I started riding horses when I was very young. I started out riding with my grandma. She had horses way before I was born. She and I were the odd ones out in the family, both with horses in our blood. I rode the horse trails nearby with her up until my senior year in college when she retired her last horse. Of course other things got in the way of being able to ride as much as I wanted. I was playing sports and had school. Since I was little, I had always wanted my own horse. I saved all of my birthday and Christmas money for the hope of one day owning my own horse. I knew I couldn’t afford it while I was growing up, nor did I have the time.
Fast forward to after my college graduation. I got a job as an elementary art teacher and was making a steady income. I continued teaching and since I had so much time on my hands after work, I joined our local volunteer fire department to serve my community. Spring of 2019, I found out I was getting tenured at my job, and I was almost done with fire training. If you haven’t figured it out by now, I don’t like to sit still. I like to try new things, stay busy, and take up new hobbies. I knew I was going to have a steady and reliable income, as well as more time on my hands after my fire training was finished. It was then I decided to start looking for a horse.
First I looked through a few websites that posted them for sale as well, but didn’t have any luck. Then I went to the Facebook groups that had horses listed for sale. There were many listings, but it was spring and I had certain criteria I wanted my future horse to meet. I found four horses that were promising. Two of them were over three hours away from my location and I had very limited time to go see them. I did message the seller about the first horse and asked a few questions, but ultimately decided against them. One of them I had heard from a friend nearby that the seller was unreliable and the horses she kept were not in the best condition. Knowing that made my decision even more to not look at that particular horse. I found two others after that. I called one of the sellers because the listing was pretty minimal (which can be a red flag). It was a good thing I called because the seller only gave me a little more information so I decided against that horse. The next one I messaged the seller about was very promising, so we made plans for a visit two weeks in the future.
I kept looking just in case another horse was posted that I thought would be a good fit. My grandma was also putting out feelers to all of her horse friends. A week later, she sent me a listing. It was for a 19 year old Arabian horse who had ridden all over the country on trails, was level headed, and his only vice was wanting to run home from a trail ride if he was in front. I called the seller, asked some questions, and set up a meet and greet for two days later. My grandma and I drove to the seller’s farm and right off the bat they told us this horse had been sitting for six months. He went out to the pasture to get the horse, and he came riding the horse back to the barn, bareback in a halter. That was the first good sign. I watched and asked questions as he groomed, picked feet, tacked him up, and everything was good. Finally, the seller got on and rode him for a while. Since he’d been sitting for six months, he threw one buck right off the bat, but then the rest of his ride and mine went perfectly. He was very spunky but I loved it! We scheduled a trail ride for the following Sunday, the day after my fire test and my cousin’s wedding. That trail ride was amazing. He was basically falling asleep in the back of the group, but trotted up when I asked. He was absolutely perfect. After we got back from the ride, I told the sellers he was perfect. I paid them, we scheduled a date for pickup, and Caesar was mine!
Two weeks later, one of my grandma’s friends transported him to his new barn. I thought finding a horse was difficult, but once he got to his new home, the real work began. I’ve had Caesar for almost four years now, and he’s the best horse I could have ever dreamed of. The first year and a half were difficult. I didn’t know what I was doing in terms of owning and caring for a horse. Caesar is smart and he saw that immediately. We had to work on and develop that relationship, all while I was learning. It’s too much knowledge to put into one post, but also too much not to share. That’s the reason I created this blog, for sharing what I’ve learned. If you are interested in getting your own horse, check out my post, “What You Need to Know Before Buying a Horse.” I shared everything you should do to make sure the horse you’re looking at is the perfect one for you, so you can be as happy as Caesar and I!
I love this love story! ♥️