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Sunday Went A Little Differently

roamingridersite

The plan was to go try this gelding. Fall magically in love. Buy him. Turn the Three Musketeers into the Fantastic Four. Conquer cross country and show in my first horse trial this June.

Instead we turned the Three Musketeers back into the Dynamic Duo.

Goodbye Big Guy. I hope the best for you.

I never got to see the gelding. He sold Thursday, came available again Friday and then sold again Saturday. It was fine though. I wasn’t set on it and there will be more to try in the future.

But what happened to Nashville? A lot really.

I’ve been fairly silent about him on here. I had such mixed feelings about him. He’d be great for a while and then pull some crap like the time he bit Wyatt’s arm for no reason. Or the time I gave him a spring bath and it went spiraling so far down hill that I ended up losing my temper and throwing the sponge at him and flipping him the bird. I’m not proud of that. He just pushed all my buttons and I cracked. Dusty finished the bath for me before I did something I’d really regret.

We’ve been struggling with what to do with him for a while. He craved attention and the ability to be his full pony self and he wasn’t getting it. I had hoped my ultimatum would be the push Wyatt needed to start interacting with Nash more. He didn’t have to ride him. Simply hanging with him, being his friend, loving him was enough.

It worked for a bit. He rode him Monday and Tuesday and enjoyed it. Then he asked to ride him Friday. He rode Gem in from the pasture bareback and giggled the entire time. When he got on Nash, Nash pulled a dirty buck and threw him. That ended that.

It was back to debating his fate. For all his flaws he had one job: take care of Wyatt. That’s it and he was failing at that though that was mostly our fault. Being worked for 10 minutes maybe 3 times a month wasn’t doing him any favors.

I decided to put an ad out and see what would happen. If he didn’t sell in a couple of weeks, I’d send him to pony boot camp. Saturday morning his ad hit and Sunday afternoon he sold.

The lady knew  ponies and loved his personality. She rode him w/t/c and over a small cross rail. She adored him and has a lovely farm with a lesson program where he will get to be ridden consistently and loved on a lot. His personality won’t be a hinderance, but instead something laughed at and enjoyed. He couldn’t have been very happy living in a place that didn’t understand him. She laughed at things that drove me nuts and he soaked it all up begging for more attention. I fully believe that he will have a happier life having a job and loads of people who love him and I wish him many happy years. I do worry about his future. I was his 4th home that I knew of in his short 9 years on earth and that just sucks. I had planned on him spending the next 20 years with us growing old and being lazy in the sunshine.

But in the end it couldn’t happen like that and it makes me more sad than I thought it would. Sure I could have let him be a pasture puff for the next 20 years, but I’ve learned a lot having Gem and I knew deep down that Nash needed a loving home versus a tolerant one. Everyone deserves to be appreciated for who they are and loved and he wasn’t getting that from us. He was getting punished for being himself and that wasn’t fair.

Wyatt handled it better than I thought. He cried and it broke my heart, but when offered one last ride he refused saying he was scared. Wyatt really needs lessons until he is w/t/c and then we can revisit the horse thing though he won’t get a pony again. Ponies and I don’t get along.

Loo Mom! I’m Super Mud Boy!

The Dynamic Duo were happy to see Nash go. Nash bullied Pete to no end and poor old man winter kept coming in with fresh bite wounds at Nash level all over his body. Nash wanted Gem to himself and Pete was getting pushed away time and again. At 28 he didn’t need that stress. Gem was stressed as well by all this. I think most of her ulcer issues were Nash induced and it will be interesting to see how she does without him. I was also growing tired of all the bite wounds on her too.

I’ll miss him more than I thought. At the moment it happened I felt relief that he would be gone to a home that would work with him and give him a purpose, but that night it sunk in and I grew very sad. He was adorable. Wyatt was adorable with him. They could have had so much fun together. But they didn’t. Reality sucks sometimes. As I explained to Wyatt, when you love something you have to put their best interest above yours. I immediately followed their barn on Facebook and will be stalking him and his progress so hopefully I can see how much better he is doing.

On to the future I suppose. As ever changing as it is.

These two have no worries about finding a new home. They are as stuck with us as we are with them.

Published by roamingridersite

32 thoughts on “Sunday Went A Little Differently”

  2. It really sounds like you made the right call. Tolerant home vs one where he’ll be loved for being himself…those were the perfect words. I also hope you find what you’re looking for- Gem has sure made her thoughts about being an event horse clear!

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      1. I think it is great you are letting Wyatt choose! It is definitely not something you can push them into. Maybe as he gets a little older, he will naturally gain confidence, too. 🙂

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  5. Echoing everyone else; good for you for putting Nash AND Wyatt’s needs first. It’s hard to be the adult, and it’s easy to want to hang on in the hopes that things will change.

    I hope, when Wyatt is ready, the perfect horse or pony falls into his lap that helps build his confidence.

    Until then, sounds like rides on Gem are just the thing he needs!! 🙂

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  6. Sounds like that pony needed a consistent job and you did the right thing sending him where he’ll get it. I certainly empathize though; saying goodbye is never easy when you had such high hopes.

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  7. Sorry the horse you were suppose to look at didn’t pan out. But the good news is there are other horses out there that could work 🙂

    Making decisions about horses are never easy and it sounds like you made the ride decision with Nash. The new barn sounds like it could be a perfect place and hope it works out for him! Wyatt is still young so if he’s enjoying riding Gem from the pasture that might be all he needs right now. He may still turn out to be a nice little rider but it’s hard to tell when they’re still so young. I didn’t really start riding until I was 8 or 9 and wasn’t very serious until I was 13 so you really have no idea what will happen!

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    1. I wasn’t all that disappointed with the gelding since I had yet to meet him and it came out of nowhere. There will be others and since I really don’t even fully know what type of horse I want, it is better to begin the search and sit on a lot of different ones for now.

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  8. tough choices and bummer about the sold gelding — tho there’s something to be said for being able to evaluate your own reaction to that fact. relief? sadness? motivation to look more seriously? or feeling settled that the choice was made for you?

    bummer about selling Nash but honestly it sounds like you did a favor for everyone. he found a good home and you never have to worry about looking out your window and wondering what to do with him. and if Wyatt wants to be more involved again he’ll let you know!

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  9. The right decisions aren’t always the easy decisions. I don’t think a pony that is willing to buck off the rider is a good choice for your house. If Wyatt does gain more interest, there are other options that will be happy with being a pasture puff and then toodling around when asked to.

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  10. I saw your post and wondered what happened. It sucks that it didn’t turn into the perfect fairy tale ending, but you did the right thing moving him along. Pony is a four letter word for a reason!! Glad he found a good home and that you’ll be able to follow him on FB in the future!

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  11. Naughty Nash! Maybe a Hony next time? Short but not so full of ‘tude? My trainer is adamant I only get a pony I can ride myself regularly until kids are older so that it can stay schooled and if they don’t want to ride, I can still enjoy.

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  13. well my ipad would not let me post on anything all weekend so playing catch up now! so sorry the gelding fell through but if you feel okay about it, onward and upward. You can keep looking! And Nash. He will be great in his new home and you helped him in his journey there. Glad you can follow him and keep tabs on him.

    Ponies are shits. Cute but shits. LOL 🙂

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  15. When Wyatt is ready look for an old Hony or large pony. My favorite saying is “The smaller the pony the closer to hell.” Because it’s pretty true and unless you love ponies and can school them regularly for the kid (harder to do with a small or a medium) then they will just cause a lot of sore bums (which for some kids really develops grit but yeah more lessons would probably be good first!)

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