[c j] Sweet Lil Buttercream (New Horse!)

Warning: Lots of words. Picture at bottom.



About two weeks ago I jokingly told my mom how I couldn't stop looking for another horse.

Backstory: I haven't been super active with riding for a long time but since restarting college, I've joined the Western equestrian team and fallen for it all over again. I have a horse of my own atm, a 26 year old QH mare named Miss T. She's my heart horse, but old and has problems if worked what would be a normal amount for any other horse.

Well anyways, she didn't like the idea because we already have like... 9 horses or so as a family and we need boarders, not more personal ones. But I'm away at college and any horse I get would live near me, not at home. My mom got really serious and told me to stay away from auction sites.

I should've listened :T

But at the same time, I'm glad I didn't. I stumbled across a local auction house FB page while staring wistfully at the $26,000 sport horses, which I do every few days. I started scrolling down and man I wish I was rich. There are so many horses with so much potential and there's even a 2 year old TB colt :c BACK ON TRACK! A little palomino QH mare caught my eye. 4 years old. Super confused looking. But listened well to the guy jogging her. Her face made her look like she could've been my mare's daughter.

I couldn't stop thinking about her, Sammie, as her sponsor named her. (This paragraph will be boring. Lots of numbers and math) I thought and I thought and I did the math. She needed ~$640 to be safe. Plus $400-500 for transport+quarantine. Tuesday would be her auction day if not spoken for by Saturday. Quarantine would put her at December 22nd, I'd be away for "winter holiday." My Western instructor has an amazing facility for a ...price. $400/m. I'd be looking at $1400 to get her through the new year, not to mention farrier and vet. I have $400 open on my main credit card, I have a secondary credit card with something like $1200 limit on it. I have Disney stock worth an estimated $1800. I could do this. I could save her. (I'm also jobless atm because people want holiday employees which I cannot do thanks to my dorm kicking me out, so I'm waiting until mid January to reapply EVERYWHERE, and because my class schedule will be 1000x better than this semester)

So I kept thinking. And I talked to some internet friends. And slept on it. I thought some more. Couldn't focus in class. I got back to my dorm, checked the FB page and... committed myself. Sammie, a little 4 year old. Barely no longer a foal. She didn't deserve to end up in the hands of a kill buyer. I spoke to her sponsor about current money problems (Disney stock is at home, I'll be able to sell it in a week or so) and she's going to try her best to help me out with the last $240 to make sure she comes home safe.

I've honestly never been so happy about such a big and life changing decision. Even if I can't afford her, I know local horse rescues would love such a pretty little thing. But I knew I couldn't live with myself if she ended up in the hands of a kill buyer. If I could do something, I should do something! Now, there is a slim chance that someone will 'bail her out' before Saturday and commit to the $640 at full. If that slim possibility happens, I'm okay with it. She's safe. But if it doesn't happen, she's still safe.

TLDR: I didn't listen to my mom and ended up on an auction site. (To be fair it was listed as "Equine Services") I saw a horse who could be related to my own horse, who was scared and confused but trying to please the stable hand. I bought her (sorta, possibility someone else will snag her).

Oh, and I gave her a show name for her coggins: Sweet Lil Buttercream. I've also found her a cute little halter and lead line at Dover and will be picking them up Saturday if everything is finalised.

Now for pictures! Please feel free to say what you want about her conformation. I'm not the best judge. It looks pretty darn good to me.






These are not my photos. Yeah they're not the best. But from what I can tell, she has 4 white feet, two of which go up to about knee high and the other two are more like ankle socks. And a big ol' white face. Her sponsor asked them for a daylight photo but she did warn me that they're not a very responsive service/rescue once the photos and jog videos go up. And that's fine. I'll see her sometime next week once she gets to quarantine :)

So yeah! That's about it. I'm super excited and she's literally all I've thought about for two days which is kinda bad because I have an essay due Friday and its NaNoWriMo so I haven't written in two days lol.

EDIT:
A wonderful woman who wanted Sammie saved as much as I did donated the full $240 towards bailing her out. Her only request was that she be the first to know if I ever decide to rehome this precious mare. I will of course comply. AAAAAHHHHHH!!!!

Last edited on 2016-11-16 at 17:57:47 by c j

Literally thought at first that shadow in the last picture was a marking Lol! Hopefully it all works out for you and you're able to keep her around. My jaw drops at the idea of $400 a month for a horse (granted I suppose with feed costs I'm probably at about $300-350 for board but that is full care heated barn board...).

I'm actually currently horseless right now as I decided to sell my mare to be a kids 4-h horse, and am glad I made the decision because she looks so happy and I know her owners adore her (one of the sweetest horses I'll ever own probably).

However, I'm one leg back into horse ownership, just got conformation that my deposit has safely arrived to the breeder of some APHAs that will be born this summer. I decided to jump on an insanely good offer if I got a deposit in before they are born. (Think like an in-utero foal sale, but instead of being "stuck" with one, I get to choose out of 5 that will fall into my price range).

And I'm guilty of always looking at horses too, currently always look what this kill buyer (that runs as a "rescue"...) has in but thankfully nothing has caught my eye and now I'm out of the running with putting a deposit down xD

LOL Yeah I can see how it looks like a marking XD

It's $400 for full board. Full board is 1/2 of the day outside, 1/2 of the day inside, full use of indoor and outdoor ring, with a heated barn and tack room. And a super heated bathroom xD It's like 15F hotter in there than outside!
And $400 is about average around here. Some of the nice hunt seat places are $475+/month. There's a self care facility too far out of the way that's $100/month. I did find one field board option for $175/month. But I'd prefer that she be somewhere I know with someone I trust.

The owner and trainer, Connie, is someone I trust completely. I've only known her for about two or three months but she's just one of those people you meet and you just know. She used to run a breeding and training facility but she had her knee replaces 4 or 5 years ago and has cut back. Her youngest horse atm is 5 and she's told me she just can't train anymore.

Plus Connie said that if Sammie is beginner safe and she has a use for her in the lesson program, then she could lessen the board. But only if she needs another horse. She said she has enough horses for her riders atm.

A paint foal?? You'd better spam the boards with photos of the one you choose! Paints are so stinkin pretty. I love all the colours and patterns x)

I'm still checking the kill buye r/ rescue / service / whatever FB to see how other horses are doing. Darlene, Sammie's sponsor, says that often 'bail' doesn't come through until Friday or Saturday. So it may look scary for the horses atm but there will be a small handful more that get spoken for. Although I have bookmarked a few of the ones I like best (+ the 2 year old TB) and I check on them every few hours or so to see if anyone has claimed them. My fingers are crossed. One of the ponies I have bookmarked has a woman who has commented a couple of times, saying she's trying to convince her hubby to speak up for the little guy/gal. I hope she does convince him!