Cinch's "New" Horse

Hello hello EVers. Long time no see! I know I sort of poofed out of here for awhile. I just fell into a non-art, non-game slump, which to be perfectly honest I'm still in. Especially after coming on to find out I once again (for like the third time... lol) apparently didn't lock my account again, and lost 90% of my horses. Oops!

Anyways, I am hear to share with you some news! I think it's personally pretty exciting. So... here we go!

I no longer own Pepper -gasp-. Her being a young horse, she was deciding that everything and anything could be scary UNDERSADDLE (on the ground she was about as bombproof as they come). No matter what I did to work her out of her spooks (which shed try to also bolt), it only seemed to be a band-aid and she'd be right back at it randomly.

Due to previous injuries (aka broken back), I just didn't feel comfortable continuing to ride a horse that I knew seemed to have unpredictable spooks, and was getting really agitated. Not knowing if training would get her to overcome this (and honestly believing the problem is 95% me), I opted to post her for sale or trade.

Shortly after posting (facebook of course, lol), her previous owner who had my former mare Fawkes, commented saying that if I had her in a few months she'd buy her back.

I countered with a (half joking) reply that if she traded Fawkes back, she could have Pepper. So, she talked to her mom (Fawkes had become her trail mount apparently), and her mom agreed to let her trade back.

For a brief history on why I traded Fawkes: With a bad back and shoulder, I was struggling with her height. I had a 50ish pound saddle, making it pretty hard and painful sometimes to saddle her. I also couldn't even imagine reaching the stirrup from the ground, so always had to rely on having a mounting block. And the only one my barn at the time had was in the indoor arena, which very much limited my riding.

So I thought the solution was to trade for a shorter horse, and preferably one with more "spunk". Well, for a time I got that. Pepper is a doll, and I absolutely adore that horse. But I really started to get missing Fawkes, but never bothered to say anything until I posted her for sale.

I also came to the conclusion that her height (and subsequent issues) were really just a mask for the true reasons I wasn't riding: a) I didn't enjoy riding alone 99% of the time and b) I didn't enjoy being limited to riding in a stuffy old indoor arena with minimal lighting.

I've since moved to a lot more active barn (sometimes I still end up alone, but that's just luck of the draw) that has an indoor (with good lighting), outdoor, and accessible trails. So I've been able to ride quite a bit more often, and enjoy myself (until Pepper's spooking issue came about).

Some may want to criticize me for changing horses, and taking back my old horse. But Fawkes is everything I need, even if she's become a spoiled brat and I have some things to work on again. I had to make the tough call to say that Pepper wasn't the right fit. And rather then waste time trying to sell her or find another "good" trade, it was a perfect chance to snag back my old reliable mount.

Fawkes is overdue for a trim and then we have a heat wave coming in so probably won't be able to ride her for the first week that she's home, but that's more than fine as I need to re-establish our bond and again prove myself as boss.

... Kudos to all those that read this whole thing. Lol. You all know me, I like to ramble. XD Anyways, picture time! She is SOOO much darker than she was last summer, it's crazy.









Some old pics so you can see the color change

Last July



Last December (man does she get dark in winter!)