hurt a lot. I thought it was saddness for my loss, but honestly, a lot of it was guilt. I knew I should have done him better. I tried to make myself feel better by telling myself that I didnt "dump him" but gave im away to a loving home. And that it is, but the fact is is that I dumped him when he wasnt useful anymore. That horse taught me everything. He was my best friend. It saddens me to this day. And I dont even know how he is anymore.

I will not do that again. I will not do it to Milo or any other horse. They deserve better than that. After packing kids around as a lesson horse their whole life, or giving you his all every ride, they deserve to enjoy the cookie filled retirement that they earned.

Milo has a safe forever home with me. Regardless of what my agenda calls for and thats that.